Meeting papers

These creeks are generally short and have small catchments, although the Burgess Creek
catchment extends up to the back of Noosa Junction and is over 500 hectares. Most of them are
now permanent, or run year around, but at least some of them would have been ephemeral and/or
had significantly lower flow before receiving urban runoff.

For comparative purposes, their general water body classification aligns most closely with the
Queensland Government’s “wallum/tannin-stained freshwaters: Tannin-stained, generally low
gradient, small to mid-sized streams, many with sandy substrates and low pH, tea-coloured water
draining through wallum vegetation” 19.

Waterways often have higher environmental values than the surrounding landscape, such as being
more biodiverse, conserving significant species and ecosystems and acting as a linkage through
developed land. In a coastal landscape they may be an important source of fresh water for wildlife.


Ecosystem service benefit
Creeks and natural areas that receive stormwater and Noosa Wastewater Treatment Plant
discharges from surrounding private and public properties are providing ecosystem service
benefits to the community. They facilitate urban development by taking the increased,
concentrated runoff that urban development inevitably produces. Stormwater drains allow the rapid
movement of water off roads, improving road function and safety. The natural areas that receive
the stormwater can help protect the broader environment by filtering and slowing the discharge.

However, many traditional stormwater management approaches and infrastructure can impact on
the environmental and social values of the receiving creeks, natural areas and the wider
environment, particularly where stormwater management has not kept pace with increased urban
flows from new development.


The impacts of stormwater and Noosa Wastewater Treatment Plant
discharge
Stormwater inputs are more concentrated, have more volume and are delivered more quickly than
natural flows, which increase the volume, velocity and peak height of creeks after storms. In
Burgess Creek this increased and concentrated flow can cause erosion and sedimentation,
deepen and widen flowlines and increase the potential for localized landslips. Stormwater also
often carries nutrients, weed seeds and other pollutants into the creek.

Where stormwater is discharged directly into natural areas, and not via creeks, it can still cause
erosion, sedimentation and weed infestations from the seeds and nutrients in the stormwater.

Stormwater impacts in bushland reserves, such as erosion, sedimentation, weed and nutrient
plumes, are already recorded in Council’s Bushland Operational Assessment, as a specific
management consideration. For more information on BOA, please go to Section 9: Ecology.

Burgess Creek also receives treated discharge from the Noosa Wastewater Treatment Plant on
Wallum Lane near Eenie Creek Road, managed by Unitywater. This has significantly increased the
flow of water in Burgess Creek. Recent Council water monitoring in Burgess Creek show that E.
coli and enterococci at Unitywater’s outflow are generally lower than the sites further downstream.
This may indicate that other influences, such as decommissioned landfills and rapid infiltration
basins, night soil disposal areas, residential run-off, and stormwater, may be making a significant
contribution to nutrient loads in the creek. This is being investigated and further instream and
groundwater monitoring is being conducted.


19 Queensland Water Quality Guidelines (DERM, 2009) and EHMP (2004) Ecosystem Health Monitoring

Program 2003-2004 Annual Technical Report. Moreton Bay Waterways and Catchments Partnership.

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