Fanning River
Contents |
Topography
Vegetation
Riparian Habitat
The following information is summarized from the ACTFR report: Assessing the condition of riparian vegetation in the Burdekin catchment using satellitte imagery and field surveys by Leo Lymburner and John Dowe. 2006. This report can be accessed from the report section below.
iTRARC analysis of Riparian Habitat indicates that this subcatchment has undergone little change since the 1970s and remains in relatively good condition. The field surveys tell a slightly different story with all sites listed as poor or very poor. The combination of good regeneration and poor weediness may indicate low grazing pressure, in which case it may be the weediness that is leading to the low TRARC scores.
Wetlands
The following information is summarized from the ACTFR report: Assessing the condition of Wetlands in the Burdekin catchment using existing GIS and field knowledge for CCI by Mirjam Maughan, Damien Burrows, Barry Butler, Leo Lymburner and George Lukacs. 2006. This report can be accessed from the report section below.
This river has two main arms (east and west branch) arising within the Herveys Range, west of Townsville, then falling through a steep gorge country before flattening out in savanna rangelands. Many waterholes are present in the gorge country but due to inaccessibility (no vehicles and being part of a live-firing and bombing range), nothing is known about those reaches. The headwaters have higher rainfall than many other rivers, though not as much as the rivers to the north (eg, Keelbottom, Star). The west arm within and above the gorge contains a number of permanent waterholes, though the presence of water in the lower half of the river is limited. The east arm does not have any large permanent waterholes (except maybe in the gorge section), though smaller ones are present. The upper portions of the river (including both the east and west arms) are within the Townsville Field Training Area, a military training area since 1977. Thus the land use is different to other parts of the upper Burdekin and despite many years of military use, it is considered to be in very good condition (Ash et al. 2000). The Department of Defence has commissioned monitoring of the waterholes of the training area since 1994, mostly for water quality, sediment quality, macroinvertebrates (summarized in Burrows and Butler 2000 and Loong et al. 2006), riparian vegetation (Dowe 2006) and catchment run-off (CSIRO 2006) but also on two occasions for fish (Burrows and Tait 1999, Loong et al. 2006). The limnology of Poison Waterhole, on the upper Fanning River (wets branch) was assessed by Loong et al. (2005). The lower Fanning River and its tributaries flow through grazing lands and are largely dry creeks with few permanent waterholes. Their condition is considered to be typical of upper Burdekin grazing rangelands.
Fanning River wetland condition summary...
Water
SedNet Modelling of Water Quality
The following statistics are summarized from the CSIRO report: Improved SedNet Modelling of Grazing Lands in the Burdekin Catchment by Kinsey-Henderson, A., Sherman, B. and Bartley, R. 2007. This report can be accessed from the report section below.
Model results for the Fanning River sub-catchment are summarized as follows:
- Subcatchment modelled area: 1,099 sq. km.
- Source contributions: Hillslope = 88%; Gully = 9%; Streambank = 4%
- Area of subcatchment with <50% ground cover: 453 sq. km or 41% of subcatchment
- Hillslope sediment supply: 674 kg/ha/yr
- Total suspended sediment (flow weighted) supply: 85 kt/yr
- Total suspended sediment supply (flow weighted; normalized to area): 770 kg/ha/yr
- Total suspended sediment end-of-subcatchment (flow weighted) yield: 79 kt/yr
- Event Mean Concentration (EMC - flow weighted): 729 mg/L
- Mean Annual Flow: 108,507 ML
Hillslope erosion is identified as the major source of sediment and particulate nutrients affecting water quality within the Fanning River subcatchment (88%), and is predicted to contribute 487 kg/ha/yr. It is estimated that approximately 41% of the sub-catchment has poor ground cover (<50%). Total sediment losses from all sources is predicted to be high (770 kg/ha/yr). Similarly, the event mean concentration of suspended sediment is predicted to be quite high (729 mg/L).
