Landuse pressures on the marine estate

Why is this project important?

Runoff from urban and agricultural areas is a priority threat to our coastal waterways. When it rains or when irrigation is used in farms, water washing over these landscapes, can pick up various pollutants along the way, such as fertiliser, pesticides, oil, litter, and soil.

This polluted runoff includes excess nutrients, soil and chemicals, and finds its way into rivers and streams, which then flow into our coastal waterways and estuaries.

As a result, the water quality of our coastal waterways can decline as a result. This can lead to toxic algal blooms, reduce oxygen levels, and impact aquatic life in our waterways, affecting both the environment and the communities that rely on these waterways for fishing, recreation, and tourism.

Proper management of diffuse source pollution is crucial to safeguard the health and sustainability of our precious coastal resources.

This project aims to better understand different sources and ways of managing diffuse pollution to protect the health of our NSW coastal waterways.

What are we doing?

We are investigating organic matter in urban stormwater in the greater Sydney region, its impact on environmental health, and how it can be managed.

We are also developing and testing new cost-effective rapid assessment methods that councils can use to assess the performance of their stormwater control measures (such as constructed wetlands and bioretention basins).

Once complete, this information will be shared with local councils and other waterway managers to assist them in managing pollution from urban stormwater and agricultural areas.

What have we achieved so far?

To date we have:

• Undertaken ecological monitoring to assist in setting evidence-based stormwater targets in the Western-Sydney Aerotropolis in partnership with Western Sydney Councils, Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure - Planning and Sydney Water.
• Provided evidence to participating Sydney councils to develop LGA wide maps identifying areas of high ecological value that may need greater protection. These ‘blue-green grids’ contribute to councils’ long-term strategic planning for urban development.
• Assisted councils in Lake Illawarra to deliver key actions on catchment health and water quality identified in Coastal Management Programs.
• Researched how large-scale maintenance activities affect the performance of constructed wetlands at treating nutrients and sediment in urban stormwater.
• Measured pollutant loads and stream health in waterways adjacent to differing intensive landuse types (such as urban, industrial and different agricultural uses) to better understand risk these landuses have on our waterways.

Statewide

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (NSW DCCEEW)

We are working with the University of Technology Sydney and research contractors to deliver research and monitoring, and partnering with local government including Wollongong City Council, Shellharbour City Council and Northern Beaches Council to carry out this project.