ReefTrust Phase IV
Gully and Stream Bank
EROSION CONTROL PROGRAM
APPLICANT GUIDELINES 2016
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Table of Contents
Reef Trust Phase IV
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
KEY DOCUMENTS
KEY DATES
PART 1: ABOUT THE REEF TRUST PHASE IV GULLY AND STREAM BANK EROSION CONTROL PROGRAM
1.1Background
1.2 Delivery of the Program
1.3 Responsibilities
1.4 Objectives and outcomes
1.5 Grant funding available
1.6 Timing
PART 2: ELIGIBILITY
2.1 Eligibility Criteria
2.2 Applicant declarations
PART 3: WHAT WILL THE PROGRAM FUND
3.1 Mandatory requirements of a Project
3.2 Are multiple Applications allowed?
3.3 How much funding can be requested per Application?
3.4 What Project Activities will the Program fund?
3.5 What activities will NOT be funded?
3.6 Applicant/third party contributions
PART 4: APPLICATION AND PROJECT CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 Project planning and management
4.2 Mapping
PART 5: APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS
5.1 How to apply
5.2 Late Applications
5.3 Assessment Criteria
5.4 Assessment Process
5.5 Moderation Panel
PART 6: CONDITIONS OF FUNDING
6.1 The Funding Agreement
6.2 Commencement date
6.3 Payment of funding
6.4 Monitoring, reporting, record keeping and acquittal
6.5 Project delays
6.6 Project review
6.7Tax implications
6.8Insurance
6.9 Promotion and publicity
6.10 Termination for false or misleading information
PART 7: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
7.1 Applicant rights and responsibilities
Basis of submitting Application
7.2 The Australian Government’s rights and responsibilities
7.3 Disclosure
7.4 Privacy
7.5 Ownership
7.6 No contract
PART 8: MISCELLANEOUS
Return or destruction of Department information
Applicable law
Enquiries and complaints
APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY
APPENDIX B: USEFUL REFERENCES
Gully and Stream Bank Toolbox
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
These Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program Applicant Guidelines 2016 (the Guidelines) provide information to help organisations and individuals to prepare an Application for a Gully and Stream Bank remediation Project (Project) for the Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program (the Program).
Applicants are invited to submit an Application for a Project that targets priority connected systems containing high Gully density and/or vulnerable Stream Bank and riparian zones, in one or more of the priority Management Units within six priority Great Barrier Reef natural resource management regions.
To the extent that is feasible, Applications should demonstrate a focus within highly vulnerable priority areas in each Management Unit to achieve large scale change to sediment loss from Gully and Stream Bank channel systems.
To assist Applicants to plan their projects, these Guidelines and other key information will be available online from 14 November 2016. Applications must be submitted before the Closing Time of 2pm Queensland time (AEST) 15 December 2016.
KEY DOCUMENTS
The following documents are available online ( to help you prepare your Application for funding under the Program:
•Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program Applicant Guidelines 2016 (this document)
•Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program Application Form
•Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Toolbox
•Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program Frequently Asked Questions
•Reef Trust Phase IV Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program Sample Funding Agreement – Part A, B and C.
KEY DATES
Application Form and Guidelines available / Applications open / Applications close / Application assessment period / Projects announced / Acceptance of Funding Agreements / Projects must be completed before14 November 2016 / 14 November 2016 / 2pm Queensland Time (AEST) 15 December 2016 / January 2017 / January - February 2017 / January - February 2017 / 30 June 2022
PART 1: ABOUT THE REEF TRUST PHASE IV GULLY AND STREAM BANK EROSION CONTROL PROGRAM
1.1Background
The long term protection and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (the Reef) is the primary focus of the Australian Government’s $210 million Reef Trust. Reef Trust funds will be invested in a range of projects that address the highest priority threats to the Reef.
The Reef Trust is one of the key mechanisms assisting in the delivery of the Reef 2050 Plan, the Australian and Queensland Government’s overarching framework for protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef from 2015 to 2050. The Reef Trust focuses on known critical areas for investment – improving water quality and coastal habitat along the Great Barrier Reef, controlling the current outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, and protecting threatened and migratory species, particularly dugong and turtles.
The Reef Trust is delivered in a phased approach to ensure investments are informed by the most up to date information. Reef Trust investments are underpinned by a rigorous process that considers priority threats to be addressed, priority assets to be protected and the most cost-effective and relevant actions that will provide a lasting environmental benefit. This program is one investment in Reef Trust Phase IV. The Program builds on a Phase II investment being delivered across 2015-2018.
The Reef Trust Phase IV Investments have been informed by a Reef Trust gap analysis and were endorsed by the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel. The Australian Government has worked in collaboration with the Queensland Government, science organisations, industry and natural resource management stakeholders to identify these priority components. The process to identify the Phase IV investments is summarised in Figure 1 and described in further detail in the Reef Trust Investment Strategy Phase IV.
