are stygofauna really protected in western australia? · the question of whether the regulatory...
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Are Stygofauna Really Protected In
Western Australia?
by
Sarah Elizabeth Goater BSc(Env) Hons.
This thesis is presented for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Western Australia
School of Animal Biology and Law School
August 2009
MB BORE
PERCIFORMES
MB BORE
DECAPODA
DSO BORE
i
ABSTRACT
The question of whether the regulatory framework in Western Australia (WA) - ostensibly
designed to protect stygofauna - really achieves that objective is the subject of my thesis. In WA,
there is heavy reliance on groundwater resources for human consumption, irrigation, stock and
industrial uses as they provide a relatively cheap and low-risk source of suitable water. At the same
time, these systems provide refuge and habitat for subterranean aquatic fauna (stygofauna)
intrinsically reliant on the sustainable management of these resources. Consequently, conflict now
exists over prioritising the use of ground water for human consumption and restricting supply to
maintain ecosystem functions without causing deleterious changes. Addressing this conflict in WA
is the joint responsibility of the Water Corporation of WA (the Government-owned water services
provider) and the relevant regulatory decision-making authorities: the Department of Water (DoW),
the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Environmental Protection
Authority (EPA).
I have adopted a multidiscipline approach in the development of my hypothesis, generating
discussion from the nexus of legal and scientific fields. My primary focus throughout was to
identify and test the efficacy of both the relevant legislation and also the regulatory management
tools in place to provide for the direct and indirect protection of stygofauna in WA. To strengthen
and focus my approach, I anchored my investigations to a case-study of 8 years monitoring data
collected from the Corporation’s Exmouth water supply borefield. The data set is a product of the
Corporation’s regulatory obligations to protect stygofauna locally at Exmouth, but equally reflects
a prevailing scientific paradigm of the early 1990s applied to the north-west of WA as the
stygofauna of the region became internationally recognised. Consequently, I followed two
approaches; covering both legal and scientific aspects. I based my analysis of the legal and
regulatory tools on an exhaustive search of the statutory, administrative and case-study material
publicly available, supplemented by correspondence within and between relevant agencies
(Chapter 2). I then tested the efficacy of these legislative and regulatory controls against a post-hoc
evaluation of the 8 year-long monitoring dataset, using scientific protocols to identify and highlight
assumptions, limitations and statistical rigour of the sampling design and techniques (Chapters 3-
4).
My case-study findings applied to the Exmouth borefield show that, while legislative tools are in
place to meet the overall objective of stygofauna protection, the regulatory framework in place to
administer them combined with a dearth of local knowledge on stygofauna biology, ultimately
hinders effective protective measures from being realised. My investigation highlights the reality
and consequences of not developing clear, strategic objectives on why and how effective protection
of stygofauna is going to be achieved though all phases of a proposed project, from scoping a
ii
proposed development through to on-going, long-term operation, or to short-term decommissioning
requirements. In Chapter 5, I take a broader perspective of my case-study findings to deliberate
briefly whether, in fact, the overall objective of protection of stygofauna in WA is being realised. A
summary of my findings is as follows.
1) While legislation does exist in WA to protect all forms of stygofauna directly, these
statutory tools are currently not used to full effect, as stygofauna in WA are not universally
subject to the same suite of environmental laws as other surface-dwelling or vertebrate
biota, confounded by inconsistencies between relevant statutory and policy objectives.
2) Regulatory mechanisms to protect stygofauna indirectly (via protection of the groundwater
resources upon which they depend) are limited by focused application to large-scale
projects, as opposed to a state-wide or catchment-scale approaches, and rely heavily on
project specific environmental commitments set to ‘protect and maintain’ local stygofauna
populations.
3) The underlying objective of environmental commitments to ‘protect and maintain’
stygofauna populations cannot be met using traditional sampling methods due to a distinct
absence of knowledge of the ecological and biological drivers of species richness and
abundances changes in the monitoring data.
4) Little consideration is given to competing priorities between environmental laws for the
protection of stygofauna, and those promoting groundwater resources developments for
human use, highlighting the need for a multi-discipline approach to stygofauna
conservation in WA.
