The total number of registered ecological water-dependent assets in the PAE of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion is 2200 (from a total of 2412 assets listed in the database), including 23 in the ‘Groundwater feature’ subgroup, 1688 in the ‘Surface water feature subgroup’ and 489 in the ‘Vegetation’ subgroup (Table 7). A total of 1688 surface water features (including assets classed as ‘River or stream reach, tributary, anabranch or bend’, ‘Lake, reservoir, lagoon or estuary’, ‘Waterhole, pool, rock pool or billabong’, ‘Wetland, wetland complex or swamp’ and ‘Floodplain’) and all 23 groundwater features (including ‘Aquifer’, ‘Geological feature’ and ‘Alluvium or stratum’) are assumed to be water dependent and are included in the water-dependent asset register. The total assets assessed for water dependency in the ‘Vegetation’ subgroup consist of 290 habitats (potential species distributions and protected areas), 348 groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and 20 riparian vegetation assets. Overall, 90% of the GDEs and 54% of the habitat assets are classified as water dependent. Table 7 provides a breakdown of the relevant subgroups and classes of assets and their inclusion in the water-dependent asset register.
Table 7 Summary of ecological assets within the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)
1.3.2.1.1 Groundwater features
The 23 groundwater features in the water-dependent asset register consist of geological features, alluvium and aquifers (Table 7). All aquifers are assumed to be water dependent and geological features and alluvium are deemed to be water dependent based on their spatial overlap with one or more criteria (see Section 1.3.4.1). These include five Great Artesian Basin recharge areas, the Riverine Plain and upland alluvium groundwater flow systems, the Mulgildie and Stuart River groundwater management areas and several sandstone, alluvial and volcanic geological features including the Walloon Coal Measures and Wandoan formation. Three groundwater features are not included in the register because on closer inspection they did not occur within the PAE of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion (Table 7).
1.3.2.1.2 Surface water features
The number of ecological assets associated with the 'Surface water feature' subgroup, occurring in the PAE of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion, is listed in Table 7. Forty surface water features are excluded from the register because on closer inspection they did not occur within the PAE of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion (Table 7). All assets that occur in the PAE are assumed to be water dependent. There is a higher density of stream networks and therefore surface water features and 'Marsh, sedgeland, bog, Spring or soak' clustered around the northern and eastern portions of the PAE compared to other parts of the PAE (Figure 4). Among the 111 assets within the 'Wetland, wetland complex or swamp' class, six wetlands are listed in A directory of important wetlands in Australia (DIWA) (Environment Australia, 2001; Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 2) and include the Balonne River Floodplain, Boggomoss Springs, Dalrymple and Blackfellow Creeks, Lake Broadwater, Palm Tree and Robinson Creeks and The Gums Lagoon (Figure 4).
A directory of important wetlands in Australia is a subset of the 'Wetland, wetland complex or swamp' class
1.3.2.1.3 Vegetation
The asset database for the PAE of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion contains a total of 658 assets within the 'Vegetation' subgroup of which a total of 489 assets are identified as water dependent.
Ecological communities
The PAE for the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion includes the potential habitat distribution of eight threatened ecological communities listed under the EPBC Act (Table 8). All eight of these communities demonstrate water dependency, in most cases are associated with alluvium (river and creek flats) as well as upland sites or are a dominant floodplain community (Figure 5 and Table 8). Furthermore, the community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin clearly demonstrates water dependency as it occurs in groundwater discharge areas within the PAE (Table 8).
There are 42 regional ecosystems listed as threatened under the Nature Conservation Act including several classified within those threatened ecological communities listed in the EPBC Act (e.g. Brigalow Acacia harpophylla dominant and co-dominant). The proportion of spatial overlap between the regional ecosystem and the surface and subsurface GDE layers (Bureau of Meteorology, 2012; Bureau of Meteorology, Dataset 4) was used to characterise the water dependency of many communities because of the lack of sufficient detail on habitat requirements for many of the regional ecosystems (see Section 1.3.4.1 for further details). Of the 42 regional ecosystems identified within the PAE, 27 are included in the water-dependent asset register including several communities dominated by or in association with Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla).
Table 8 Threatened ecological communities listed under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 within the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion
The name of the threatened ecological community in the figure legend has been shortened (Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) subregion reference removed).
