2023-03-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT   13 MARCH 2023




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GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT                                                              13 MARCH 2023

              Program Background

              The Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program [EHMP) is one of the mest comprehensive
             freshwater, estucrine cind merine monitcring programms in Australia. The Program monitors the
              ecological hedith of South East Queensland's wotenneys cind provides a crowing
              scientifically 20-year dataset and overview of catchrnent health.
              The EHiVP reports on progress towards the Water Quality Objectives and Environmental
              Values listed under the Queensland Govemment Environmental Protection Act 1994.
              Components of Md and Forfield Receiving Environment Monitoring Prograrn [REWP]
              requirernents for Environmented Activities (EA’s) cre achieved through the programm, cis well cis
              some federally listed conditions under the Environmental Protection cnd Biodiversity
              Conservation Act 1999.

              The program is funced by state and local govemment and the local utilities through a
              nehwork merrbership funcing model. Funding contibutions are leveraged to deliver c
              comprehensive procrarn for the South Bast Queensland region that meets the needs and
              Prictities of the stckeholcers and decision rmakers.
              The program is quided closely via oversight from top scientific eqoerts from the Queen dand
              Govemment, acaderria cand consulting, vic a series of field specific scientific eqert ponds,
              to ensure the program delivers the highest caliber of science cand is seen as ci lecicler in its
             field.

              The yearly released Report Cord uses data collected through the EHIVP to calculate scores
              and orades for waterway and catchment ecosystem health. The repert card incorporates:
                 ©   date from 76 monitored freshweter sites;
                 e = date from 182 estuarine and rocrine sites;
                 ¢   event monitoring cata from 6 sites for sedirnent and nutrient locicls reporting
                 ¢   data on key habitats including rparicn vegetation extent, freshwater cand estuctine
                     wetlands, secorass caind mud mapping;
                 *   social ond econemic data including yecry social surveys;
                 ©   oupderting cind running of yearly cotchment mocels; cine
                 ¢   releted science projects and leamings.
              Healthy Lone cine wWerter (HL) coordinates the program cnd oversees the site monitoring
              undertaken by the Departrent of Environment ond Science, Environmental Monitoring cine
              Assesanent Science. Other prograrn cormponents include analysis and synthesis of dete
              (dete analytics), incic ator reperting, catchment orades, data and executive briefings, key
              messaging, online data dashboards ond interac tive mapping. The network members hove
             full aecess to all EHMP related data cand modelling products, as well as access to HL
              Science Comrrittee, Steering Comrrittees ond Exoert Poneds.

              Through the current merrbership roodel mace up of state and local govemments, woter cand
              weiste utilities, the program leverages over $2.5 million per year to deliver a comprehensive
              and scientific aly rigorous monitering cand reporting program.
              The Ecosystem Health MVonitcring Program moniter cand reperts on the mid ond far-field
              Receiving Environment Monitcing Program conditions ond yearly trajectories of meeting
              Woter Quality Objectives in relation to Nocea’ Council activities (gure 1).

                    2   Helwart Member Agreement —Naass Caunal

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