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Towamba and Genoa River
Community comment on the objectives

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• Overview
• Water quality and value of the resource
• River flows
• Major issues
• Existing programs

Overview

For the Towamba and Genoa river catchments a community discussion meeting attended by 40 people was held in Eden, a meeting for Aboriginal people was held at Narooma (attended by representatives of many south coast Aboriginal communities) and 19 written submissions were received. There was no community meeting held in the Genoa River catchment, which has most of its area in Victoria and will be considered in conjunction with the outcomes of the Snowy Water Inquiry (also affected by interstate issues).

Water quality and value of the resource

There was good community awareness of the importance of water to local industries such as aquaculture, fishing and tourism. Many people also indicated the importance of the forestry industry to the local area, although not all agreed.

The catchment community indicated support for all the environmental values proposed in the discussion paper (EPA 1997) and the corresponding objectives, with a healthy aquatic ecology (protection of aquatic ecosystems), safe swimming (primary contact recreation), having the water look clean and pleasant (visual amenity), being able to drink the water after little treatment (drinking water supply), and being able to use the water for household needs (homestead water supply) being particularly significant uses within the catchment.

People recognised that, in the main, they live in a catchment that is better than average in terms of ecological health, water quality and aquatic biodiversity. All wanted it kept that way, or improved. Most people wanted very good water quality, as indicated by their support for the proposed environmental values.

However, a broad range of environmental problems within the catchment was identified. Erosion and sedimentation and its impact on water quality were issues raised repeatedly. Direct access of stock to water in creeks and rivers, and the impacts of logging on downstream water quality and quantity (including at town water supply offtakes such as at Wyndham) were other significant environmental concerns.

There was uncertainty about the cost of achieving the desired water quality objectives. A number of people wanted local councils and government departments to enforce current legislation more strictly.

River flows

The responses indicated that the community considered that the most important river flow issues were use of water when the river was low or not flowing, and protection of the estuary. The streams, rivers and estuaries of this catchment are in many cases little altered from their natural condition, and people want this to continue.

There was also some community concern at the increase in riparian use of water as a result of rural subdivision. People who irrigate do not generally have
a store of water and restricting use at times of little flow would have a considerable impact on their business.

Major issues

The process of developing the objectives has identified major issues that need progressive action to achieve healthy and viable Towamba and Genoa river catchments. Comment on some of these is included in section 3, in the supporting information for the recommended objectives.

The following issues were identified during consultation as needing priority action:

• protecting drinking water quality through:
• providing suitable ground and river water for drinking, so that it needs only low-cost, minimal treatment by homesteads and small communities
• protecting subcatchment sources of drinking water, and limited river reaches upstream of licensed drinking water offtakes-in particular, from the effects of stock access to waterways and from logging (such as in the area above Wyndham)
• controlling stock access to streams-uncontrolled access is a problem, as it causes increased erosion and elevated nutrient and bacteria levels in waters
• improving the design, siting and maintenance of gravel roads, as needed, to overcome significant sedimentation in adjacent creeks and rivers
• improving the management of septic tanks to minimise their impact on water quality
• controlling erosion and sedimentation from all sources, to protect water quality, aquatic habitat and river flows
• providing more information to the community on managing aquatic environments and water resources. In particular, people wanted research into the impact of opening coastal lakes more often than is natural, and research into the impacts of forestry and land-clearing on flow regimes and water quality. They felt that the water quality and biological health information base needs to be further developed, building on current work being coordinated by the Far South Coast Catchment Management Committee and the Snowy-Genoa Catchment Management Committee.
• reducing the stress on rivers where this has been identified as an issue
• protecting rivers in the catchment with high-conservation values. As a guide, such rivers should not be allowed to further degrade in water quality or flow regime, and may require restoration where water quality is poor, the flow regime has changed, there has been loss or degradation of habitat, or any combination of these problems.
• improving the management of water extraction, particularly where subdivision of land is increasing riparian use of water. Some people require continued access to water at times of little or no flow, as on-farm storage of water is currently limited.
• reducing pressures on coastal lake systems-in particular by dealing with the sources of nutrients, suspended solids and bacteria. People would like further development that could affect the water quality of the coastal lakes to be avoided, and current upstream water quality impacts to be identified and ameliorated.
• providing information on the impact of logging on both water quality and water supply
• respecting Aboriginal spiritual and cultural values associated with rivers, creeks, wetlands and lakes; and traditional Aboriginal management roles in, and uses for, these areas-including as a source of traditional foods that are safe to eat
• enabling the community to be actively involved in developing future strategies and actions associated with the interim environmental objectives. Broad community education was also seen as having a useful role.

The South Coast water management committee is being set up for the lower and far south coast catchments. The committee will develop a water management plan to implement these objectives.

Existing programs

Some of the above issues already receive considerable attention and resources. Communities, through Landcare, Rivercare and other programs, are already undertaking important on-the-ground projects. The NSW Government has established and funded programs such as Blue-Green Algae Management, Estuary Management Program, Floodplain Management Program, Wetlands Action, the Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program and the NSW Shellfish Quality Assurance Program. At the Commonwealth level, related programs are being funded through Landcare and the Natural Heritage Trust.

Where programs such as these are already underway in the catchments, they should be acknowledged and, where possible, incorporated in water and estuary management plans.

This page was published 1 May 2006