FBA & CQUniversity: Sights set on seagrass strategies Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) is working with CQUniversity to reduce threats to seagrass communities. The Fitzroy region has the largest seaward draining basin in Queensland, with 1,000 km of coastline that is home to extensive seagrass meadows and part of the Great Barrier Reef Heritage area. Seagrass meadows underpin the survival of fish and shellfish the community eats and transform the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into oxygen. They also filter seawater, capture sediment, stop erosion and provide food for threatened dugong and marine turtle species. Human activity like coastal urban development, storm-water runoff and nutrient pollution can contribute to seagrass degradation and loss. Director of CQUniversity’s Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC), Associate Professor Emma Jackson is a leading authority on seagrass. She is researching ways coastal development activity can support rather than compromise seagrass that is essential to fish habitats. By participating with CMERC, FBA has been educating industry and the community about ways to decrease threats to local seagrass. Getting people to understand seagrass value is critical to motivating people to reduce marine pollution. Sustainable recreational use of marine areas throughout the Fitzroy region relies on healthy seagrass, so FBA engages the fishing community in volunteer [...]

Kestrel Coal: Finding the balance in water management Kestrel Coal Resources (Kestrel) appreciates that clean water is a valuable and finite resource, particularly within the Fitzroy River Basin, where there are times of extreme under and over supply – the reality of droughts and flooding rains. These extremes can even occur within the same year, as in 2021 where the year commenced on the back of a number of below average wet seasons, but ended with a major flooding event in December. Managing water across the mine site through these extremes aims to find a balance between water usage, water storage and water release, depending on the conditions at the time. As an underground mine, Kestrel is also particularly aware of the surrounding groundwater system – as a resource for our neighbours, the interaction with surface waterways and Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems, and from deeper aquifers, as an operational and potential safety issue via management of water ingress into the mine. Kestrel Mine’s Water Management fundamentals include: Reducing Raw Water Usage Reverse Osmosis – Kestrel operates 2 x RO plants on site, with capacity for taking a combined feed of 125,000 L/hr of mine water, and producing [...]

BHP BMA: Water Resources Situational Analysis & Qld Indigenous Land Conservation Project Water Resources Situational Analysis To better understand shared water challenges and opportunities for collective action, BHP commissioned a Water Resources Situational Analysis (WRSA) prepared by Alluvium Consulting and the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals. The WRSA will be made publicly available in mid-2022 and will be a tool for all to use in planning and prioritising action throughout the catchment. Fifteen shared challenges were identified across the following categories: Integrated water resource planning and management; Participation and access of first nations to land and sea country; Water security for economic and social well-being; Data confidence and knowledge; and Water and catchment quality. The WRSA reports on consequences and causes of these shared challenges and identifies existing and future opportunities for collective action. Queensland Indigenous Land Conservation Project Queensland Indigenous Land Conservation Project (QILCP) led by Greening Australia and BHP/BMA, with project partners the Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council and the Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation aim to improve and maintain the whole catchment connected to the Great Barrier Reef by engaging, enabling, and empowering Traditional Owners and Indigenous Communities to care for Country. The QILCP has celebrated several achievement since April 2019 including: [...]