Water Plan (Boyne River Basin) 2013

This water plan (this plan) may be cited as the Water Plan (Boyne River Basin) 2013.

The following are the purposes of this plan—

to define the availability of water in the plan area;

to provide a framework for sustainably managing water and the taking of water;

to identify priorities and mechanisms for dealing with future water requirements;

to provide a framework for establishing water allocations;

to provide a framework for reversing, where practicable, degradation in natural ecosystems.

The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in this plan.

This plan applies to the area shown as the plan area on the map in schedule 1.

Each part of the plan area that is shown as a subcatchment area on the map in schedule 1 is a subcatchment area.

A reference in this plan to a subcatchment area by name is a reference to the subcatchment area in schedule 1 with that name.

The exact location of the boundaries of the plan area and subcatchment areas is held in digital electronic form by the department and may be accessed, free of charge, at each office of the department.

Editor’s note—

The location of each office of the department is available at <www.dnrm.qld.gov.au>.

A node mentioned in this plan is a point on a watercourse in the plan area.

The location of each node is shown on the map in schedule 1.

Each node is identified on the map by a number.

This plan applies to water in a watercourse, lake or spring in the plan area.

This chapter states the outcomes for the sustainable management of water to which this plan applies.

Without limiting subsection (1) or sections 10 to 12, the outcomes include the allocation and management of water in a way that—

recognises the natural state of watercourses, lakes and springs has changed because of the taking of, and interfering with, water; and

achieves a balance in the following outcomes—

the economic outcomes mentioned in section 10;

the social outcomes mentioned in section 11;

the ecological outcomes mentioned in section 12.

Each of the following is an economic outcome for water in the plan area—

provision for the use of water entitlements and other authorisations in the plan area;

protection of the probability of being able to take water under a water allocation;

availability of water for the following—

growth in industries dependent on water resources in the plan area;Examples of growth in industries dependent on water resources in the plan area—

• industries located in the Gladstone region that are dependent on water in the plan area

• irrigated agriculture industries dependent on water from the Boyne River

stock purposes in the plan area;

the support of flexible and diverse water supply arrangements for water users;

the support of activities stated in the Water Regulation 2016, schedule 3;

maintenance of flows that support water-related economic activities in the plan area, including, for example, tourism;

encouragement of continual improvement in the efficient use of water.

Each of the following is a social outcome for water in the plan area—

increased security for town water supplies that rely on water in the plan area;

availability of water for the following—

population growth in towns and communities dependent on water resources in the plan area;

domestic purposes in the plan area;

maintenance of flows that support water-related aesthetic, cultural and recreational values in the plan area, including the cultural values of the traditional owners in the plan area;

maintenance, to the extent practicable, of the quality of water for human use.

Each of the following is an ecological outcome for water in the plan area—

the continued capability of a part of the river system to be connected to another, including by maintaining flows that—

allow for the movement of native aquatic fauna between riverine, floodplain, wetland, estuarine and marine environments; and

support water-related ecosystems; and

support river-forming processes;

provision of a flow regime that ensures—

maintenance of fresh water to the Boyne River estuary; and

maintenance of waterholes, including the Nagoorin waterhole; and

riffle habitats; and

maintenance of estuarine ecosystem functions, including, for example, flows for the movement and recruitment of barramundi (Lates calcarifer), sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) and banana prawn (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) growth;

minimisation of the impacts of taking water on water-related ecosystems;

protection and maintenance of refugia associated with waterholes, lakes and wetlands.