Figure 1: Approach for the identification of Phase IV Investment
The Scientific Consensus Statement 2013 indicated that sub-surface erosion (which includes Gully and Stream Bank Erosion) in the Reef catchments is the dominant source of fine sediment and associated nutrients delivered to the Reef lagoon. Fine sediment poses the highest risks to Reef ecosystems, as it reduces the amount of light available (which is central to the health and productivity of seagrasses and other plants) and can smother corals. The associated nutrients attached to sediments may also influence crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. With changed land-use, grazing, cane production and mining, there has been a significant increase in erosion across the landscape alongside the Reef.
This Program will focus on nutrient and sediment run-off from extensive land-uses, through remediating Gully and Stream Bank Erosion in high-priority Management Units of the Reef catchments that deliver large sediment loads to the Reef lagoon. It will deliver on the Reef 2050 Plan water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem health themes, the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, and Reef Trust outcomes.
These investments will complement and build on existing actions being delivered across the Reef catchments and will be aligned with the Queensland Government’s initiatives. Further information on the Reef Trust and Reef Trust Phase IV investments can be found here:
1.2 Delivery of the Program
The Program will address Gully and Stream Bank Erosion through coherent integrated projects delivered in connected systems of the identified high priority Management Units in the Burdekin, Fitzroy, Cape York, Mackay Whitsunday, Wet Tropics and Burnett-Mary natural resource management regions (Table 1; Figure 2). Gully and Stream Bank Erosion in these Management Units is known to deliver high rates of fine sediment to the Reef, as indicated by measurement and modelling of erosion and sediment transport processes.
The Program will provide funds through a competitive grants process to one or multiple Delivery Partners to work with landowners to deliver Gully and Stream Bank remediation actions across a range of landscapes in the Reef catchments.
Targeting Gully and Stream Bank Erosion with proactive interventions will build on the approaches undertaken in other programs, which have primarily focused on improving grazing land management practices to address soil erosion.
The Australian Government contribution to this Program will be $20 million over six years (2016-17 to 30 June 2022). This includes funding for technical advice and services to ensure the Program is informed by up-to-date information. The Australian Government is looking for Applications that consider appropriate collaborative and co-investment partnerships with the philanthropic sector, science organisations, and industry and natural resource management stakeholders for Phase IV investment, to complement and build on existing actions being delivered across the Reef catchments.
For this Program, erosion control Project Activities will focus on, where possible, targeting the causes and the ongoing effects of Gully and Stream Bank Erosion. Erosion control Project Activities will be implemented within connected Gully and Stream Channel systems (i.e. channel networks occurring within defined priority areas). Project Activities should be targeted (within each Management Unit) to high sediment contributing areas identified in the relevant Water Quality Improvement Plans (WQIPS) (as listed in Appendix B). Further information is also contained in the Gully and Stream Bank Toolbox. Focusing the spatial scale of erosion control activities to priority connected systems helps to ensure each project implements a sufficient scale of activities to potentially reduce runoff intensity and in-stream flow velocities. This helps to ensure erosion control efforts are more effective in reducing channel erosion and sediment transport to the Reef. Focusing Project Activities also helps to ensure that they are improving the ecological connectivity of riparian vegetation and habitat within landscapes.
Project Activities selected for Gully and Stream Bank Erosion control should focus on strategies which deliver the greatest reduction in sediment yield for the lowest cost per tonne of sediment and nutrient export avoided or reduced within connected systems in the landscape. Stream boundary erosion remediation should be undertaken acknowledging the landscape-scale causes of enhanced Stream erosion, with activities that address extended reaches of channels given preference over focused hard engineering works which fail to address the underlying causes of channel expansion.
Project Activities selected for Gully and Stream Bank Erosion control should emphasise revegetation strategies and low cost engineering options to erosion control, building on the latest research and knowledge to maximise cost effectiveness of erosion management at each site. Higher cost engineered solutions may be more suitable for stabilising rapidly eroding Gullies in particular areas of unstable soil, but must be justified on their cost-effectiveness of erosion control. Assisted natural regeneration should be considered, whereby weed and grazing management is employed to encourage the natural regeneration of native trees and shrubs. Applications may also address the stabilisation of in-channel storage deposits such as Gully deposits, benches and bars. Project Activities should include grazing and forage management only where that is important for controlling runoff into Gullies or for ensuring the legacy of Project Activities, focusing on landholder extension and not pasture renovation. Applications that include earthworks and engineering structures will need to justify that lower-cost solutions are not suitable. Applications should consider appropriate supporting Project Activities, such as fire and feral animal management, weed control, extension and community engagement, and land management agreements, to secure improvements in water quality and habitat connectivity into the future.