Consequently, I conclude that the current regulatory frameworks to conserve stygofauna in WA
and the groundwater resources they depend upon do not provide adequately for their protection.
The inadequacy of the current framework reflects prevailing societal conscience, combined with
limited integration of legal and biological tools to implement effective management practices.
Thus, I propose here a proactive new adaptive management system to research, evaluate and
protect stygofauna collectively in WA.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ABSTRACT i TABLE OF CONTENTS iii SPECIES CITED IN THE TEXT, WITH AUTHORITIES v ABBREVIATED TERMS CITEDIN THE TEXT vii PROLOGUE ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi STATEMENT OF CANDIDATE’S CONTRIBUTION xiii
CHAPTER 1: ARE STYGOFAUNA REALLY PROTECTED IN WA?
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN AUSTRALIA ............................................................................... 1
1.2. A MULTIDISCIPLINE APPROACH IS REQUIRED ................................................................... 2
1.3. DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITIES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA......................................... 2
1.4. STYGOFAUNA RESEARCH ........................................................................................................ 3
1.5. GROUNDWATER AS A RESERVOIR, A HABITAT, AND A RESOURCE ............................ 5
1.6. INTERNATIONAL POLICY FOR GROUNWATER DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEMS ............... 8
1.7. A NATIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS PROTECTING GROUNDWATER FAUNA ............. 9
1.8. WA POLICY FOR THE PROTECTION OF STYGOFAUNA .................................................... 12
1.9. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF STYGOFAUNA PROTECTION IN AUSTRALIA .............. 13
1.10. CASE-STUDY EXAMPLE: EXMOUTH, NORTH-WESTERN AUSTRALIA ......................... 14
1.11. THE EXMOUTH GROUNDWATER RESOURCE .................................................................... 15
1.12. THE CAPE RANGE GROUP STYGOFAUNA .......................................................................... 19
1.13. HYPOTHESIS .............................................................................................................................. 21
1.14. THESIS STRUCTURE AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 2: WHY THE WATER CORPORATION IS REQUIRED TO MONITOR
STYGOFAUNA WITHIN THE EXMOUTH BOREFIELD
2. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 27
2.1. CHANGES IN WA GROUNDWATER ADMINSTRATIVE BODIES ........................... 28
2.2. DIRECT LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION OF STYGOFAUNA .................................................. 28
2.3. INDIRECT LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION OF STYOGAUNA ................................................ 32
2.4. CONFLICTS BETWEEN PROTECTING HUMAN HEALTH & STYGOFAUNA ................. 34
2.5. EPA ASSESSMENT AND MINISTERIAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS ............... 36
2.6. IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGES IN LEGISLATION ................................................................. 39
iv
2.7. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 48
2.8. CASE-STUDY APPROACH ........................................................................................................ 52
CHAPTER 3: CAN A CHANGE IN STYGOFAUNA POPULATIONS WITHIN THE EXMOUTH
BOREFIELD BE DETECTED FROM MONITORING PROTOCOLS IN PLACE?
3. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 55
3.1. METHODS ................................................................................................................................... 58
3.2. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................... 61
3.3. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 67
3.4. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 73
CHAPTER 4: IS SALINITY AN EFFECTIVE CRITERION TO TRIGGER MANAGEMENT
ACTIONS FOR STYGOFAUNA PROTECTION WITHIN THE EXMOUTH BOREFIELD?
4. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 79
4.1. METHODS ................................................................................................................................... 84
4.2. RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................... 87
4.3. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................. 102
4.4. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................ 108
CHAPTER 5: ARE STYGOFAUNA REALLY PROTECTED IN WA? A QUESTION OF VALUE
5. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 111
5.1. INTEGRATION OF CASE-STUDY FINDINGS ...................................................................... 114
5.2. METHODS USED: WEAKNESS AND STRENGTHS ............................................................. 122
5.3. FUTURE DIRECTION – A NEW ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK ................ 123
REFERENCES 131
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF EXMOUTH CASE-STUDY STYGOFAUNA DATA 143
APPENDIX 2: DIGITAL IMAGING POTENTIAL 145
APPENDIX 3: PROPOSED COMMITMENTS (MUIR ENVIRONMENTAL, 1995) 151
APPENDIX 4: PROPOSED COMMITMENTS (WATER CORPORATION, 1996) 155
APPENDIX 5: PROPONENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS (MoE, 1996) 157
APPENDIX 6: YEAR 7 PCR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (KBR, 2005) 159
APPENDIX 7: 2008 EXMOUTH WATER ALLOCATION LICENSE REPORT 163
APPENDIX 8: SALINITY PROFILES POST EPISODIC RAINFALL EVENT 167
v
SPECIES CITED IN THE TEXT, WITH AUTHORITIES
Subphylum CRUSTACEA Pennant, 1777
Class MALACOSTRACA Latreille, 1802
Stygiocaris lancifera Holthuis, 1960 Order Decapoda: Atyidae
Stygiocaris stylifera Holthuis, 1960 Order Decapoda: Atyidae
Abebaioscia troglodytes Vandel, 1973 Order Isopoda: Oniscidea
Haptolana pholeta Bruce & Humphreys, 1993 Order Isopoda: Cirolanidae
Liagoceradocus branchialis Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Hadziidae
Liagoceradocus subthalassicus Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Hadziidae
Nedsia douglasi Barnard & Williams, 1995 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia fragilis Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia humphreysi Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia hurlberti Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia macrosculptilis Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia straskraba Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitidae
Nedsia urifimbriata Bradbury & Williams, 1996 Order Amphipoda: Melitida
Halosbaena tulki Poore & Humphreys, 1992 Order Thermosbaenacea
Class MAXILLOPODA Dahl, 1956
Subclass COPEPODA Milne Edwards, 1840
Diacyclops humphreysi Pesce & De Laurentiis, 1996 Order Cyclopoida
Speleophria bunderae Jaume, Boxshall & Humphreys, 2001 Order: Misophrioida
Stygocyclopia australis Jaume, Boxshall & Humphreys, 2001 Order: Calanoida
Stygoridgewayia trispinosa Tang, Barron & Goater, 2008 Order: Calanoida
Subclass OSTRACODA Latreille, 1802
Danielopolina kornickeri Danielopol, Baltanás & Humphreys, 2000 Order: Halocyprida
Subphylum VERTEBRATA Cuvier, 1812
Class OSTEICHTHYES Huxley, 1880
Subclass ACTINOPTERYGII Klein, 1885
Ophisternon candidum Mees, 1962 Order Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae
Milyeringa veritas Whitley, 1945 Order Perciformes: Eleotridae
vi
vii
ABBREVIATED TERMS CITED IN THE TEXT
ADWQG Australian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines
CALM Department of Conservation and Land Management (of WA)
CER Consultative Environmental Review
COAG Council of Australian Governments
Corporation Water Corporation (of WA)
CSC Computer Systems Consultants
DEC Department of Environment and Conservation (of WA)
DEP Department of Environmental Protection (of WA)
DoE Department of Environment (of WA)
DoW Department of Water (of WA)
DSO Designated Stygofauna Observation bore
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EPA Environment Protection Authority (of WA)
EPA SU Environment Protection Authority Service Unit (of WA)
ERA Economic Regulatory Authority (of WA)
ERMP Environmental Review and Management Plan
ESA Environmentally Sensitive Area
IGAE Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment
MB Monitoring Bore
MoE Minister of Environment (of WA)
NSCABD National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological
Diversity
NSESD National Strategy for Environmental Sustainable Development
NWI National Water Initiative
NWQMS National Water Quality Management Strategy
OWR Office of Water Regulation (of WA)
viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATED TERMS cont’d
PCR Performance and Compliance Report
SWIM Salt Water Interface Monitoring bore
TEC Threatened Ecological Community
UVS Underwater Video Systems
UWA The University of Western Australia
WA Western Australia
WAM Western Australian Museum
WRC Waters and Rivers Commission (of WA)
Acts and regulatory abbreviations
FRM Act Fish Resources Management Act 1994
EP(IA) Act Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974
WC Act Water Corporation Act 1995
