Namoi Catchment Action Plan 2010–2020beltempo.com.au/documents/NamoiCAPSummary.pdf · catchment, in terms of their reliance on natural resources, and how they can contribute to

Namoi Catchment Action Plan 2010–2020

Summary

Namoi CatChmeNt aCtioN PlaN 2010–2020 Namoi CatChmeNt aCtioN PlaN Summary 2010–2020

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Namoi Catchment action Plan

General summary

The Namoi Catchment Action Plan (CAP) 2010–2020 has been developed to meet the vision of ‘resilient communities and landscapes for the future’. Realising this vision will mean more choices for current and future generations in the Namoi Catchment.

This document outlines why the CAP was needed, how it was developed, what it includes and how it will guide investment decisions. The full CAP and the supplementary documents on which the CAP is based are available from the Namoi Catchment Management Authority.

Introduction to the Namoi CatchmentThe Namoi Catchment is located in Northern New South Wales and covers about 42,000 km2. Originally inhabited by the Kamilaroi people, today it is home to about 100,000 people, most of whom are located along the Namoi River and its tributaries between Tamworth and Narrabri. Twelve local Aboriginal Land Councils represent some 6500 people. The Namoi Catchment extends some 350 km from the Tablelands and Slopes of Woolomin and Murrurundi in the south and east, to the open plains around Walgett in the west.

The Namoi Catchment is a wealthy agricultural area, with summer dominant rainfall that allows cropping and pasture growth all year round across most of the catchment. The climate supports the production of summer and winter crops, as well as grazing enterprises. In the Plains region in particular, surface water and groundwater support significant irrigation farms.

The catchment lies over the Gunnedah coal basin, which holds large reserves of coal and coal seam gas (CSG). A number of open-cut and underground mines are already in production, and CSG exploration is continuing, especially in the west of the catchment near the Pilliga.

The need for an action planCatchment Management Authorities (CMAs) are responsible for developing plans for the management of the natural resources in their region. Thus, the Namoi CMA developed the Namoi Catchment Action Plan (CAP) 2010–2020 to guide the management of the natural resources of the Namoi Catchment. This new CAP was needed because of major changes in community knowledge, expectations and attitudes about management of natural resources, and because a great deal of new information about the natural resources of the Namoi Catchment had become available.

Namoi CMA Catchment

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The 2010–2020 CAP, which was produced in collaboration with a range of different partners, was approved in 2011 and updated in 2013. To encompass all the resources of the catchment, the CAP covers four themes:

• biodiversity – the variety of all life forms in the catchment (e.g. plants and animals, and the ecosystems in which they live)

• land – the soils and landscapes of the catchment• water – the surface water and groundwater systems

in the catchment, including riparian vegetation (i.e. along river banks), organisms that live in water, quality of water and access to water (for people and the environment)

• people – the social and economic elements of the catchment, in terms of their reliance on natural resources, and how they can contribute to increasing resilience or act as a driver of change.

A new approachWe are in a time of rapid change and high uncertainty, as evidenced by recent experiences with prolonged droughts, declining water availability, extreme weather events and longer term, uncertainty about the future climate. In developing the 2010–2020 CAP, an approach was needed that would be appropriate for managing the catchment in the face of high uncertainty and constant change. Resilience thinking was seen as the best approach.

Resilience thinking is based on the idea that ecological systems (land, water, plants and animals) are inextri-cably linked with the social systems of people (societies); that is, all life exists within a social-ecological system. Because these systems are in a constant state of flux, we need to be able to work with change. There are two main types of changes:

• drivers – these are slow patterns of change; for example, young people leaving an area, resulting in a community with a higher proportion of elderly people

• shocks – these are more drastic changes; for example, extreme weather-related events such as bushfires and floods.

A system is said to be resilient if it can cope with such drivers and shocks, but not lose its structure and function. By recognising and embracing change, a system is more resilient (i.e. less vulnerable) and better able to create new opportunities for the future. Diversity – of species, people, skills, industries and so on – is one important feature of a resilient system.

