estuary management Planning
Indicator descriptionShoalhaven’s estuaries are important community assets for environmental, economic, recreational and social reasons. The pressure of use has sometimes resulted in competition for and degradation of the estuaries’ natural resources. Increasing demands for residential and recreational opportunities need to be balanced with protection of the very values that people find attractive. We need to ensure the long-term protection of our estuaries, to minimise our impacts on their natural resources, and to balance potentially competing uses. To this end, Shoalhaven City Council, State Government agencies and members of the local community prepare and implement Estuary Management Plans. The plans are prepared under the following hierarchy of NSW Government policies: Total Catchment Management. Total Catchment Management (TCM) is the overlying management approach that involves the coordinated use and management of land, water, vegetation, ecosystems and other resources within a drainage basin. State Rivers and Estuaries Policy. The NSW State Rivers and Estuaries Policy focuses on the river and estuarine resources with the intent of reducing and where possible halting degradation and encouraging environmental restoration activities. NSW Estuary Management Policy. Recognising the value and importance of estuaries and the need to improve their management, the NSW Government developed an Estuary Management Policy. The policy ‘provides for the assessment of all estuarine uses, the resolution of conflicts and the production of a unified and sustainable management plan for each estuary, including remedial works and the redirection of activities where appropriate.’ The goal of the Government’s Estuary Management Policy is to achieve integrated, balanced, responsible and ecologically sustainable use of the State’s estuaries, which form a key component of coastal catchments. Estuary Management Plans provide a comprehensive and integrated set of strategies to restore, protect and conserve the natural resources of Shoalhaven’s estuaries so as to ensure that their use is ecologically sustainable in the long term. Estuary management plans set out strategies and actions grouped into management areas, such as:
The various strategies consist of:
Because the quality of estuaries is largely determined by management of their catchments; many of the strategies and actions extend beyond the boundaries of the estuary itself. Responsibility for implementation of the Management Plans and their individual components lies with the various organisations and individuals listed in the tables of actions. To help integrate and coordinate estuary management, Council has established a number of Estuary Management Task Forces whose role is to prepare and implement the plans. Task Force meetings are attended by appointed community representatives, councillors, council staff and representatives of state government agencies. |