Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Water resources - Management and Development - Queensland

Location map of Queensland

Queensland

What are the key water resource management issues facing Queensland?

Queensland experiences extremes in climate and has a history of severe droughts and major flooding. With the possibility of drought lasting several years and high rainfall over short periods, there is a direct impact on the volume and reliability of supply of water in the State. In parts of Queensland west of the Great Dividing Range, there is a lack of suitable dam sites due to flat terrain and braided streams. Losses are high due to overland flow and high evaporation. Water management and infrastructure are therefore considered critical for ensuring the availability of reliable supplies of water in the future.

Localised management issues, such as salt water intrusion in coastal and sand island aquifers and leaching of pesticides and herbicides in agricultural areas also exist and vary between GMUs and regions, however aim at a common goal of maintaining long term sustainable supply in all areas.

Improvement of Queenslands rural water use, outlined earlier, aims to achieve better efficiency by:

Management issues that are specific to the Great Artesian Basin GMUs include:

All artesian bores are licensed, and at November 1998, 14% of bores were known to be uncontrolled, 54% were controlled or capped and the remaining 32% had unknown status.

Future Directions

Planning and development of the States water resources should be in accordance with the implementation of WAMP and WMP processes, improvements to rural water use and all critical industrial and regional development.

Specific to the future of the Great Artesian Basin, a GMU level of allocation planning or better is desired. Monitoring of abstraction quantities, salinity and water quality are expected to continue on a broad scale. Degree of licensing will continue unchanged and bore construction will be to minimum legislative requirements requiring a licensed driller. Reconditioning and controlling of all current bores is required where necessary.

Surface water resource management in Queensland

Map of Queensland's surface water management areas

Select a point on the map to find out more about that surface water management area.

Map of Queensland's surface water management areas

The Queensland Government has introduced two planning processes to provide improvements to the allocation and management of water in the State. These are the Water Allocation and Management Planning (WAMP) process and the Water Management Planning (WMP) process. It is anticipated that each of Queensland's basins will be subject to either a WAMP or a WMP process, which will result in the development of a management plan and assist in overcoming the problems associated with the previous Water Resources legislation.

The WAMP process is an integrated and consultative whole-of-basin planning process designed to determine the appropriate balance between water for the environment and water for consumptive use. The process takes into account scientific, environmental, social and economic considerations in determining the volumes and flow regimes needed to maintain the health of riverine systems and water that can be drawn for urban, industrial and agricultural purposes. The ultimate objective of WAMP's is to manage water resources in accordance with the principals of Ecologically Sustainable Development.

Groundwater resource management in Queensland

Map of Queensland's Groundwater Provinces

Select a point on the map to find out more about that groundwater province.

Map of Queensland's Groundwater Provinces

The Water Allocation and Management Plan and Water Management Plan processes will benefit groundwater areas in the development of a management plan in similar ways to that of surface water. Also, active within catchments are such groups as River Improvement Trusts, Catchment Coordinating Committees and Landcare to name a few. Throughout Queensland, these groups operate locally to address a range of problematic issues in aid of improving contributions at all levels of catchment management. Other management initiatives such as the Rural Water Use Efficiency Initiative, already mentioned, also aim to achieve the best practice in irrigation water management. Recharge weirs and dams are used throughout the State to increase the amount of surface water returning to the groundwater system.

Licensing systems of water management operate in Declared Groundwater Areas. The Government declares these areas and, will continue to, where there is competition for the available resource.

References

Further information

Key

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