The point at which change causes a system to become something new and different is called a threshold. Some thresholds are critical – once they have been crossed, it is generally difficult for the system to return to its previous state (i.e. to how things used to be). The resilience thinking approach involves identifying critical thresholds for a social-ecological system, and then setting

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related targets and actions that, if successfully imple-mented, will ensure that the thresholds are not crossed. It is also necessary to work out who will deliver on each particular action and who will be instrumental in driving that initiative.

An important part of resilience thinking is adaptive management, which involves testing and checking results and assumptions as new information comes to light i.e. tracking progress (through monitoring and evaluation) to ensure that thresholds and targets are reasonable, and actions are effective. This regular monitoring and evaluation means that thresholds, targets and actions can be adapted if necessary.

Applying resilience thinking to the Namoi CatchmentAs explained above, the resilience thinking approach was seen as the most appropriate for developing the 2010–2020 CAP. Rather than attempting to cover every possible issue that might arise, the CAP focuses on the most critical (i.e. essential) assets for each of the four themes. These are the assets that should be the highest priority when managing the natural resources of the catchment. The first step in the process was to assess the resilience of the catchment, by collecting the evidence to understand what is critical to the catchment’s

function and exactly where we are in relation to relevant thresholds, so that future management can be evidence based to guide future management.

Based on a series of consultations in early 2010 attended by relevant experts and Namoi CMA staff, the assessment identified the current trends in the catchment in relation to the four themes, the drivers and shocks likely to affect the catchment, and the critical thresholds. As part of ongoing adaptive management, the CAP and the initial resilience assessment – Supplementary document 1: The first step – preliminary resilience assessment of the Namoi Catchment – were updated in 2013 to reflect 2 years of further analysis, review and evidence. Also, two additional resilience assessments were undertaken:

• Supplementary document 2: Sub-regional resilience assessment of the Namoi Catchment, which looks at resilience of the social-ecological systems (the Tablelands, Slopes and Plains sub-regions) of the Namoi Catchment, with particular emphasis on socio-economics (community reference panels from each sub-region were an important part of this process)

• Supplementary document 3: General resilience assessment of the Namoi Catchment, which takes an initial look at resilience of the Namoi Catchment, based on socio-economic variables.

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The preliminary resilience assessment identified the main trends in the catchment for the four themes and provided greater understanding of the catchment. Some of the main points that emerged were that:

• people of the Namoi Catchment rely heavily on their natural resources for economic activity, wellbeing and social cohesion

• most of the natural resources – biodiversity, soils and water – are declining in both condition and availability

• drivers of change include the expansion of mining and other extractive industries, increasing costs of agricultural production and climate change; possible shocks include prolonged dry periods, policy shocks (e.g. the Murray-Darling Basin Plan) and the slowing global economy

• there is a strong dependence on agriculture within the catchment, but agriculture is vulnerable to declines in soil health and water quality and availability, and to commodity price and policy shocks

• soil health and water quality and availability are likely to change in response to the slow driver of climate change

• the capacity to adapt is the most important attribute that will help people in times of change or crisis caused by shocks, and will be particularly important in agriculture and related industries.

Creating a plan to meet the visionThe CAP outlines the actions that will be taken – by government, community and industry partners – in managing the resources of the catchment in such a way as to give the best chance of realising the vision of a resilient catchment. Thus, the action plan is based on the thresholds and targets for each of the four themes identified through the various resilience assessments, and the related actions. The critical thresholds, targets and the actions necessary to achieve the targets are detailed in the table on page 7. The CAP itself also includes infor-mation about who will be involved in implementing and leading each action. The possible priorities and actions outlined in the CAP were developed and refined in collaboration with a wide range of different organisations to reflect the important principle of whole-of-government and community collaboration that underlies the CAP.

In working out where to invest to meet the vision for the catchment, the Namoi CMA assesses the thresholds identified in the CAP in terms of their contribution to catchment function across all four themes and catego-rises them as high, medium or low priority. For the highest priority assets, the next step is to assess how close they are to the critical threshold, how they are trending and within what time frame they might breach the threshold. Based on this assessment, the Namoi

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CMA drafts, assesses and ranks investment programs in terms of their impact; social, economic and environmental effects; achievability; and time lag to benefit and costs. An initial draft implementation plan is then developed and submitted to the Namoi CMA Board for approval. Once funding availability is known and board endorsement is secured, a final investment plan can be developed. On approval of the plan, detailed program planning can be completed and programs implemented and then evaluated (mid-year and end of year), to then inform the next round of program planning.

