1.3.2.1 Description

Of the 882 ecological assets in the asset list, 772 were deemed to be water dependent for the purposes of the BA. The water-dependent assets register contains 468 assets in the ‘Vegetation’ subgroup, 12 in the ‘Groundwater feature’ subgroup and 292 in the ‘Surface water feature’ subgroup. A more detailed summary of the distribution of assets according to asset class in the asset list is presented in Table 7.

Table 7 Summary of ecological assets within the Central West subregion

Subgroup	Asset class	Not in water-dependent asset register	In water-dependent asset register	Total assets (asset list)
Groundwater feature (subsurface)	Aquifer, geological feature, alluvium or stratum	0	12	12
Groundwater feature (subsurface)	Groundwater total	0	12	12
Surface water feature	Floodplain	0	6	6
	Lake, reservoir, lagoon or estuary	0	4	4
	Marsh, sedgeland, bog, spring or soak	0	27	27
	River or stream reach, tributary, anabranch or bend	0	42	42
	Wetland, wetland complex or swamp	0	213	213
	Surface water total	0	292	292
Vegetation	Groundwater-dependent ecosystem	86	259	345
	Habitat (potential species distribution)	24	209	233
	Vegetation total	110	468	578
Total		110	772	882

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)

1.3.2.1.1 Groundwater features

All 12 assets listed in the ‘Groundwater feature (subsurface)’ subgroup were ‘assumed to be water dependent’ and included in the water-dependent asset register for further consideration during the Assessment (Table 7). The majority of these groundwater features were aquifers identified in the Water Asset Information Tool (WAIT) database for the Central West (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 2). One asset, the Cadna-owie – Hooray Equivalent (Pilliga Sandstone), is identified as a Great Artesian Basin recharge area (Geoscience Australia, Dataset 9).

1.3.2.1.2 Surface water features

All 292 of the assets listed in the ‘Surface water feature’ subgroup were assumed to be water dependent (Table 7). There are many assets in the ’Wetland, wetland complex and swamp’ class distributed throughout the subregion, often covering only small areas in the eastern part, with more extensive coverage towards the north-west as the drainage nears the Barwon River and floodplains become prevalent. The Macquarie Marshes area, situated along the north-western flow of the Macquarie River is listed in several databases and has been classified in multiple ways. These include ‘Marsh, sedgeland, bog, spring or soak’, and as ‘Floodplain’ and ‘Wetland, wetland complex or swamp’ (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Surface water features in Central West subregion

Some assets are represented multiple times within the asset register. For example, the Macquarie Marshes, shown as ‘Marsh, sedgeland, bog, spring or soak’, are also classified as ‘Floodplain’ and ‘Wetland, wetland complex or swamp’.

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1); Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 2, Dataset 5, Dataset 6, Dataset 8); NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) (Dataset 3); Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) NSW (Dataset 4); Murray-Darling Basin Authority (Dataset 7)

1.3.2.1.3 Vegetation

Assets listed in the ‘Vegetation’ subgroup consist of two classes: ‘Groundwater‑dependent ecosystems’ or ‘Habitat (potential species distribution)’.

Groundwater-dependent ecosystems

All 345 assets identified as ‘Groundwater-dependent ecosystems’ were sourced from the National atlas of groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDE Atlas; Bureau of Meteorology, Dataset 10). A breakdown of the ecological assets identified as being dependent on the surface water expression of groundwater and the subsurface water expression of groundwater is given in Table 8. Figure 5 and Figure 6 show their spatial distribution, respectively. Approximately 25% of the assets were excluded from the water-dependent asset register because they were deemed to have a low likelihood of dependence on either surface or subsurface expression of groundwater (Table 8).

