Page 320 - Week 01 - Thursday, 29 November 2012
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There has been little change in our knowledge of land health and urban impacts, despite several previous recommendations for improvement.
And this is just in the context; this is where it all starts:
The effects of drought and fires dominated assessments of water and catchment health in the 2003 and 2007-08 ACT State of the Environment reports. Conditions have changed in this reporting period, with drought early on and wetter conditions more recently. The need to remain vigilant about the impacts of urban development on water quality and hydrology was highlighted in previous reports and has not diminished. Recommendations from previous State of the Environment reports focused on post-fire rehabilitation to protect catchments and significant steps in post-fire recovery have been made. There has been little change in our knowledge of land health and urban impacts, despite several previous recommendations for improvement.
The report goes on to say:
Data limitations have also been highlighted in previous State of the Environment reports, in particular relating to changes to soil condition, vegetation cover and diversity, and effects of urbanisation on catchments. There are encouraging signs that groundwater data collection and monitoring are improving, though more needs to be done to identify and manage this valuable resource. The need for long-term research and monitoring and for coordinated catchment management remains as valid today as it did when recommended in 2003 and 2007.
Ms Berry, yes, you are right: it is not an accident; it is neglect. And the report goes on to say:
These are examples of cooperative catchment management activities, and the learnings from these actions should be incorporated into other catchment initiatives. However, previous recommendations to improve cross-boundary catchment management have not been fully realised and require committed action.
And that is the problem: there is no committed action, because, for all the talk and all the guff and all the goings-on, in the last four years under the Greens-Labor agreement and a Greens-Labor coalition the environment went backwards in the ACT.
If you continue to go through the report it talks about lake health:
During the reporting period, sampling in ACT lakes measured elevated concentrations of chlorophyll ‘a’ and sporadic high or extremely high concentrations of blue-green algae. This occurred primarily between spring and autumn of each year when these waterbodies had correspondingly higher concentrations of available nutrients and relatively warm waters. Summer incidence of blue green algae in ACT lakes appears to be increasing. This is when lakes are most likely to be used for recreation.
Here is the line:
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