Namoi CMA intends to fund its involvement in the actions listed in this CAP through the successful development of investment plans for NSW and Australian Government funding bids. The potential actions include on-ground projects, community engagement, knowledge devel-opment, agricultural extension, and monitoring and evalu-ation. The actual amount of on-ground investment that Namoi CMA can deliver will depend on the size of the funding allocation in any given financial year. However, implementing the plan is not just the responsibility of the Namoi CMA; everyone from individuals to organisations (public or private) can look after their catchment, river or backyard.

Namoi CMA continues to investigate and trial new ways to better prioritise targets and actions, and to integrate social and economic considerations into program priorities. In the future it may be possible to include a more in-depth community and whole-of-government consultation process in the development of investment plans. Currently, the CAP operates as a strategic framework within which to develop targets that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based

(SMART) as part of annual investment programs and other collaborative initiatives with stakeholders and partners. This process has been reviewed annually since its devel-opment in 2010, as part of adaptive management. Every 2 years, Namoi CMA will deliver an updated version of the CAP to the community and stakeholders for consultation and input (this document represents the first of these updates). A particular goal for Namoi CMA is to establish relationships and work with planning authorities to ensure that the CAP is considered in their deliberations.

The legislation and governance arrangements regarding the management of natural resources in NSW are currently undergoing great changes. Of particular signifi-cance is the formation of new Local Land Services (LLS) organisations to bring together various entities – CMAs, Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, and parts of the NSW Department of Primary Industry – and incorporate management of natural resources, agricultural extension, biosecurity and emergency response functions. LLS organisations will become active from 1 January 2014. The Namoi Catchment will be almost entirely included in the North West LLS region. CAPs will, however, continue to guide natural resource management and will inform future planning for LLS.

Find out moreThe full CAP and supplementary documents are available from the Namoi Catchment Management Authority:PO Box 546 Gunnedah NSW 2380 Telephone: 02 6742 9220 Fax: 02 6742 4022www.namoi.cma.nsw.gov.au

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1. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed for maintenance and improvement of native woody vegetation extent in sub-catchments approaching either the 70% or 30% thresholds.

2. Encourage planning authorities to take account of this target and thresholds when approving any land-use change.

3. Ensure that proximity to critical thresholds is considered in the negotiation of property vegetation plans to avoid any reduction in woody vegetation extent in priority sub-catchments.

4. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed in accordance with the NSW biodiversity strategy and statewide native vegetation management requirements.

5. Complete state and transition models to explore invasive native scrub dynamics and interaction with woody vegetation thresholds.

6. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed for maintenance of priority regional vegetation community extent including improving condition.

7. Ensure that proximity to critical thresholds is considered in the negotiation of property vegetation plans to avoid any reduction in priority regional vegetation community extent.

8. Complete state and transition models for priority ecosystems that establish thresholds of regeneration capacity.

9. Invest in education, extension and community engagement and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of the importance of woody vegetation to biodiversity.

10. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed in accordance with the NSW biodiversity strategy and statewide native vegetation management requirements where applicable to maintain sustainable populations of a range of native fauna species.

11. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed for maintenance of priority regional vegetation community extent, including improving condition to maintain sustainable populations of a range of native fauna species (.

12. Encourage planning authorities to take account of this target and thresholds when approving any land-use change.

13. Ensure that proximity to critical thresholds is considered in the negotiation of property vegetation plans to avoid any reduction in priority regional vegetation community extent to maintain sustainable populations of a range of native fauna species.

14. Invest in education, extension and community engagement and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of the importance of regional vegetation communities to sustainable fauna populations.

15. Survey threatened species and draw linkages between regional vegetation communities or other appropriate predictors of occurrence and species distribution.

16. Apply resilience thinking concepts to individual

1. By 2020, there is an increase in native vegetation extent and vegetation does not decrease to less than 70% in less cleared sub-catchments and 30% in over-cleared sub-catchments, and no further regional vegetation community decreases to less than 30% extent, as identified by 2010 baseline.

2. By 2020, maintain sustainable populations of a range of native fauna species by ensuring that no further regional vegetation community decreases to less than 30% extent, as identified by 2010 baseline.