Data: Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 5)
Data: Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 5)
Species habitats
The PAE for the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion includes the potential spatial habitat distribution of 99 species listed under the EPBC Act and a further 66 species listed under the Nature Conservation Act. Amongst the 99 EPBC Act-listed species, almost half (22 bird, four mammal, 11 plant, five reptile, one fish, one invertebrate and one amphibian) are included in the water-dependent asset register (Table 9). Among the 66 species listed under the Nature Conservation Act, 23 are included in the water-dependent asset register including three amphibians, four birds, three mammals, 11 plants and two reptiles (Table 10). The asset under consideration is the habitat of these species rather than the species per se, hence these assets are listed under the 'Vegetation' subgroup. These species habitats are considered water dependent if there is evidence for any of the following habitat conditions:
- an association with drainage lines
- an association with alluvial and soakage areas
- an association with wetland and/or permanent open water
- a dependency or an association with floodplain or riparian vegetation communities
- an association with mound springs.
The decision not to include species in the register was based on evidence from species profiles and other published material that show that these habitats are almost entirely restricted to grassland, woodland, dry scrub, open forest, heathlands or rainforest vegetation communities or rocky outcrops.
Table 9 Species listed under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 within the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion determined as potentially water dependent (based on a literature review of habitat requirements)
Although examples of individual species are listed, bioregional assessments consider the potential impact to the habitat of species not individual species per se.
Listing status as of March 2015
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 6)
aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.
Table 10 Species listed under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992 within the preliminary assessment extent (PAE) of the Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion determined as potentially water dependent (based on a literature review of habitat requirements)
Although examples of individual species are listed, bioregional assessments consider the potential impact to the habitat of species not individual species per se.
Listing status as of March 2015
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1)
aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.
Protected and riparian areas
Of the remaining 95 assets in the 'Vegetation' subgroup classed as 'Habitat (potential species distribution)' and 'Riparian vegetation' classes, 73 are considered water dependent (Table 11), comprising:
- 50 reserves and parks (Collaborative Australian Protected Area Database (CAPAD) (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 7) and Water Assessment Information Tool database (WAIT) (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 8, Dataset 9))
- three bird habitats (Important Bird Areas (Birdlife Australia, 2014) (Birds Australia, Dataset 3))
- 20 riparian vegetation (Water Assessment Information Tool database (WAIT) (Australian Government Department of the Environment, Dataset 8) and Key Environmental Asset (KEA) (Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Dataset 10)).
Those assets that satisfy the water-dependent criteria outlined in Section 1.3.4.1 are included in the water-dependent asset register. Of these 95 assets in the database, 22 are not considered water dependent and are excluded from the water-dependent asset register.
Table 11 Water-dependent assets from protected areas and rational for inclusion in the water-dependent asset register
Data: Australian Government Department of the Environment (Dataset 7, Dataset 8) and Birds Australia (Dataset 3)
aPunctuation and typography appear as used in the asset database.
bIncludes two separate listing for this park
cIncludes all 19 separate assets named riparian habitat
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems
As stated in Section 1.3.1.4, those GDEs sourced from the National atlas of groundwater dependent ecosystems identified from previous studies, or classified as having high or medium potential for groundwater interaction are included in the water-dependent asset register given the inherent uncertainty around GDE mapping in many areas (Bureau of Meteorology, 2012; Bureau of Meteorology, Dataset 4). Additionally, all of the GDEs identified in the Queensland Government GDE mapping (DSITIA, 2012, Dataset 11) are included in the asset register. Of the 66 subsurface GDEs (those that rely on the subsurface presence of groundwater), only 46 were classified as having medium or high potential for groundwater interaction and are included in the water-dependent asset register (Figure 6). Subsurface GDEs can include vegetation communities that interact with a groundwater system beneath the surface. A further 267 of the 282 surface GDEs (those that rely on the surface expression of groundwater) are included in the water-dependent asset register (Figure 7). These GDEs include vegetation communities that are associated with groundwater discharged to the surface as springs or baseflow such as vegetation in fringing waterways or wetlands.
Figure 6 Groundwater-dependent ecosystems that rely on the subsurface expression of groundwater
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1), Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 4)
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1), Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 4)