Table 8 Breakdown of groundwater-dependent assets in the ‘Vegetation’ subgroup for the Central West subregion

Subgroup	Asset class	Groundwater source	Not in water-dependent asset register	In water-dependent asset register
Vegetation	Groundwater-dependent ecosystem	Dependent on surface expression of groundwater	15	109
Vegetation	Groundwater-dependent ecosystem	Dependent on subsurface expression of groundwater	71	150
Total			86	259

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)

Figure 5 Groundwater-dependent ecosystems that rely on the surface expression of groundwater including surface water channels (surface line features) and vegetation communities (surface area features)

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1); Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 10)

Figure 6 Groundwater-dependent ecosystems that rely on the subsurface expression of groundwater

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1); Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 10)

Habitat (potential species distribution)

Out of a total of 235 assets, 209 assets within the ‘Habitat (potential species distribution)’ asset class were considered to be water dependent (Table 7).

All assets from the Collaborative Australian Protected Area Database (CAPAD; Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 12) and the Important Bird Areas database (Birds Australia, Dataset 13) were deemed to be water dependent. Of the NSW state government assets, all assets derived from the Travelling Stock Route Conservation Values (NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW), Dataset 14), Native Vegetation Management areas (NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW), Dataset 15) and NSW Climate Change Corridors (Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) NSW, Dataset 17) were deemed water dependent.

The remaining assets were either categorised as ‘Threatened ecological communities’, or ‘Habitat of threatened ecological species’.

Threatened ecological communities

Six communities listed under the EPBC Act occur in the Central West subregion, and all were assumed to be water dependent (Table 9). The ‘White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland’ communities are located in the east of the subregion and together with the ‘Weeping Myall Woodlands’ located more in the west cover large extents in the Central West subregion. ‘Coolibah - Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions’ are more prevalent in the north-west (Figure 7). The GAB spring-dependent species occur in a small area in the north-west of the subregion. ‘Natural grasslands on basalt and fine-textured alluvial plains of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland’ only occur in a small area towards the north-east of the subregion, while ‘Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of South-eastern Australia’ are located mainly in the east throughout the subregion (Figure 7).

Table 9 Water-dependent threatened ecological communities in the Central West subregion listed under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Name	Comments
Coolibah - Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions	Likely to exhibit both surface water and groundwater dependence
Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands of South-eastern Australia	Box woodlands may exhibit groundwater dependence over areas of shallow groundwater
Natural grasslands on basalt and fine-textured alluvial plains of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland	On alluvial plains may exhibit surface water dependence
The community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin	Groundwater dependent
Weeping Myall Woodlands	Likely to be surface water dependent due to floodplain habitat
White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland	Box woodlands may be groundwater dependent over areas of shallow groundwater

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1); Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 11)

Figure 7 The six threatened ecological communities listed under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 included in the water-dependent asset register

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1); Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 11)

Names in the legend have been shortened. Full names can be found in Table 9

Habitat of threatened ecological species

Fifty threatened species listed under the EPBC Act were identified in the Central West subregion (Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 18). Of these, 24 were excluded from the water-dependent asset register because a demonstrated surface water or groundwater dependency of the habitat could not be established (Table 7). The excluded assets include 15 plant species, 5 bird species, 1 marsupial, 1 reptile and 2 rodents. Species included in the water-dependent asset register are listed in Table 10.

Table 10 Water-dependent threatened species in the Central West subregion listed under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Although examples of individual species are listed, bioregional assessments consider the potential impacts to the habitat of the species not the individual species per se.

