BURDEKIN REGIONBurdekin catchment water quality targets

Catchment profileUnder the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan, water quality targets have been set for each catchment that drains to the Great Barrier Reef. These targets (given over the page) consider land use and pollutant loads from each catchment.

The Burdekin catchment covers 130,120 km2 (93% of the Burdekin region). Rainfall averages 633 mm a year, which results in river discharges to the coast of about 9234 GL each year.

The extensive area of the Burdekin catchment is divided up into five major sub-catchments. The extent of the Burdekin catchment ranges from the upper tributaries of the Burdekin River in the north (behind the coastal ranges north-west of Townsville), to the west and south-westerly reaches of the Cape and Belyando river sub-catchments and the southernmost reaches of the Suttor and Bowen rivers sub-catchments. With the exception of the Bowen River, the Burdekin River sub-catchments converge above the Burdekin Dam to form Dalrymple Lake. Below the dam, the Burdekin River is met by the Bowen River, and then flows through the Lower Burdekin floodplains and Burdekin delta to the coast. The catchment area is mostly used for agricultural purposes, principally grazing but with some intensive sugarcane in the floodplains. There are two urban centres, Ayr and Home Hill, in the lower reaches and wetlands along the coast.

20 40 60 80 100

Grazing Natureconservation

Drylandcropping

Water

SugarcaneForestry

OtherUrban

Irrigated cropping

0%

Land uses in the Burdekin catchmentThe main land uses are grazing (92%), nature conservation (5%), and dryland cropping (1%).

B e l y a n d oS u b - c a t c h m e n t

Bo we nBo gie

Su b-catchme nt

Burdekin Sub-catchment

C a p e C a m p a s p eS u b - c a t c h m e n t

U p p e r B u r d e k i nS u b - c a t c h m e n t

Comet Sub-catchment

DawsonSub-catchment

Fitzroy Sub-catchment

Isaac Sub-catchment

Mackenzie Sub-catchment

N o g o a S u b - c a t c h m e n t

T h e r e s a C r e e kS u b - c a t c h m e n t

BritomartReef

TrunkReef

HookReef

NetReef

DarleyReef

OldReef

BlockReef

BaxReef

Paul Reef

Hinchinbrook Island

HookIsland

PetersIsland

Rita Island

GloucesterIsland

WhitsundayIsland

Magnetic Island

GreatPalmIsland

ScawfellIsland

Shaw Island

MangroveIsland (No 1)

Long Island(No 1)

South Island

Middle Island

RosewoodIsland

Quail Island TownshendIsland

Curtis Island

HummockHill Island

Facing Island

Great Keppel(Wop-pa) Island

Leicester Island

BalaclavaIsland (No 1)

BalaclavaIsland (No 2)

