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In this section you will find detailed information, including national overviews and state and regional level assessments, from the 2000-2002 National Land and Water Resources Audit theme assessments.
Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2002
ISBN 0 642 37125 3
Catchments, Rivers and Estuaries in context
Integrated assessment - based on an understanding of ecological processes
Photo: Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Tasmania.
The assessment of catchments, rivers and estuaries is one of a series of natural resource assessment and reporting initiatives fostered under the National Land and Water Resources Audit (Audit). It provides the basis for an improved understanding of the aggregate impact of natural resource use on Australia's ecosystems. Other relevant issues addressed by the Audit include water quantity and quality, dryland salinity, native vegetation, rangelands, sustainable agriculture and production, and social and economic wellbeing.
Management of water is critical to the management of ecosystems.
- The status of Australia's surface and groundwater resources, including their extent, use, quality and sustainability, is detailed in the Audit's report Australian Water Resources Assessment 2000.
Dryland salinity is a land degradation issue that has impact on many agricultural regions of Australia and is a major cause of impacts to downslope land and water resources.
- Assessment of the likely hazard of dryland salinity based on salt stores and an understanding of the water balance is provided in the Audit report Australian Dryland Salinity Assessment 2000.
The Audit's activities in developing a readily accessible and standardised database of native vegetation are essential to the management of Australia's ecosystems.
- The Audit's National Vegetation Information System provides a hierarchy of vegetation information from structure to communities and species. This information is available in the Audit report Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001.
Rangelands occupy three quarters of Australia.
- An Australia-wide monitoring framework to assess the condition and biodiversity of Australia's rangelands is proposed in the Audit's Tracking Changes - Australian Collaborative Rangelands Information System report.
Application of best management practice systems are gaining impetus as Australian agriculture develops its export and domestic product position based on a combined ethos of food quality, efficient production and sustainable resource use.
- Information on nutrient and sediment loads generated by land use and mobilised through rivers and estuaries, together with best practice activities in key agricultural industries are detailed in the Audit's Australian Agriculture Assessment 2001 report.
Biodiversity is a key measure of the condition status of ecosystems. Where species information is not available to measure biological diversity, surrogate measures including vegetation and landscape diversity and condition are used.
- An assessment of landscape health for Australia's bioregions and component subregions is provided by the Audit report Landscape Health in Australia 2001.
- Analysis of the status of terrestrial biodiversity in Australia, dominant threatening processes and conservation strategy options will be presented in the Audit report Assessment of Terrestrial Biodiversity (in preparation).
Natural resource management is multidisciplinary and takes account of not only biophysical conditions but also social and economic constraints and opportunities. Australia has an opportunity to improve the condition of its catchments, rivers and estuaries and at the same time enhance economic and social benefits generated by better management of these key natural systems.
- The Audit has collated resource accounting information on rural land use, the benefits of agriculture production to the Australian economy, costs resulting from land degradation and the opportunities that arise from improved management. This analysis is presented in the Audit report Australians and Natural Resource Management (in preparation).
Australia needs to adopt comparable approaches to data collection and management, assessment and information provision, and to link results of monitoring with land use practices, progressively upgrading and making accessible management-orientated natural resource information.
- Overall natural resource data management maintenance and information provision is reported as part of the Australian Natural Resources Information 2002 report.
Integration through the Atlas
Access to information on natural resources provides opportunities for increased awareness and informed debate. This has been improved through internet and database technology. The interactive web-based Australian Natural Resources Atlas (Atlas) presents Audit products at scales from local to regional to Australia-wide.
The Atlas provides information to aid decision making across all aspects of natural resource management under the broad categories of water, land, agriculture, biodiversity and vegetation, people, and ecosystems. The Atlas is organised by geographic region (national, State, ecological) and by information topic. A data library supports the Atlas with links to Commonwealth, State and Territory data management systems and atlases.
Project reports for the component projects of Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment 2002 are also available on the Atlas. These include:
Heap A., Bryce S., Ryan D., Radke L., Smith C., Smith R., Harris P. & Heggie D. 2001, Australian Estuaries and Coastal Waterways - A geoscience perspective for improved and integrated resource management, Geoscience Australia.
Morgan G. 2001, Landscape Health in Australia: A rapid assessment of the relative condition of Australia's bioregions and subregions, Environment Australia and National Land and Water Resources Audit.
Norris H., Prosser I., Young B., Liston P., Bauer N., Davies N., Dyer F., Linke S. & Thoms, M. 2001, Assessment of River Condition: An audit of the ecological condition of Australian rivers, report to National Land and Water Resources Audit, Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology and CSIRO Land and Water.
Sinclair Knight Merz 2000, Riverine Vegetation Scoping Study.
Turner L. 2001, Condition Assessment Report, Economic Valuation and Data Availability and Management, report to the National Land and Water Resources Audit, November, Cooperative Research Centre for Coastal Zone Estuary and Waterway Management.
Walker J., Veitch S., Braaten R., Dowling T., Guppy L. and Herron N. 2001, Assessment of the catchment condition in Australia's intensive land use zone: a biophysical assessment at the national scale, report to the National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001, CSIRO Land and Water, and Bureau of Rural Sciences.
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