Water Quality Monitoring
The monitoring site in the Fanning River catchment is located next to the Flinders Highway and has been sampled by the ACTFR for 2 years (2004/05 and 2005/06). The catchment area for this monitoring site is 1,095 sq km, of which 96.6% is used for grazing. Suspended sediment concentrations (and associated particulate nitrogen and phosphorus) over the monitored period have been relatively low (318 mg/L) compared to other catchments in the Burdekin rangelands as well as to the modelled estimates of sediment export, although this comparison is based on a limited pool of monitoring data.
Relevant information of Water Quality Monitoring in the Upper Burdekin River Basin can be found by following these links:
- Water Quality Monitoring
- Water Quality Monitoring results
- Event-based community water quality monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2002-2007. Volume 1
- Event-based community water quality monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2002-2007. Volume 2
Environmental Values
The following summary of environmental uses and values is based on information extracted from the following reports: Social, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Values of Streams and Wetlands in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region by Greiner, R and Hall, N. 2006 and Burdekin Basin Draft Water Resource Plan by Queensland Dept. of Natural Resources, Mines and Water, 2006, The Greiner and Hall 2006 report may be accessed from the report section below.
Definition of Environmental Values in the Queensland Water Quality Guidelines
Aquatic Ecosystems:
The upper portion of the Fanning River subcatchment, corresponding to the largely forested headwaters contained within the Townsville Field Training Area, has been identified as containing High Ecological Value (HEV) waters by the BWQIP ecological values technical panel. This area is contiguous with HEV areas in neighbouring subcatchments. The aquatic ecosystem values of the lower and middle reaches of the Fanning River subcatchment are considered to be Slightly to Moderately Disturbed (SMD) as a consequence of the surrounding land use for cattle grazing. Nevertheless, the biological communities are thought to remain in a healthy condition and ecosystem integrity is likely to be largely retained.
The aquatic ecosystem values of Fanning River ?
Stock Watering:
Water supply for production of healthy livestock.
Cultural and Spirtual:
Custodial use of water by Juru traditional owners.
Landuse
Principle land uses within the Fanning River subcatchment as a proportion of total area:
- Grazing: 96.6%
- Conservation & minimal use: 2.5%
- Urban & semi urban: Limited urban & semi urban water activity use identified.
- Water: Limited water activity use identified.
There are many old and current mine sites present in this subcatchment, while only very limited urban & semi urban land use is identified.
Grazing Land
Fanning River is a relatively small subcatchment where land use is predominantly grazing on natural pastures.
Land Condition
Definition of ABCD land condition framework
Results of a Rapid Land Condition Assessment (adopted from Hassett et al. 2000) are presented below. The assessment has been devised to subjectively characterise condition while traversing the BDT region by vehicle. The data are based on a total of 4666 observations across the Burdekin region between 2004 and 2007.
The data were collected to provide independent information on land condition and provide a regional perspective. Resource assessment data are most useful when interpreted with other sources of data e.g. time-series remote sensing, modelling and water quality monitoring.
The estimated condition of the Fanning River sub-catchment is proportioned as follows:
- A Condition: 40%
- B Condition: 35%
- C Condition: 17%
- D Condition: 8%
Data from the Fanning River sub-catchment is based on 65 observations.
On the basis of the rapid assessment, the Fanning River sub-catchment is estimated to have the largest proportion of land in good (A) condition (40%), followed by fair (B) condition (35%) and poor (C) condition land (17%). 8% of observed land was in very poor (D) condition.
Ground Cover
Ground Cover in the Fanning River sub-catchment is proportioned as follows:
- ( BC) Bare Cover: 0%
- ( LC) Low Cover: 12%
- ( MC) Moderate Cover: 25%
- ( HC) High Cover: 58%
- (VHC) Very High Cover: 5%
Data from the Fanning River sub-catchment are based on 65 observations.
On the basis of the rapid assessment (2004-2007), the Fanning River sub-catchment is estimated to have the highest proportion of land within the high (HC) ground cover category (58%), followed by moderate (MC) cover (25%) and low (LC) cover (12%) categories. 5% of land was estimated to fall into the very high cover (VHC) category.
