INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM - BURGESS CREEK (Referred from Planning & Environment Committee Meeting dated 11 July 2023 - Item 5.8) · Report

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING                                                              17 JULY 2023


and/or >10mm rainfall events). The creek’s flow velocity is being continuously monitored (every 30
seconds) using a water flow meter at a fixed site (west side of bridge). Flow data is uploaded daily
and will be accessible to Noosa Council via UniSC’s online data account. The channel’s morphology
will be surveyed to estimate the creek’s discharge based on monitored flow.

Water quality samples are being collected monthly by Council’s Rivers & Coast branch at the same
site west of the bridge and three other sites including the outflow site (Wallum Lane – Rotary Way,
Noosa STP).

A stage/discharge relationship or rating curve will be developed for the creek, and data will be
collated and analysed to develop an empirical model that will explain the main triggers and predict
thresholds that force the creek’s morphological and water quality changes.

The decision support tool based on the empirical model developed from this project will benefit the
management of Burgess Creek by determining the thresholds best suited for actions. For example,
the tool could be used to determine when is best/necessary to open the creek’s mouth to mitigate
dune erosion or when the creek’s water quality could be expected to be a health hazard.

Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Program
Council’s Rivers & Coast branch has been investigating the feasibility of developing a citizen science
water quality monitoring program designed to monitor Burgess Creek, Cooroy/Six Mile Creek
catchments and the impact of wastewater discharge and the Seqwater water treatment plant.

Noosa Council, Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC), Noosa Integrated
Catchment Association (NICA), Noosa & District Landcare (Landcare), Healthy Land & Water
(HL&W), The Nature Conservancy and invited State Government representatives have been
meeting quarterly since August 2022 to discuss the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring Program
and its priorities. A representative from Unitywater also attended the most recent meeting, where
Council’s resolution relating to a citizen science water quality STP monitoring program was
presented to the group and was discussed at length.

Cooroy STP/Seqwater Treatment Plants
Landcare has previously monitored sites in Cooroy/Six Mile Creek locations as part of its historical
Waterwatch program, however Noosa Council ceased funding for this several years ago and
eventually the program was unable to continue. MRCCC and Unitywater also conduct water quality
monitoring in Six Mile Creek, both near the Unitywater Cooroy STP and the Seqwater treatment
plant.

Concerns were raised as to whether the development of an additional citizen science monitoring
program would result in duplication of existing programs, with participants wanting to know what the
purpose of a program focusing solely on STP monitoring is and what it would achieve. Concerns
were also raised that even though there are many other water quality issues in both the Noosa and
Mary River catchments that have not been addressed, one of the main focuses is on STPs,
particularly at Burgess Creek, and their effect on water quality, which already receive a high level of
resourcing in terms of monitoring and are governed by DES.

The monitoring reports prepared by the NRM groups and citizen scientists indicate that there are
many other locations and sources of pollutants which require investigation and are equally, if not,
more important than STP monitoring.

Workshop participants agreed that rather than the development of another citizen science monitoring
program centred specifically around STP monitoring, a more appropriate action would be to expand
the scope of the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring Program by collating all the monitoring data
from stakeholders in these areas to gain a better understanding of available data and gaps.

MRCCC prepared an updated Situation Analysis in June 2023 and the group will soon assess and