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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To achieve continuous improvement in water quality for Tasmania, and improve the capacity of water managers and the community in general to make well-informed decisions about water quality.

Recommendation

It is recommended that:

• the process for setting Water Quality Objectives is evaluated.
   
• Water Management Plans facilitate the achievement of Water Quality Objectives.
   
• regional NRM plans include strategies to address local water quality issues both in-situ and at the source.
   
• the Tasmanian Surface Water Quality Monitoring Strategy is implemented.
   
• a centralised and regularly updated database of water quality, which builds on initiatives including HYDROL, SPLASHBACK, and W.I.R.E.D, is developed and maintained.
   
• the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment undertake State of River Reports to improve catchment scale understanding of water resource issues as required to inform NRM Regional Strategies and Water Management Planning.
   

Key issues

Water quality is a measure of the life-sustaining nature of Tasmania's inland water resources and the potential of that water. It is also a key indicator of sustainability. Water that is clean and safe for uses such as recreation, irrigation and stock watering is crucial for human settlements. Healthy waterways are also necessary for maintaining downstream aquatic habitats-from headwaters to estuaries.

Supporting information for this recommendation is contained in Water Quality and Land Use and Inland Waters Issue Reports. However, there are relationships between water quality and a number of theIssue reports within the Inland Waters and Wetlands Chapter. For example, riparian vegetation performs critical environmental services, including acting as a buffer to protect against land use effects on water quality.

Other chapters in the report document other potential influences on water quality and consequences of changes in water quality. The quality of drinking water, which is subject to many of the same catchment and land use pressures as water quality in general, is reviewed separately in the Settlements Chapter.

What has been achieved 1998-2003

There has been progress in improving water quality since the previous SoE Report in 1997. Some of the key programs and initiatives include the following.

• The Board of Environmental Management and Pollution Control has been setting Protected Environmental Values for surface waters since early 1999, as required by the State Policy on Water Quality Management 1997. Environmental values have been set to recognise the value of our ecosystems, but also to recognise the recreational, agricultural and industrial values and uses of waterways. These values and uses will be used in the development and implementation of NRM plans for Tasmania. Proposed Protected Environmental Values for all catchments within the Tasmanian mainland, King Island and the Furneaux Group have been released progressively and all public consultation meetings have been completed.
   
• A review of the soil and water provisions of the Forest Practices Code was conducted. In response to this, a project was funded by the FIAT/FT Research Fund and the Forest Practices Board. The project explored the development of a method to classify headwater streams in Tasmanian river catchments according to their inherent vulnerability to erosion and sediment deposition. It sought to help adapt forestry management actions to different stream types. The Forest Practices Board is also separately developing draft guidelines for forest practices in relation to the protection of headwater streams.
   
• Emission limit guidelines have been prepared for sewage treatment plants, fruit and vegetable processing activities, meat premises and pet food works, and intensive animal husbandry activities.
   
• Environmental guidelines have been prepared for the use of recycled water in Tasmania.
   
• Soil management guidelines for agriculture, and for the management of erosion and stormwater from disturbed land, have been released.
   
• A Draft State Strategy for Stormwater Management has been released.
   
• The Tasmanian Surface Water Quality Monitoring Strategy (2003) has been finalised to allow for the more efficient integration of water quality monitoring and data management across the State.
   
• Through the water infrastructure program in Tasmania, new water quality and water flow monitoring site installations are occurring.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Inland Waters and Wetlands' are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets and baseline data are available in the latest Progress Report June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together.

Related Issue Reports