3. By 2020, contribute to the recovery of priority viable threatened species, populations and communities.

4. By 2020, no new invasive species are established in the catchment and the spread of key emerging invasive plants and animals is limited.

High

High

High

Medium

Medium

Medium

High

Medium

• Woody vegetation cover at 30% in cleared sub-catchments.

• Woody vegetation cover at 70% in intact sub-catchments.

• Regional vegetation communities maintain over 30% original extent remaining.

• Population size of individual threatened species.

• Habitat area for individual threatened species or population.

• Area of endangered or vulnerable community.

• Presence of individual invasive species.

• Population extent of individual invasive species.

Critical thresholds and their associated targets and actions in the Namoi Catchment Action Plan

Critical thresholds Confidence level

Biodiversity

Targets Actions

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species by exploring individual species thresholds regarding population sizes and habitat size.

17. Decrease threatening processes where intervention will directly improve recovery in line with revised priority action statements and threat abatement plans.

18. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed in accordance with the NSW biodiversity strategy and statewide native vegetation management requirements.

19. Invest in education, extension and community engagement and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of viable threatened species, populations and ecological communities.

20. Identify and assess level of threat of new invasive plants and animals entering or becoming established in the catchment.

21. Establish or link with networks of land and water managers, invasive species experts and stakeholders to establish priority listings and early warning procedures for new invasive plants and animals entering the catchment.

22. Increase the area of private and public land and water where strategic control measures are implemented to limit the spread of key emerging invasive plants and animals.

23. Reduce widespread invasive species below critical levels at sites where threatened species or endangered ecological communities are impacted in areas where this is technically, logistically and economically feasible to do so (in line with threat abatement plans and NSW biodiversity strategy priorities for widespread weeds where applicable).

24. Invest in education, extension and community engagement and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of potential new invasive species.

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• Groundcover is at least 70%.

1. By 2020, there is an improvement in soil health as measured by an increase in groundcover at the paddock, sub-catchment and catchment scales.

25. Invest in methodologies to establish groundcover baselines at the catchment scale, to allow monitoring of groundcover levels at the catchment and sub-catchment scale.

26. Invest in understanding interactions between improving groundcover and potential impacts on surface water run-off and groundwater recharge.

27. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed for 70% groundcover by investing in education, extension, knowledge products and community engagement in soil health outcomes.

28. Invest in changed land management practices on sodic and high-value soils at risk from declining soil organic matter or soil structure, to improve groundcover and soil health.

29. Increase existing land manager levels of awareness and understanding of salinity risks, monitoring and adaptive management and continue to invest in knowledge that will provide information about the dynamics of salinity in the catchment.

30. Increase the area of private and public land to be managed in accordance with formal best management practice.

Land

Water

Medium

High

High

High

High

High

Medium

High

31. Invest in data collection and analysis to establish where extraction is over 33% of natural flow on a sub-catchment scale.

32. Support restructure, water efficiency programs, water planning and implementation programs and investment in reductions in water entitlement and allocations where extraction is over 33% of natural flow on a sub-catchment scale.

33. Develop improved understanding of the role of farm dams in intercepting water from the catchment.

34. Build adaptive capacity to reduce reliance on surface water sources that are unlikely to remain reliable under climate change scenarios or need to be reduced to meet river health objectives.

35. Increase the area of river reach that is managed to maintain or recover geomorphic condition where recovery potential is high or geomorphic condition is good against benchmark condition.

36. Identify areas in good geomorphic condition that are acting as key refugia, and prioritise for protection.

37. Increase the area of river reach that is managed to maintain and improve riparian vegetation condition and extent.

38. Invest in implementing the actions of the Wee Waa floodplain plan as a NOW priority for floodplain functional contributions to natural flow, duration and frequency.

39. Support NOW valley-wide floodplain planning as a priority in improving floodplain functional contributions to natural flow, duration and frequency.

40. Invest in education, extension and community engagement, and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of riparian health thresholds and priorities.

41. Invest in understanding of groundwater aquifers, recharge and likely impacts of climate change, including supporting the Namoi water study.

42. Model aquifers across the catchment, and map

• Surface water flow quantity is at 66% of natural (pre-development) condition with a sensitivity to natural frequency and duration.

