Message from the Ministers

Message from the Ministers

The Australian, Queensland, South Australian and Northern Territory Governments are working together to protect and manage the Lake Eyre Basin.

In the tenth year since its formation, the Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum, which oversees the implementation of the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement, is pleased to provide you with this report on another year of remarkable events in the Basin.

While the continuation of heavy rainfall across the Basin has again highlighted the ecological and cultural values of this unique part of Australia, other important events have also occurred which emphasise the importance of governments, industries and communities working together to manage and protect the Basin into the future.

Providing a forum to explore these future directions, the 2010 Lake Eyre Basin Conference, held in Alice Springs in September, was a resounding success. The conference theme, The future of the Lake Eyre Basin—a participatory conference, truly reflected the generous contribution participants made towards looking at what the future of the Basin might hold and how governments, industries and communities might build capacity to adapt and respond.

The outputs of the conference will be used to guide informed decision making on the strategic management of the Basin and help to identify the threats and opportunities that are likely to shape the Basin’s future.

In 2010, implementation of the Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment commenced. This long-term monitoring program is designed to assess the condition of the Basin’s watercourses and their related natural resources. The Rivers Assessment will be guided by a Strategic Adaptive Management approach which will help stakeholders to collaboratively determine the key indicators to be monitored, as well as the triggers for appropriate management responses to changes that are detected in the system.

Natural Resource Management groups have also directed considerable effort to programs to strengthen community participation in the management of the Basin. This includes significant weed and pest control programs, rare plant and wildlife conservation, and community awareness and engagement programs.

Another important event was the release of the updated Lake Eyre Basin Poster, which is widely recognised as the most effective means of raising the Australian public’s awareness of the Basin. The release of the poster is just one example of how a more coordinated Ministerial Forum communications plan is being used to engage with people like you about the Lake Eyre Basin.

We take this opportunity to express our thanks to members of the Lake Eyre Basin Community Advisory Committee and the Scientific Advisory Panel for their unstinting efforts in the important work being undertaken to create a sustainable future for the Basin.

Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities,the Hon Tony Burke MP(Chair)

Queensland Minister for Finance, Natural Resources and the Arts, the Hon Rachel Nolan MP

South Australian Minister for Environment and Conservation, the Hon Paul Caica MP

Northern Territory Minister for Natural Resources,Environment and Heritage, Mr KarlHampton MLA

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From the Chairs

The Community Advisory Committee seeks out community views on matters related to the Lake Eyre Basin Agreement, provides community advice to the Ministerial Forum and relays decisions back to the community.

Chair of the Community Advisory Committee - Mr Angus Emmott

This third, big flood year in a row has brought water into Lake Eyre from all major eastern, western and northern tributaries, creatingan unusually sustained ‘boom’ in this boom-and-bust system.

Cooper Creek has flowed its entire length for the first time in decades, and beneficial flooding across the Basin is giving the environment and the grazing and tourism industries a major boost. Rural fire brigades are also anticipating a busy year as grass and other fuel loads reach peaks that have not been seen for some years.

The floods have again highlighted the risk of uncontrolled water pollution from point sources such as mine sites, and have led to a surge in pest plants like Parthenium. These impacts sharpen our obligation to work together across the Basin for proactive management in response to change, and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is pleased to support Strategic Adaptive Management as a framework for monitoring and managing the Basin’s water and land resources. Following a future-focussed Lake Eyre Basin Conference in 2010, we are now discussing long term visions and objectives with stakeholders across the Basin.

A continuing rise in energy demand has led to a boom in coal seam gas exploration, increasing the urgency for government policy and regulation to stay abreast of the quickening pace of development, and raising concerns about potential impacts on surface and ground water in the Basin. At the same time, the Queensland Government has consulted widely both on its ten-year review of the Cooper Creek Water Resource Plan, and its proposal to declare Cooper Creek a ‘Wild River’ for the longer term protection of rivers in the Basin. These issues promise to have far-reaching implications for the Lake Eyre Basin.

Professor Stuart Bunn, retiring Chair of the Lake Eyre Basin Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP), has been involved in the Lake Eyre Basin process since its very beginning. On behalf of the CAC and the Lake Eyre Basin community, I would like to thank Stuart for his huge contribution, and for his membership and wise leadership of the SAP.

Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel - Professor Stuart Bunn

With widespread flooding across much of Australia last summer causingcommunity concern (thoughrelief for many farmers and graziers), the spectacular floods in the Basin may not have attracted the media attention they deserved. Significant river flows once again stimulated an impressive ‘boom’ response from plants and animals in the vast expanse of channels and wetlands in the Basin, a reminder of the importance of maintaining flow connections between rivers and their floodplains.

It is tempting in times of considerable ‘excess’ to think that our water problems have now gone away. However, it is essential that we take a long-term view and ensure our planning and decision making is robust in the face of cycles of flood and drought.

The Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM)approach, adopted by the LEB Ministerial Forum last year, provides an ideal framework for management in the face of such uncertainty and to deal with emerging issues, such as the expansion of the coal seam gas industry. The Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) has been guiding the development of the SAM approach in close collaboration with the CAC and other Basin stakeholders, and overseeing implementation of the Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment, an integralcomponent of the SAM process. Further engagement with industry, researchers and community will be important for adequate resourcing of the Rivers Assessment program in the future. The SAP will also continue to develop the Lake Eyre Basin Knowledge Strategy, as priority issues are identified through the SAM process.

Regrettably, this will be my last report as Chair. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Lake Eyre Basin community in this role and thank my fellow SAP members for their support and contributions, particularly Mark Stafford Smith and Geoff Lawrence, who are also completing their terms with the SAP. I also thank the Chair of the CAC, Angus Emmott, for his friendship and sage advice over the past years.

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Basin floods fill Lake Eyre... again!

People of the Basin describe their experiences and observations of the ‘boom’ times.

The Lake Eyre Basin is a unique river system which is home to valuable and diverse flora and fauna. So high is the unpredictability of wet and dry periods in this part of Australia that the variability of river flows in the Basin is higher than anywhere else in the world.

Sharon Oldfield runs Cowarie Station on the Warburton Creek, north-east of Lake Eyre and is a member of the Lake Eyre Basin Community Advisory Committee

“It’s amazing to see the wild flowers; some plants we have never seen before. The smell of fresh pasture is fantastic; it’s a nice place to be at the moment. We are confident that 85-90 per cent of perennial pasture has recovered after the long drought.

The floods have created quite a suite of challenges for us, especially when it comes to stock management. With the Cooper impassable from June 2010 to the end of January 2011, mustering had to be delayed till November when the days were already really hot. Then it rained again and we couldn’t get the stock out, so we had to let them go till late January.

The last time the Cooper came down was 20 years ago. It happened in October and people had had plenty of time to get stock work done; everything was finished before the creek flowed. But last year the Cooper came down in late May which meant that people didn’t have their stock in sale condition as they had just come out of the long drought.

Both the wet and the dry seasons have their challenges, but the long dry periods are the hardest – financially, personally and emotionally. The logistics of supply-runs during the wet are tricky, but you generally have time to prepare before floodwaters in Queensland come down the system. Once the river peaks at Birdsville, we have approximately eight weeks before the flood reaches us at Cowarie. Saying this, last year it rained every month, putting the roads out and creating ongoing freight issues and supply shortages. The road into Cowarie was closed for six months and the damage to roads around the region was, and continues to be, extensive.

Good regional and local property rains brought 22 inches to Cowarie last year. Three consecutive years of flooding have allowed pastoralists in this region to restock - it’s nice to see fat, shiny looking cattle now.

My long term view for the Basin is for a natural resources and people approach. People in this area are resourceful, practical and can adapt to change fairly quickly. Whole-of-Basin management needs to keep step with this natural ability of people out here. If services, infrastructure and facilities can be improved, more people will be attracted to the Basin, lessening the challenges to our pastoral industry, encouraging healthy communities and keeping the system working.”

Helen Quarmby is a regular traveller of the Lake Eyre Basin from Adelaide, South Australia.

“We didn’t give it a second thought when deciding to take a detour from Marree up the Birdsville Track on one of our trips from Alice Springs to Adelaide (August 2010). The Cooper was flowing and it had been many years since our last ride on the punt. The punt driver told us that this section of the creek was the deepest and narrowest part and we certainly felt some big waves as we crossed.

There were many pelicans and even seagulls, which is always fantastic to see. Once back on the Marree side of the punt we drove the track as far as we could and stopped for lunch. It was a lovely spot and gave us a better perspective of how much water there actually was - we were surrounded as far as you could see.”

