1.3.1.2 Compiling assets and developing the water-dependent asset register

1.3.1.2.1 Ecological assets

Eight natural resource management organisations (NRMs) nominated assets through contribution of data to the Water Asset Information Tool (WAIT) database (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 2, Dataset 3). These NRM-nominated assets were added to the asset database. Contributing organisations are listed in Table 3.

Additional assets were nominated from analysis of data provided by national, state and regional databases (Table 4). These datasets included:

Table 3 Natural resource management organisations which contributed data to the Water Asset Information Tool database for the Galilee subregion

Table 4 Federal, state and regional data sources for ecological assets in the Galilee subregion

^aThe asset database (Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 1) is a collation of all these source datasets. Some assets may be captured in multiple databases and some databases may be restricted. These replicates are retained in the asset register as boundaries may differ between databases.

^bTypology and punctuation are given as provided in the metadata for these datasets.

The asset database includes a wide range of information about each asset, including unique asset identifier (AID), name, type and geographic location. Geographic location is specified as ‘shapes’ in the sense of geographic information systems (GIS). A shape may be a polygon (for an area of land), a line (for a linear feature such as a watercourse) or a point (for a specific location whose area is smaller than the areal resolution of the geographic information (e.g. a spring). Many nominated assets are composed of several geographic parts. For example, a national park may comprise several blocks of land separated by road or railway reserves, the potential habitat of a threatened species of bird may include patches of remnant habitat separated by agricultural land, and the potential habitat of a threatened species of fish may be restricted to the artesian springs scattered widely across a landscape. To accommodate assets composed of many parts, the asset database specifies each shape as an ‘element’ and one or more elements are then grouped to create assets. A detailed description of the process for classifying and aggregating elements to assets is presented in the companion submethodology M02 (as listed in Table 1) for compiling water-dependent assets (Mount et al., 2015).

A preliminary version of the water-dependent asset register, along with associated maps and data, was presented to experts and organisations with local knowledge at workshops in Longreach and Richmond in September 2014, and in Brisbane in October 2014, for comment and feedback. The attendees were given two weeks to review the preliminary water-dependent asset register and to return comments and suggestions.

1.3.1.2.2 Economic assets

As described in the companion submethodology M02 (as listed in Table 1) for compiling water-dependent assets (Mount et al., 2015), economic assets in Queensland are classed either as a 'basic water right' (stock and domestic) or a 'water access right':

Licensing data were sourced from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM). Bores were also nominated by two NRM organisations (Desert Channels NRM and Southern Gulf NRM) through the WAIT database.

Within the asset database, every 'water access right' and 'basic water right (stock and domestic)' is an element, and elements are grouped by type and spatial location (according to the nine water management zones or areas) to create assets.

Table 5 Data sources for economic assets in the Galilee subregion

^aThe asset database (Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 1) is a collation of all these source datasets. Some assets may be captured in multiple databases. These replicates are retained in the asset register as boundaries may differ between databases.

^bTypology and punctuation are given as provided in the metadata for these datasets.

1.3.1.2.3 Sociocultural assets

Sociocultural assets were sourced from the Australian Heritage Database which includes assets sourced from the World Heritage List, National Heritage List and the Register of the National Estate (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 19, Dataset 20, Dataset 21).

Meetings have been held with Indigenous knowledge holders in the Galilee subregion to gain further understanding of Indigenous cultural water-dependent assets. Where possible and appropriate, and with the agreement of Indigenous knowledge holders, these additional Indigenous sociocultural water-dependent assets will be published in a separate report. Identified assets will be incorporated into an updated water-dependent asset register and/or incorporated into later technical products.

Table 6 Data sources from the Australian Heritage Database for sociocultural assets in the Galilee subregion

^aThe asset database (Bioregional Assessment Programme, Dataset 1) is a collation of all these source datasets. Some assets may be captured in multiple databases. These replicates are retained in the asset register as boundaries may differ between databases.

^bTypology and punctuation are given as provided in the metadata for these datasets.

1.3.1.2.4 Duplicated or overlapping assets

Some specific areas within the Galilee PAE were nominated several times, from different databases. For example, Edgbaston Springs and the immediate surrounding areas (north-east of Aramac, in the north-eastern part of the PAE) were nominated as:

Likewise, some assets sourced from different datasets overlie each other, as they consider slightly different aspects of the same geographic area. For example, a national park may include springs, wetlands, and groundwater-dependent woodlands, and therefore the park may partially overlap assets describing:

Duplicate and overlapping assets are treated as entirely separate assets for the purposes of compiling the register of water-dependent assets for the Galilee subregion. Such an approach means that no judgment need be made of the priority of one asset or asset type over another asset or asset type, and thereby that equal respect and attention is paid to all stakeholders’ asset nominations and contributed databases.