• Geomorphic condition is good (against benchmark condition).

• Recruitment of riparian vegetation is higher than attrition of individual trees, shrubs or groundcover species.

• Agricultural and urban supply aquifers do not cross into lower levels of beneficial use regarding quality.

• Alluvial aquifers are not drawn down below long-term historical maximum drawdown levels.

• Groundwater levels do not drop below the rooting depth of groundwater-dependent vegetation ecosystems.

• Wetland is not drained, dammed or otherwise physically modified.

1. By 2020, there is an improvement in the condition of those riverine ecosystems that have not crossed defined geomorphic thresholds as at the 2010 baseline.

2. By 2020, there is an improvement in the ability of groundwater systems to support groundwater-dependent ecosystems and designated beneficial uses.

3. By 2020, there is an improvement in the condition of regionally important wetlands and the extent of those wetlands is maintained.

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those areas of the catchment vulnerable to system changes, such that groundwater supplies will become unreliable due to climate change or impacts of resource management.

43. Model aquifers across the catchment to identify those people and industries that are currently relying on possibly disconnected aquifers that have no likelihood of recharge.

44. Build adaptive capacity to reduce reliance on disconnected aquifers or those aquifers unlikely to remain reliable under climate change scenarios.

45. Investigate and support improved management of semi-connected (either to surface water or other aquifers) alluvial aquifers to ensure that extraction does not cause disconnection.

46. Invest in understanding the suggested threshold relating to groundwater-dependent ecosystems, particularly terrestrial vegetation.

47. Invest in education, extension and community engagement, and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved understanding of groundwater health thresholds and priorities.

48. Invest in data collection and analysis to establish where extraction is over 33% of natural flow on a sub-catchment scale and impacting on wetland health.

49. Support restructure, water efficiency programs, water planning and implementation programs and investment in reductions in water entitlement and allocations where extraction is over 33% of natural flow on a sub-catchment scale and impacting on wetland health.

50. Invest in implementing the actions of the Wee Waa floodplain plan as a priority for floodplain functional contributions to wetland health.

51. Support valley-wide floodplain planning as a priority in improving floodplain functional contributions to wetland health.

52. Invest in education, extension and community engagement, and develop knowledge products to facilitate improved management and understanding of the importance of wetlands.

People

• There is no single set of clearly defined thresholds relating to people, but the generalities of building resilient social capital by increasing adaptive capacity and sustaining or improving wellbeing are considered important priorities.

1. Natural resource management decisions contribute to social wellbeing.

2. There is an increase in the adaptive capacity of the catchment community.

Medium 53. Invest in understanding and defining social wellbeing in the Namoi Catchment.

54. Develop a robust set of indicators to measure social wellbeing.

55. Develop social-ecological sub-region boundaries (Tablelands, Slopes and Plains) and engage communities and science in a resilience assessment at this scale.

56. Develop knowledge products that provide for and assist in balanced (social, economic and environmental) decision-making.

57. Engage with the community and encourage debate about system shocks, drivers, critical thresholds and interventions.

58. Engage with stakeholders and natural resource managers to improve understanding of targets, thresholds and interventions.

59. Improve access to country for the Aboriginal community.

60. Develop a shared understanding of targets, drivers, thresholds and appropriate adaptive capacity

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interventions.61. Develop a robust set of indicators to measure

adaptive capacity.62. Engage with stakeholders and existing social

networks to build partnerships that will develop a collective understanding of adaptive capacity in the catchment, and appropriate interventions to assist people to withstand shocks and slow drivers of change.

63. Identify communities that are vulnerable due to reliance on natural resource assets that may have already crossed critical thresholds or be at risk from system changes such as climate change. Share this information with human services and local government.

64. Ensure that information moves through the catchment about shocks and drivers, and how they are likely to affect the people of the catchment.

65. Invest in supplying information about natural resources and how they underpin human activity, including the implications of crossing thresholds.

66. Deliver education, skills and knowledge regarding natural resources and the resilience conceptual framework, including working with schools and young people.

Documents

Namoi Catchment Action Plan 2010–2020beltempo.com.au/documents/NamoiCAPSummary.pdf · catchment, in terms of their reliance on natural resources, and how they can contribute to