The Fitzroy Basin report card now includes a marine component.
The Fitzroy:
Water quality in the Fitzroy River is heavily influenced by land use activities in the catchment and the following additional drivers:
The Fitzroy Partnership for River Health has identified several pressures affecting waterways in the broader Fitzroy Basin, and many would apply to the Fitzroy River estuary and freshwater sub-catchments of the Fitzroy River. Report card monitoring does not assess the risk rating for these pressures. The identified pressures include:
The Fitzroy region is a mineral-rich area. Mining and extraction activities, if not managed effectively, can increase the levels of some toxicants in the waterways.
Mining operators must manage fine sediment and toxicant emissions as part of their license conditions. The regional Receiving Environment Monitoring Plan (REMP), created in 2022, is the basis for assessing the cumulative impacts of mining activities on freshwater ecosystems in the Fitzroy Basin.
Regional REMP monitoring assessment results were reported for the first time as part of the 2023b Fitzroy Partnership for River Health report card.
Wastewater treatment in the Fitzroy River has improved since the last reporting period because of the North Rockhampton Sewage Treatment Plant upgrade. Wastewater treatment plant upgrades are subject to ‘no net decline’ provisions relating to the Reef Protection Regulations, meaning these activities can only expand if nutrient and sediment loads stay at current levels.
Cropping and grazing in this region are now regulated activities and subject to ‘no net decline’ provisions relating to the Reef Protection Regulations, so those activities can only expand if nutrient and sediment loads stay at current levels.
The combination of low rainfall and poor grazing practices can lead to low levels of ground cover, resulting in increased sediment run-off during subsequent high-rainfall events.
While not assessed as part of the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health report card, ground cover in the basin is reviewed as part of the Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling and Reporting Program, with the results presented in the Reef Water Quality Report Card. Several programs support farmers adopting best management grazing practices to address this pressure.
If not managed effectively, water extraction in ephemeral stream areas can lead to permanent refugial waterholes drying out or increases in salinity in those waterholes to concerning levels. The Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water regulates water extraction, a licensed activity.
Flow in the Fitzroy Basin is regulated by numerous dams and weirs. These structures have resulted in the modification of riverine habitat to lacustrine (lake) habitat and flow regimes different from what the life cycles of resident biota (plants and animals) are adapted to.
Dams, weirs and poorly designed causeways, can also act as barriers to fish and turtle spawning migration if not fitted with bio-passage devices. Since the last reporting period, the Rookwood Weir has been constructed in the lower Fitzroy River, increasing the extent of impounded habitat by 60km. This dam has been fitted with a contemporary design bio-passage structure to facilitate fish and turtle spawning migration. Fish community health is now an indicator of freshwater ecosystem health reported in the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health report card.
Report cards named in the Queensland State of the Environment Report refer to the year of report card release, which may differ from the year given in the report card title or the year data group shown on regional report card partnership websites. Only the data for regional report cards released before 30 June 2024 is included.