Functional group	Scientific name^a	Common name^a	Dependence on surface water	Dependence on groundwater	Comment
Plants	Philotheca ericifolia	NA	Likely	Likely	Occurs in damp sites creek beds and gullies
	Swainsona murrayana	Slender Darling-Pea	Likely	Possible	Associated with black box communities
	Lepidium aschersonii	Spiny Pepper-Cress	Likely	Possible	Occurs periodically in wet sites such as gilgai and margins of freshwater and saline marshes and lakes
	Eleocharis obicis	A spike Rush	Likely	Unlikely	Species grow in ephemerally wet locations
	Maireana cheelii	Chariot Wheels	Likely	Unlikely	Often associated with floodplains or low lying areas that become water logged
	Cynanchum elegans	White-Flowered Wax Plant	Likely	Possible	Habitat may overlap with other water dependent habitats
Birds	Botaurus poiciloptilus	Australasian Bittern	Likely	Likely	Prefers permanent shallow wetlands tall dense vegetation
	Rostratula australis	Australian Painted Snipe	Likely	Possible	Inhabits shallow temporary and permanent wetlands
	Ardea ibis	Cattle Egret	Likely	Possible	Occurs in temperate grasslands woodland and wetlands
	Anthochaera Phrygia	Regent Honeyeater	Likely	Possible	Prefers fertile sites along creek flats, riparian vegetation
	Ardea alba	Great Egret	Likely	Possible	Prefers wide range of habitats-inland and coastal, freshwater and saline, permanent and ephemeral, open and vegetated, large and small, natural and artificial wetlands
	Haliaeetus leucogaster	White-Bellied Sea-Eagle	Likely	Possible	Coastal habitats and terrestrial wetlands
	Himantopus himantopus	Black-Winged Stilt	Likely	Unlikely	It inhabits most wetlands but does prefer shallow open freshwater areas
	Calidris ferruginea	Curlew Sandpiper	Likely	Unlikely	Recorded inland, including around ephemeral and permanent lakes, dams, waterholes and bore drains, usually with bare edges of mud or sand
	Apus pacificus	Fork-tailed Swift	Likely	Possible	They mostly occur over dry or open habitats, including riparian woodland and tea-tree swamps, low scrub, heathland or saltmarsh.
	Gallinago hardwickii	Latham’s Snipe	Likely	Likely	Occurs in permanent and ephemeral wetlands
	Tringa stagnatilis	Marsh Sandpiper	Likely	Likely	Lives in permanent or ephemeral wetlands of varying salinity, including swamps, lagoons, billabongs, saltpans, saltmarshes, estuaries, pools on inundated floodplains, and intertidal mudflats
	Pandion haliaetus	Osprey	Likely	Likely	Occurs in littoral and coastal habitats and terrestrial wetlands. Occasionally travel inland along major rivers. They require extensive areas of open fresh, brackish or saline water for foraging
	Recurvirostra novaehollandiae	Red-Necked Avocet	Likely	Possible	Freshwater and saltwater wetlands, estuaries, tidal mudflats
	Calidris ruficollis	Red-Necked Stint	Likely	Likely	May be seen in sewage farms, saltmarsh, shallow wetlands including lakes, swamps, riverbanks, waterholes, bore drains, dams, soaks and pools in saltflats, flooded paddocks or damp grasslands
	Calidris acuminate	Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper	Likely	Likely	In Australasia, the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper prefers muddy edges of shallow fresh or brackish wetlands, with inundated or emergent sedges, grass, saltmarsh or other low vegetation
	Philomachus pugnax	Ruff	Likely	Unlikely	Found in terrestrial wetlands including swamps lakes pool, swampy field and floodplains
	Myiagra cyanoleuca	Satin Flycatcher	Likely	Unlikely	Mainly inhabit eucalypt forests often near wetlands or water courses
	Numenius minutus	Little Curlew	Likely	Unlikely	Most often found feeding in short, dry grassland and sedgeland, including dry floodplains and blacksoil plains, which have scattered, shallow freshwater pools or areas seasonally inundated
Mammals	Phascolarctos cinereus	Koala	Likely	Possible	May occur in riparian forests or GDE woodland
Mammals	Dasyurus maculatus maculatus	Spot-Tailed Quoll	Likely	Likely	Habitat includes inland riparian and river red gum forests

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)

^aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset list.

NA = not available

The asset list and other details are available from the water-dependent asset register and asset list (O'Grady and Bruce, 2016) and the asset database (Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 1).

Last updated:

5 January 2018

1.3.2.1.1 Groundwater features

1.3.2.1.2 Surface water features

1.3.2.1.3 Vegetation

Groundwater-dependent ecosystems

Habitat (potential species distribution)

Threatened ecological communities

Habitat of threatened ecological species

Product Finalisation date

Numbered headings

ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT DATA