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The Multiplier Effect (QLD)
The Multiplier Effect
Diane Tarte, Project Director, SEQ Healthy Waterways Partnership
The organisation
The current South East Queensland (SEQ) Healthy Waterways Partnership has evolved from its precursor, the Moreton Bay Waterways and Catchments Partnership (established 2001). Known widely as ‘The Partnership’, its composition and the scope of its activities render it unique.
The Partnership members include: 5 state agencies, 3 state corporations, all 19 local SEQ governments, 29 industry groups, 6 university and research institutions and 38 catchment groups. There are no less than 79 organisations represented on the Partnership’s five sub-regional Implementation Groups.
All Partners work together to improve catchment management and waterway health in the eastward-draining rivers and estuaries of SEQ (between Noosa in the north, west to Toowoomba, south to the Qld-NSW border) and Moreton Bay.
The Partnership is guided by a Chief Executive Officers’ Standing Committee, a Scientific Expert Panel and the five sub-regional groups, and is overseen by the SEQ Regional Coordination Committee. The collective efforts of the Partnership are facilitated by a small Partnership Office staff, and complemented by the activities of individual Partners.
The Partners and supporting organisations were responsible for developing and implementing the SEQ Regional Water Quality Management Strategy (SEQRWQMS 2001) and the SEQ Healthy Waterways Strategy (SEQHWS 2007-2012).
The Healthy Waterways approach
The philosophy underlying the Partnership’s approach rests on two foundations:
1 commitment to working within a structure which allows all partners to be heard, contribute to decision-making and implement agreed actions within their own spheres of responsibility;
2 formulation of management strategies based on sound science, rigorous monitoring, and adaptive learning.
The Partners’ Vision for the waterways and catchments of SEQ is that: By 2026, our waterways and catchments will be healthy ecosystems supporting the livelihoods and lifestyles of people in South East Queensland, and will be managed through collaboration between community, government and industry.
Key regional activities
The Partnership’s office coordinates comprehensive science, research and planning projects, and is responsible for the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP) – one of the most comprehensive marine, estuarine and freshwater monitoring programs in Australia. The EHMP delivers a regional and catchment-based assessment of the aquatic ecosystem health of SEQ’s waterways, culminating in a well-publicised annual ‘Report Card’.
The office is also responsible for the Healthy Waterways Campaign, aimed at all stakeholders throughout SEQ. The Campaign:
• produces communications collateral and education/behavioural change programs;
• manages annual high-profile events (the Healthy Waterways Awards and the Report Card release);
• supervises the Healthy Waterways Clean-Up program.
The SEQ Healthy Waterways Strategy
The SEQ Healthy Waterways Strategy is an integrated set of activities which the Partners have committed to initiating during the period 2007 to 2012, as part of a longer-term program for achieving the 2026 Vision. The Strategy aims to ensure that the health of SEQ’s waterways are maintained or improved in the face of one of the highest rates of population growth in Australia. It recognises the significance of long-term water security and highlights the importance of maintaining water quality – a key aspect of waterway health, and a key benefit of healthy aquatic ecosystems.
The Strategy contains over 500 management actions within management outcome targets, which are contained in a series of 12 Issue-focussed, Area–focussed and Enabling action plans. The Strategy has a nominal five-year timeline and supports/initiates key elements of many other State and regional policy/planning documents.
• major reductions in loads from point source pollution (by investments in reuse and improved technologies);
• reductions in urban diffuse source pollutants (through the adoption of Water Sensitive Urban Design);
• significant reductions in non-urban diffuse pollutants (with a target of a 50% reduction in sediment load to Moreton Bay by 2026);
• protection and conservation of High Ecological Value waterways;
• reduced intensity and frequency of existing types of coastal algal blooms.
In the broader sense, the goals of the Strategy will be achieved as a result of a combination of various factors, including:
• an ongoing commitment of the SEQ Healthy Waterways Partners to carry out the agreed actions;
• significant investment in the creation of the relevant capacity – human, institutional and physical infrastructure – to address the necessary issues;
• a willingness to embrace an integrated approach to waterway health, including total water cycle management;
• the capacity to develop and adopt new approaches, including innovative market-based instruments, that support major non-urban diffuse source pollution management initiatives.
The Partnership’s collaborative approach, underpinned by its science-based adaptive management methodology, continues to generate interest throughout Australia and overseas. The Partnership is a complex organism; however, its significant gains have arisen from the successful, collaborative efforts of disparate groups with a common goal: to protect, conserve and improve the health of aquatic ecosystems in SEQ.
Further information: Diane Tarte,
(07) 3403 4206, di.tarte@healthywaterways.org or www.healthywaterways.org.
