Meeting papers

                                                      Burgess Creek Monitoring Program
                                                                            Annual Review 2022

The water types in the Burgess Creek Catchment are based on the Australian and New
Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (2000) and mapping and definitional
rules contained in the Queensland Water Quality Guidelines (QWQG) (Department of
Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP), 2009). It is classified as lowland freshwater,
divided into a wallum/tannin-stained freshwater subtype in southeast Queensland. The
wallum/tannin-stained freshwaters can be defined as tannin-stained, generally low gradient,
small to mid-sized streams, many with sandy substrates and low pH, tea-coloured water
draining through wallum vegetation. It is derived from work for the Ecosystem Health
Monitoring Program (Department of Environment and Science (DES), 2015).

  3.1    Environmental Values Water Quality Objectives
  The QWQG defines Environmental Values (EVs) for water as the qualities of water that
  make it suitable for supporting aquatic ecosystems and human water uses. These EVs
  need to be protected by maintaining and/or enhancing the water quality from the effects of
  habitat alteration, wastewater releases, runoff, and changed flows to ensure healthy
  aquatic ecosystems and waterways that meet community use and expectations. For
  management purposes, waters are grouped into catchments and sub-catchments, and EVs
  are provided at a catchment level to protect defined water uses.

  In 2019 the Department of Environment and Science began reviewing its EVs and WQOs
  throughout Queensland. As part of this process a number of changes have been made to
  mapping, environmental values and water quality objectives for Burgess Creek. The new
  document which prescribes new environmental values and water quality objectives for
  Burgess Creek is titled “Noosa River environmental values and water quality objectives”.
  The revised EVs and WQOs were published in July 2022. Upon review it has been noted
  that there have been extensive changes made and new mapping that needs to be
  integrated into future assessments. This review has determined that there is a disconnect
  between the ecological value mapping in Burgess Creek and the prescribed environmental
  values and water quality objectives. Due to the number of changes and noted discrepancy
  between two key documents, it is recommended that DES is engaged to discuss the
  application of WQOs within future assessments. Once resolved, it is recommended for
  inclusion in the Burgess Creek Monitoring Program Annual Review for 2023.

  The document titled "Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009 Noosa River
  Environmental Values and Water Quality Objectives" has been retained and used in this,
  the 2021 Review to compare the environmental values and water quality objectives for the

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