Delivery Partners are sought that will work with multiple properties and engage a number of parties (including landholders) to address Gully and Stream Bank Erosion to improve connectivity across the landscape. Options for long term maintenance of project outcomes should also be considered.
Applicants are encouraged to explore opportunities for co-investment as part of their Application. Identified Project partners that will be co-investing (in-kind or cash) must be outlined in the Application Form, including their roles and responsibilities. The successful Applicant will be responsible for the overall implementation of the Project.
This Program seeks to:
•reduce sediment entering the Reef from agricultural land-uses
•test the use of remediation approaches across a range of Gully and Stream Bank environments to guide investment in sediment reduction Programs across Reef catchments
•increase habitat protection in riparian habitat
•seek continual improvement of understanding and capacity to manage sediment losses
•build a legacy of capacity to address erosion from these landscapes into the future.
The Program will build on existing investments, research and activities on Gully and Stream Bank remediation, including:
•Reef Trust Phase II Gully Erosion Control Programme
•Reef Programme systems repair initiatives
•Reef Trust Phase III grazing land management components
•Queensland Government’s Major Integrated Projects in the Bowen Bogie Broken, the Tully Catchments and additional initiatives focused in Cape York.
Priority spatial areas targeted through this Program
Measurement and modelling of catchment erosion rates, sediment sources and sediment transport rates has indicated that the priority Management Units included in the Program make high rates of Gully and Stream Bank contributions (per hectare) to fine sediment export, as listed below (Table 1) and as highlighted by blue borders in Figure 2. Applicants are invited to submit an Application for a Project that targets one or more system(s) of Gullies and Stream Banks within one or more of the priority Management Units. The Gully and Stream Bank Toolbox provides additional detail within each Management Unit to areas contributing high rates of fine sediment on the Reef.
Table 1: Priority areas targeted through this Program.
Natural Resource Management Region / Management Unit / Project focusCape York / Normanby / Gully Erosion, including along major rivers. Stream Bank Erosion along minor streams
Wet Tropics / Herbert / Gully and Stream Bank Erosion
Burdekin / Bowen Bogie / Gully Erosion in the catchments and along Stream Banks
East Burdekin / Gully and Stream Bank Erosion
Lower Burdekin / Gully and Stream Bank Erosion
Don / Gully and Stream Bank Erosion
Fitzroy / Fitzroy / Gully and Stream Bank Erosion
Mackay Whitsunday A / Pioneer / Stream Bank Erosion
O’Connell / Stream Bank Erosion
Burnett-Mary / Mary / Stream Bank Erosion
A.Applications should extend across both the Pioneer and O’Connell Management Units.
Figure 2: The Priority areas for the Program are the blue highlighted catchment Management Units. Management Unit boundaries for each region are available as shape files by request to Reef Trust.
1.3 Responsibilities
Department of the Environment and Energy
The Department of the Environment and Energy has principal responsibility for the administration of the Program.
The Department is, amongst other things, responsible for:
•the development of these Guidelines, the Application Form and the Assessment Process/Plan
•assessment and moderation of Applications
•making recommendations to the Minister on Delivery Partner(s)
•administering contractual arrangements with the Technical Partner
•coordinating interactions between the Technical Partner and Delivery Partner(s)
•administering the operations of the Program in a timely, accountable and efficient manner
•monitoring the contractual performance of Delivery Partner(s) and overall impact of the implementation of on-ground activities
•ensuring alignment and integration with the Queensland Government’s Reef initiatives.
Applicant
An Applicant is, amongst other things, responsible for:
•developing and submitting an Application
•identifying any appropriate partner/s or other opportunity for co-investment
•providing letters of support with an Application that outline any proposed partnership and co-investment arrangements
•where necessary, obtaining the appropriate approvals (including for access to land from public or private landholder(s), where the Applicant does not have primary responsibility for the land)
•ensuring all information required in the Application Form is received by the Department before the Closing Time.
Delivery Partner(s)
An Applicant becomes a Delivery Partner if successful through the Assessment Process and awarded a Funding Agreement. A Delivery Partner is, amongst other things, responsible for:
•delivering the agreed Project in line with the Funding Agreement
•planning and implementing appropriate Gully and Stream Bank remediation actions
•once contracted, liaising with the Technical Partner through the Department, to ensure the latest scientific evidence is included in delivering the project
•monitoring and reporting to the Department on progress of activity implementation, outputs and outcomes throughout the Project (see section 6.4)
•ensuring the legacy of activities implemented through agreements with landholders, where the Delivery Partner does not have primary responsibility for the land
•acquittal of agreed Project in line with the obligations specified in the Funding Agreement.
Technical Partner
The Department has contracted the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Griffith University and Australian National University Enterprise as the Technical Partner to provide technical advice regarding the latest Gully and Stream Bank Erosion science.