CasuarinaIsland

RipCay

NorthPointCays

SnakeCays

Cape BowlingGreen

Cape Cleveland

CapeHillsborough

CapeCapricorn

Cape Conway

Cape Clinton

CapeKeppel

CapeGloucester

CapeSandwich

CapePalmerston

Cape Richards

Cape Edgecumbe

Cape Manifold

CapeTownshend

Cape Upstart

CapeFerguson

Cape Woora

SouthEast Cape

Cape Lachlan

ClevelandBay

Bowling GreenBay

B r o a dS o u n d

ShoalwaterBay

ForestBeach

Palm Island

Lucinda

InghamToobanna

TrebonneMacknade

Gladstone

Yeppoon

Emu Park

TannumSands

Miriam ValeBororen

Calliope

Proserpine

Mackay

Townsville

Bowen

Mount Morgan

Hughenden

Thalanga

Muttaburra

Ayr

Pallarenda

Giru

Mingela

JalloondaDeeragun

BrandonHome Hill

Clare

Collinsville

Merinda

Airlie

Bloomsbury

Walkerston

Nebo

SarinaSarina Beach

Alpha Emerald

Springsure

Rockhampton

Clermont

St Lawrence

Marlborough

Moranbah

Dysart

Middlemount

Capella

BlackwaterDingo

Bluff

Woorabinda

BananaBiloela

ThangoolMoura

Greenvale

Torrens Creek

Pentland

Dalrymple

Isisford

Aramac

Ilfracombe Jericho

Blackall

LongreachBarcaldine

Cardwell

Keppel Sands

Mount LarcomBoyne Island

ChartersTowers Cannonvale

Carmila

Tieri

Duaringa

Baralaba

Gracemere

BurdekinCatchment

Eaglefield Creek

B rokenR

iver

Con

nors

Rive

r

Fo xC

reek

BeeC

reek

Roset t

aC

re

ek

Bogie

River

Logan Creek

B owen River

AlphaCreek

Allingham Cr eek

Callide Cr eek

Pla

netC

reek

DawsonR

i ver

Cla rk eRive r

Com

etR

iverBa

salt R

iver

Campa spe R iver

Mim

osa Creek

Mis

take

Cre

e k

Herbe rt R iver

Lolworth Creek

NativeC

omp

anion

Creek

Theres a Creek

Belyando

River

Isaac River

Fitzroy River

Cape River

No goaR

i ver

Mackenz ieRiver

Suttor R

iver

Bu

rdekinRiver

0 30 60 90 120 150

Kilometres

C:\WORKING\3_WORK\Nyssa\GBR catchments map_A4P_v03_Jeremy_Edit_Burdekin.mxd23 August 2017

Page of

LanduseNature conservationForestry

GrazingIrrigated croppingDryland croppingSugarcaneHorticultureBananaDairyUrban and other intensive usesMiningStream/water inc. damsOther

Legend

!(T

MangroveSeagrass

Sewage treatment plant (STP)Sugar mill(B

[

Ý

Z Dams and weirs

GBR WHA boundary

CatchmentHighwaysSecondary roads

Modelled water quality pollutant loadsThe Burdekin catchment is the second largest contributor of anthropogenic dissolved inorganic nitrogen loads in the region, and is one of the five highest contributors of the 35 catchments that drain to the Great Barrier Reef. Most dissolved inorganic nitrogen comes from sugarcane.

The Burdekin catchment is the largest contributor of anthropogenic fine sediment loads of the 35 catchments that drain to the Great Barrier Reef. It delivers more than double the loads of any other region. Most comes from gully erosion in grazing areas. Independent sediment-tracing studies indicate that the Bowen and Upper Burdekin sub-catchments have sediment erosion rates that are much greater than the long-term natural geological rates: 7.5 times greater in the Bowen, and 3.6 times greater in the Upper Burdekin.

reefplan.qld.gov.au

2025 water quality targets and priorities

End-of-catchment anthropogenic load reductions required from 2013 baseline

Pesticides

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN)

Fine sediment Particulate phosphorus (PP)

Particulate nitrogen (PN)

60% 100 tonnes

30% 840 kilotonnes

30% 440 tonnes

30% 720 tonnes

To protect at least

99% of aquatic species at the end of catchment

The 2025 targets aim to reduce the amounts of fine sediments, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and pesticides flowing to the reef. Each target for sediment and nutrients is expressed as: (a) the percentage load reduction required compared with the 2013 estimated load of each pollutant from the catchment; and (b) the load reductions required in tonnes. Progress made since 2013 will count towards these targets. Previously reported progress between 2009 and 2013 has already been accounted for when setting the targets. The pesticide target aims to ensure that concentrations of pesticides at the end of each catchment are low enough that 99% of aquatic species are protected. The targets are ecologically relevant for the Great Barrier Reef, and are necessary to ensure that broadscale land uses have no detrimental effect on the reef’s health and resilience.

A high percentage reduction target may not necessarily mean it is the highest priority. The priorities (ranked by colour) reflect the relative risk assessment priorities for water quality improvement, based on an independent report, the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement. The priorities reflect scientific assessment of the likely risks of pollutants damaging coastal and marine ecosystems.

Water quality relative priority

Very high

High

Moderate

Low

Minimal

Not assessed

Most anthropogenic dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loads come from sugarcane, dryland cropping and irrigated cropping areas.

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen

HorticultureUrban

Sugarcane Drylandcropping

Irrigatedcropping

Most anthropogenic fine sediment loads come from grazing and streambank erosion areas.

Fine sediment

Grazing Streambankerosion

Drylandcropping

SugarcaneIrrigated cropping

Forestry

Most sediment erosion comes from gullies and hillslopes in the Burdekin catchment.

Types of sediment erosion

Gully Hillslope Streambank

0% 100