Water Plan (Mary Basin) 2024

The environmental outcomes for this plan area are—

to maintain, and if possible improve, flows of water to which this plan applies that support—

native plants and animals, and their freshwater and estuarine habitats; and

long-term water quality suitable for riverine and estuarine ecosystems; and

to maintain, and if possible improve, the low flow regimes, of the watercourses to which this plan applies, that support ecological assets, for example—

riffle habitats; and

the quality and persistence of waterholes; and

the connectivity of watercourses required over the lifespan of native aquatic species, including to allow for opportunities for movement, spawning and recruitment of the species; and

to maintain the medium flow regimes and high flow regimes, of the watercourses to which this plan applies, that support ecological assets, for example—

river-forming processes; and

riparian systems and their functions; and

floodplain and wetland ecosystems; and

estuarine ecosystems; and

to maintain, and if possible, improve, flows of freshwater to which this plan applies that support ecological processes in the following waters—

waters of estuaries that receive flows of water from the plan area;

the marine waters of the Great Barrier Reef;

the waters of the Great Sandy Strait declared Ramsar wetland; and

to minimise adverse environmental impacts, relating to water to which this plan applies, caused by the operation of infrastructure in the plan area; andExamples of adverse environmental impacts—

for the Mooloolah River, the Noosa River, the Maroochy River and their tributaries—to minimise change to the natural flow regime that supports the rivers and tributaries; and

for the freshwater reaches of the Mary River and its tributaries—to maintain, and if possible, improve—

the low flow regime of the freshwater reaches; and

the flow-related habitat requirements of ecological assets in the freshwater reaches; andExamples of ecological assets for subparagraph (ii)—

for the Burrum River and its tributaries, downstream of Lenthalls Dam—to support freshwater flows that are necessary—

for estuarine processes; and

to reduce hypersaline conditions in the upper Burrum River estuary; and

for the underground water management area—to maintain, and if possible improve, the availability and quality of underground water to which this plan applies to support ecosystems dependent on the underground water.Examples of ecosystems for paragraph (i)—

In this section—

for a particular biological process or response to happen in relation to the asset; or

to maintain the long-term biological integrity of the asset.

the Mary River and its tributaries, upstream of the Mary River Barrage; and

Tinana Creek, upstream of Tinana Barrage.

cause the movement of material within the bed of a watercourse; andExamples of material in the bed of a watercourse—

cause either of the following to occur—

the water level of the watercourse to rise to the height of either of the outer banks of the watercourse;

water to overflow from the watercourse onto a floodplain.