The Cooper is Australia’s largest braided stream, best demonstrated in the vast section of ‘Channel Country’ which occurs along 400 kilometres of river channel just north of Windorah in Queensland to the South Australian border.

Richard Kingsford is a waterbird and wetland ecologist with the University of NSW and a member of the Lake Eyre Basin Scientific Advisory Panel

“Over more than 12 months, the floods on the Cooper have kept coming. Cooper Creek in the Lake Eyre Basin is one of the world’s most extensive desert river systems, starting up in central Queensland and flowing all the way to Lake Eyre. Floods flowed down its two major rivers, the Thomson and Barcoo, before coursing across the channel country near Windorah and down to South Australia.

The channel country and its 80 km wide floodplain have thrived as plants have germinated and sprouted new growth and waterbirds have nested. Near where the channel country ends and the river reforms as one main channel, the Cooper has filled Lake Yamma Yamma. Ever increasing numbers of native fish poured into the large lake, so it was not long before the pelicans arrived and started breeding.

This last year saw the Cooper flow down the Strzelecki Creek on to the lakes in the foothills of the Flinders Ranges and the floods that kept coming were enough to push it right through to Lake Eyre. Along the way, the river filled the vast network of the Coongie Lakes system and then the lower lakes of the Cooper, such as Lake Hope. In October 2010, the waterbirds were spread thinly across this extensive wetland system; however, they were in pairs or with broods.

Such a sequence of large floods may only come every 20-30 years, but when they do, the biodiversity capitalises and there are few more beautiful parts of Australia or the world.”

Mark Kleinschmidt is with DC Solutions, part of the Desert Channels Group, in Longreach Qld

“2010 was a year like few others across the Queensland section of the Lake Eyre Basin. Rainfall was recorded in every month and dry watercourses were not the norm. The Cooper system, for instance, is 1500 kilometres of normally dry channels, from its source in the White Mountains, 220 kilometres southwest of Townsville, to its mouth on the eastern shore of Lake Eyre.

The upper half of its catchment usually provides all the inflow while the lower half has a net loss. 2010 was different; it seemingly rained everywhere. At different times, there were significant local inflows in most areas.

At times, the system was simultaneously flowing its full length. This may not have happened since 1974 or even the 1950s.

In early December, cameraman, Alun Hoggett, flew the river from the tight White Mountain gorges to the vast expanse of Lake Eyre over a three day period, to record a phenomenon that very few have lived through and even fewer have witnessed first-hand. The resulting video article, ( captures the river at its sanguine best, and relates stories of its people, hardy souls who make their living in this boom and bust landscape.”

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Progress of Five Year Action Plan

Now in its second year of implementation, we report on some key achievements and progress under the Lake Eyre Basin Five Year Action Plan

To view the Five Year Action Plan, visit lebmf.gov.au/publications/pubs/leb-five-year-action-plan.pdf

Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment

The Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment, or LEBRA, is a long term monitoring program designed to assess the condition of the Basin’s watercourses and their related natural resources. In April 2010, the Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum adopted the LEBRAImplementation Plan and monitoring activities have now commenced.

The monitoring program involves hydrological, water quality and fish data collection from a number of sites across the Basin. Over time, hydrological and fish data can help to determine which waterholes retain water and whether they are important ecological refuges during drought, and whether fish species have been able to repopulate areas following floods.

At a number of sites, hydrological data loggers have been installed to measure changes in water depth and water salinity levels. Fish are collected using nets to record information such as species, numbers, size and disease presence. The occurrence of pest species, such as the cane toad, and evidence of camel damage is also recorded.

Following analysis of the 2011 data, the monitoring methods that were applied will be reviewed to guide program improvements in future years.

The LEBRA monitoring program will increase our understanding of the highly variable and naturally changeable condition of the Basin’s watercourses. But the vast area of the Basin and extreme hydrological variability pose considerable challenges for monitoring and further highlight the need for strong stakeholder engagement and effective collaboration, which is to be facilitated by the Strategic Adaptive Management approach.

“Environmental monitoring programmes are sometimes cynically viewed as little more than a useful way of documenting decline. To be much more than this, monitoring and reporting have to be developed as part of an adaptive process, which is clearly linked to identified values and objectives, is informed by new science, guides management actions and is responsive to changing perceptions and needs of stakeholders. The Lake Eyre Basin Rivers Assessment has been developed with this in mind.”