Camden Haven and Hastings River
Water Quality and River Flow Objectives
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At a Glance |
This section gives the Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) and the River Flow Objectives (RFOs) for the Camden Haven and Hastings River catchment, which should be used to develop plans and actions affecting water quality and river health. Only the priority RFOs are listed in this section, but the remaining objectives still need to be considered when developing flow management plans or dealing with particular local river conditions.
Mainly forested areas
Streams in mainly forested areas are often valued for their conservation or recreational values. They often have relatively natural flows and water quality. Many are in national parks or state forests.
Map: The objectives apply to streams running through areas coloured green on the map (state forests, national parks and nature reserves); and through other forested areas, if any are defined locally.
Water Quality Objectives
Protection of:
River Flow Objectives
Supporting Information
- In many places, forested areas have agricultural land uses along the upstream section of the river. Management of upstream impacts will be needed to achieve or maintain the high water quality levels and close to natural flow patterns expected in forested areas-particularly for WQO Drinking water and RFO Maintain natural flow variability.
- There may be locations where Aboriginal communities collect freshwater aquatic foods. NSW Health recommends against the consumption of raw shellfish harvested on a non-commercial basis and local communities should be made aware of the risks involved.
- RFO Manage groundwater for ecosystems applies in areas of groundwater use.
- There are few barriers instream in waterways in this category, but RFO Minimise effects of weirs and other structures is included in case instream structures are proposed in the future.
Waterways affected by urban development
Streams within urban areas are often substantially modified and carry poor quality stormwater. Many local communities are keen to see such streams returned to more natural conditions.
Map: Urban development areas are shown in orange or as orange dots on the map.
Water Quality Objectives
Protection of:
River Flow Objectives
Supporting Information
- This category includes the Port Macquarie, Wauchope, Laurieton and Kendall urban areas.
- In some urban waterways aquatic ecosystems are considerably modified. A return to pristine aquatic ecosystems in these areas is unlikely and impractical. However, water quality conditions for existing ecosystems can be improved greatly for the benefit of local species and broader catchment health. Data from other local aquatic ecosystems of similar type, in areas that are not urbanised, may provide achievable criteria for these modified aquatic ecosystems.
Uncontrolled streams
Uncontrolled streams and waterbodies are those that are not in estuaries or the other categories. Their flow patterns are largely natural but may have been altered to a limited degree.
Map: Uncontrolled streams are shown as blue lines on the map.
Water Quality Objectives
Protection of:
River Flow Objectives
Supporting Information
- There are several licensed drinking water offtake points in these catchments, including Thone River near Comboyne and Hastings River at Koree Island. Management of these areas needs to take these important uses into account.
- There may be locations where Aboriginal communities collect freshwater aquatic foods. NSW Health recommends against the consumption of raw shellfish harvested on a non-commercial basis and local communities should be made aware of the risks involved.
Estuaries
Being dominated by saline conditions, estuaries have hydraulic and water quality characteristics, and potential problems, that are often very different from those of freshwater systems.
Map: Estuaries are coloured purple on the map.
Water Quality Objectives
Protection of:
River Flow Objectives
Supporting Information
- This category includes the Hastings estuary (including lower parts of the Maria and Wilson rivers), Saltwater Lake and the Camden Haven (including Queens and Watson Taylor Lakes).
- The status of Lake Innes is under examination. It is currently salt-water due to earlier channel works, but there are calls for its reversion to a freshwater system.
- Parts of the lower estuarine reaches are underlain by potential acid sulfate soils, which should not be disturbed. Dredging and disturbance of bottom sediments (i.e. those below water level) can also have major impacts in these areas for the same reason.
This page was published 1 May 2006