New report card out for Mackay Whitsunday waterways

A new report card for the Mackay Whitsunday region has revealed more needs to be done to protect the waterways around the tourism hotspot.

Minister for the Environment and Heritage Protection Dr Steven Miles said the Mackay-Whitsunday Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership Report Card found freshwater basins needed improvement, while major estuaries rated better.

“The waterways around Mackay lead directly into the Great Barrier Reef so it is paramount we understand whether they are healthy and identify where we should focus our efforts.

“It is part of our commitment to protect the Great Barrier Reef for Queenslanders and visitors,” he said.

Dr Miles said the reef supported almost 70,000 jobs and injected $6 billion annually into our regional economies.

The Queensland Government has committed $1.5 million over four years to support regional waterway health report cards including Mackay Whitsunday and Gladstone areas and expanding to the Wet Tropics and Burdekin.

“The Mackay Whitsunday community places a high importance on the value of waterways for the lifestyle and social benefits they provide,” Dr Miles said.

“The report card helps provides insight into whole-of-catchment waterway health, from basin to estuary and out to the marine environment and adjacent Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

The results painted a mixed picture on waterway health for the region, with both basin and estuary scores ranging from good (B) to poor (D).

The Northern and Whitsunday inshore marine areas were moderate (C), although the central section rated poor (D). Marine results improved offshore, rating good (B).

Dr Miles said the development of the Mackay-Whitsunday Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership, and report card, were actions under the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.

“The pilot report card is the first step towards tracking trends in waterway health and progress towards responsive management action,” Dr Miles said.

“While we’ve integrated over $4 million of existing monitoring and reporting at a regional scale, we need to collect more data.

“Further work is required to provide a fuller picture of the region’s waterway health.

“The Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership model is adaptive and provides a framework we can use to establish other regional partnerships and report cards,' he said.

To view the pilot report card, go to http://healthyriverstoreef.org.au/

ENDS

Media - Neil Doorley 0412 393 909