Resource Condition Summary
Fanning River is a relatively small subcatchment where land use is predominantly grazing on native pastures. Conservation and minimal use comprises less than 3% of the subcatchment. Many abandoned and active mines are scattered throughout the central and lower parts of the subcatchment. Riparian areas in the subcatchment have undergone little change in the last 30 years and remain fair (B) condition. This river has two main arms arising within the Hervey Range, west of Townsville, then falling through a gorge before flattening out in savannah rangelands. The west arm within and above the gorge contains a number of permanent waterholes, though the presence of water in the lower half of the river is limited. The aquatic ecology and characteristics of this river have been reasonably well studied and the upper portions are generally considered to be in good condition. The lower Fanning River and its tributaries flow through grazing lands and are largely dry, sandy creeks with few permanent waterholes.
Hillslope erosion is identified by models as the major source of sediment and particulate nutrients affecting water quality within the Fanning River subcatchment. The rate of soil erosion is predicted to be moderate and above the basin average, while the total soil loss to waterways from the subcatchment is comparatively low due to its small area. Grazing land condition is assessed as having relatively high proportions in good (A) and fair (B) condition. However, a substantial proportion of observed land was also in poor (C) and very poor (D) condition. This is also reflected in the ground cover assessment (2004-07). Analysis of satellite imagery (reference) identifies areas in the middle and lower reaches of Fanning River and its tributories that are marginal and high vulnerablity and 'D' condition. The mean ground cover across the entire subcatchment declined from 92% in 1999 to 65% in 2004, and had recovered to 90% in 2006.
Water quality in the Fanning River subcatchment is predicted by models to have moderately elevated sediment concentrations during wet season event flows. However, water quality monitoring data from the subcatchment have recorded much lower suspended sediment (and associated particulate nutrient) concentrations than predicted by models. It appears likely, therefore, that the SedNet model is overestimating erosion from this subcatchment, possibly due to its steep topography and inter-annual variability in ground cover.
Draft Environmental Values
The upper portion of the Fanning River subcatchment, corresponding to the largely forested headwaters contained within the Townsville Field Training Area, has been identified as containing High Ecological Value (HEV) waters by the BWQIP ecological values technical panel. This area is contiguous with HEV areas in neighbouring subcatchments. The aquatic ecosystem values of the lower and middle reaches of the Fanning River subcatchment are considered to be Slightly to Moderately Disturbed (SMD) as a consequence of the surrounding land use for cattle grazing. Nevertheless, the biological communities are thought to remain in a healthy condition and ecosystem integrity is likely to be largely retained. The human use Environmental Values of the Fanning River subcatchment are understood to be limited to stock watering and the cultural and spiritual values of the Juru traditional owners.
Maps
Fanning River
Fanning River Landuse (focus on Fanning River)
Fanning River Wetlands
Fanning River Geology
Please feel free to download the maps in the following formats:
- Fanning River Map as *.pdf (requires Acrobat Reader)
- Fanning River Landuse Map as *.pdf (requires Acrobat Reader)
- Fanning River Geology Map as *.pdf (requires Acrobat Reader)
- Catchment Layer as *.kmz (requires Google Earth)
Photos
- FanningRiver1.jpg
- FanningRiver2.jpg
- FanningRiver3.jpg
Reports
- Assessing the condition of Riparian Vegetation in the Burdekin catchment for CCI (2.8 Mb)
- Assessing the condition of Wetlands in the Burdekin catchment for CCI (10 Mb)
- Water Quality Issues in the Burdekin Region (3.8Mb)
- Monitoring of sediments and nutrients in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region: 2005-06 wet season (4.3 Mb)
- Event based Water Quality Monitoring in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region: 2004/05 wet season (3.1 Mb)
- A report into the water quality condition of the Burdekin River and surrounds based on the AIMS end-of-catchment sampling program (13.2 Mb)
- Limnological assessment and benchmarking of key sentinel wetlands in the Burdekin catchment
- Improved SedNet Modelling of Grazing Land in the Burdekin Catchment(812Kb)
- Economic, Cultural and Environmental values of streams and wetlands in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region. (23.5Mb)
- Draft High Ecological Value waters assessment for BDT WQIP
