Water

Access to clean, fresh useable water underpins every aspect of life in SEQ.

• Drinking water supplied to our cities and towns is captured from rivers, streams, and groundwater sources from across the region.
• Our waterways support communities, agriculture, industry, recreation and tourism, and underpin the health of ecosystems (water based ecosystems provide habitat for many important plants and animals).
• There are more than 16,000 kilometres of rivers and streams across the region and 143,400 hectares of all wetland types.
• The quality of water in these streams, wetlands, and groundwater systems is variable and closely linked to land-based activities.
  • Water quality is impacted by historical and current discharges from point sources such as wastewater treatment plants and stormwater drains and non-point sources such as broadscale vegetation clearing, agriculture, and urban development.
  • Population growth, urbanisation, climate events (such as droughts and floods) and riparian weeds are threats to the ongoing health of the water assets of SEQ.
  • Wetlands in particular, filter impurities such as excess nutrients and sediments.

Effective water management is critical to controlling pollution and improving water quality.

Water targets

Water resources and riparian areas provide ecosystem services and clean water for human consumption, environmental flows, and recreational, agricultural and industrial uses. Water based ecosystems provide habitat for many important plants and animals. Wetlands in particular, filter impurities such as excess nutrients and sediments. Effective water management is critical to controlling pollution and improving quality.

Headline target

• In 2031, scheduled water quality objectives for all SEQ waterways will be achieved or exceeded.

Summary of asset targets

• Environmental Flows
  Environmental flows will meet aquatic ecosystem health and ecological process requirements.
• Groundwater Levels
  75% of SEQ Groundwater Resource Units will have groundwater levels within acceptable annual ranges.
• Groundwater Quality
  Groundwater quality (nutrients and EC measurements) in all SEQ Groundwater Resource Units will be within identified acceptable annual ranges.
• Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
  The condition of groundwater ecosystems and ground water dependent ecosystems will be within identified acceptable annual ranges.
• High Ecological Value Waterways
  In 2031, High Ecological Value waterways in SEQ will maintain their 2008 classification
• Waterways Maintenance and Enhancement
  Scheduled water quality objectives for all SEQ waterways will be achieved or exceeded.
• Waterway Restoration
  Waterways classified as ranging from slightly to moderately disturbed and/or highly disturbed will have ecosystem health and ecological processes restored. 

Healthy Land & Water's water projects

Water priority actions

The following actions will play a critical role in meeting the water targets.

These actions have been identified by the South East Queensland community. These actions are updated regularly in the region's Natural Resource Management Plan, which is managed by Healthy Land & Water on behalf of the region's community. 

Water current state

20 years of monitoring data for the region shows water quality is stable and improving slightly, though there is significant variability from year to year, in line with climatic conditions. 

Water quality monitoring is reported annually in the region's Report Card, which is managed by Healthy Land & Water. Some of the reasons for the change over time includes:

• Upgrades to wastewater treatment plants across the region over the past 20 years have led to much of the improvement in Report Card scores in recent decades, however, ongoing and future urban growth will add to point source pollutant loads. More will need to be done to hold the line
• Sediments and nutrients from eroding gullies, riverbanks and hillslopes is impacting water quality in rivers and estuaries and sensitive areas such as Ramsar-listed Quandamooka (Moreton Bay).
• The health of vegetation next to rivers and streams also impacts the quality of water used for human consumption and recreation. Only 53.4% of our riparian zones are forested (2017) with a loss of 830 hectares per year since 2013.
• There has also been a decline in natural wetlands across the region since 2001 with freshwater wetlands being the most impacted.

Water threats and pressures

The quality of water in streams, wetlands, groundwater systems, oceans and our drinking water is linked to land-based activities.

• Population growth and urbanisation: more people using resources. 
• Urban development: poorly designed developments that clear vegetation communities and impact negatively on land and coastal wetland values.
• Extreme weather: events such as droughts and floods.
• Climate change: which is set to increase the likelihood, frequency and strength of extreme weather events.
• Ground cover: cleared areas do not have the root systems in place to hold valuable soil in place, nor slow water down during heavy rainfall events, which leads to loss of valuable productive soil, which then causes damage all the way downstream and as it passes through urban areas, all the way out onto the bay where it harms marine life.
• Pollution: Sediment, nutrients, waste and other pollution coming from catchments. This includes historical and current discharges from point sources such as wastewater treatment plants and stormwater drains and non-point sources such as broadscale vegetation clearing, agriculture, and urban development
• Recreation: increase in recreational pressures and vehicle impacts.