Moruya 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 Moruya 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
- This category includes Wandera, Mungerarie and parts of Mogo state forests, as well as parts of Deua National Park. Where these streams have areas of rural land use upstream, these objectives will need to be protected.
- RFO Manage groundwater for ecosystems applies in areas of groundwater use.
- While there are few instream barriers, RFO Minimise effects of weirs and other structures is included in case instream structures are proposed in the future.
- There may be locations where Aboriginal communities collect freshwater aquatic foods for eating raw. 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.
- There is a licensed drinking-water offtake on the Deua River to the west of Moruya, which is in a generally forested catchment area. Particular attention should be paid to maintaining suitable water quality in streams from which drinking water supplies are drawn.
Waterways affected by urban development
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Streams within urban areas that 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 as orange dots on the map.
Water Quality Objectives
Protection of:
River Flow Objectives
Supporting information
- This category includes streams around Moruya.
- 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.
- Existing programs include the Urban Stormwater Management Program, which includes a stormwater education program, the development of stormwarer plans and series of stormwater trust grants.
- In this catchment, all significant urban development drains directly to estuaries.
- Water quality impacts arising from unsewered areas and stormwater can be significant issues in various areas throughout the catchment.
Uncontrolled streams
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Uncontrolled streams and waterbodies 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
- Many rural dwellers traditionally take drinking water untreated from local streams. There is a widespread community expectation that streams should provide drinking water that does not require disinfection. NSW Health recommends that, at a minimum, all drinking water should be disinfected before consumption. Rural homesteads require good quality water for non-drinking water uses, and for drinking with minimal treatment.
- Aboriginal communities indicated their desire to be able to maintain traditional patterns of food gathering, including collection of freshwater aquatic foods. The aquatic foods objective has therefore been included for these waters. Pollution (especially with faecal bacteria) from diffuse sources means that aquatic foods might not be suitable for people to eat raw. 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.
- Current irrigation uses from tidal but non-saline zones in these streams need to be recognised in management decisions.
- Equitable sharing of water is a significant concern in the catchment.
- Because of the great variability in subcatchments, the South Coast Water Management Committee will need to evaluate areas where different WQOs and RFOs are priorities in terms of overall costs and benefits to the community.
Estuaries
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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 saline waters of the Moruya estuary, as well as Meringo and Congo creeks.
- 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.
- The Tuross/Moruya Rivers Shellfish Quality Assurance Program conducts regular monitoring of estuarine water quality as part of actions to support commercial shellfish production.
This page was published 1 May 2006
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