WSC Act Water Services Co-ordination Act 1995
WSL Act Water Service Licensing Act 1995
EP Act Environmental Protection Act 1986
EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1996
WLC Act Wildlife Conservation Act 1950
RWI Act Rights in Waters and Irrigation Act 1914
CAWS Act Country Areas Water Supply Act
Part. Part
Sch. Schedule
Div. Division
s.( ) section (sub-section)
r.( ) regulation (sub-regulation)
Gazette Government Gazette
Environmental Commitments (within Ministerial Condition Statement)
Proponent’s Commitments (within Environmental Commitments)
ix
PROLOGUE
I was first introduced to the world of subterranean ecology in 2003, working as a research assistant
at UWA sampling and sorting stygofauna for industry-funded projects undergoing Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). While my initial fascination was for the tiny blind creatures themselves,
this soon gave way to an insatiable curiosity as to the drivers behind the political and regulatory
attention they were receiving. In 2004, I took a job with the Water Corporation to work on an
existing longer-term stygofauna monitoring program at Exmouth. The more I became involved
with the project, the more I was exposed to the challenges facing consultants, proponents and
regulators alike to meet their legal obligations to protect stygofauna at Exmouth without a real
understanding of why or how they would achieve this. My interest became two-fold: namely,
investigating the scientific rigour of the monitoring program in place to trigger management actions
to protect local stygofauna populations; and investigating whether the regulatory mechanisms in
place to achieve the overall objective of stygofauna protection at Exmouth were adequate to do so.
This dissertation is the output of my findings.
As with all post-graduate students I collected probably enough information for two PhD projects
with the work undertaken far surpassing the focused output presented here. Of relevance, although
not outlined in detail within this thesis, I spent 18 months collaboratively developing a remote-
controlled water proof digital camera with the capacity to take high-frequency, high resolution in-
situ images at 100 m depth below ground (see acknowledgements for collaborative contributions).
The intention behind the camera development was to test the reliability of data collected from
existing stygofauna sampling techniques and improve knowledge on the temporal scales of
naturally occurring population changes. With the benefit of hindsight, I acknowledge I
stupendously underestimated the technical and logistical challenges associated with such an
innovative project which, in the end, could not be included in my thesis. However, I am incredibly
proud that most of these hurdles were overcome towards the end of my candidature and that my
final field trials were successful. The image sequences captured are fantastic and offer a real
promise of advancing knowledge on stygofauna biology for conservation and/or regulatory
purposes in the future. I only hope I can pass on this project to another student who can take it to
the next phase and fulfil its true potential. A preview of image sequences captured and annotated
preliminary findings are provided in the Appendices of this thesis.
x
xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people whom I thank for their generosity and support throughout my PhD
candidature:
The Water Corporation for approving the Exmouth case-study investigation and providing
unpublished literature, compliance data, field/technical support and funds necessary to pursue
my thesis hypothesis. In particular I thank David Luketina (Environment Branch) for providing
a flexible working arrangement which allowed me to channel my enthusiasm for the topic by
integrating work and studies. I would also like to express my gratitude to Mike Thorman
(Research & Development), Andrew Bath (Drinking Water Quality), the Mid-West Regional
team (Geraldton, Carnarvon & Exmouth) and my Environment Branch colleagues for their
invaluable support.
To Mark Musarra and Gary Rice (UVS), Mark Jollow (CSC), Mike Thorman (Water Corp),
Ray Scott and Wally Gibb (UWA) for their specialist inputs to the development of the
stygofauna digital imaging camera: technical, engineering, information technology and
imaging. Each and every member of this team embraced the challenge of developing this new
technique for capturing stygofauna data – regardless of how crazy my ideas at first may have
seemed! I am incredibly proud of our achievement. I also thank Mary Buttfield, Jacque Giles
and Christian Akerstrom for their assistance in the field trials of the camera.
To Jenny Carey, Roland Mau, Brook Hawkyard, Brad Daw (DEC) for providing field support
for camera trials in Exmouth and discussions over karst management issues at Cape Range.
Adam Maskew, Katrina Burton (DoW) for insights into regional groundwater planning
challenges. Danny Tang, Matthew Johnston, Andrew Limbourn (UWA) for sharing the PhD
journey, being there to bounce ideas off or bring humour into the more challenging days.
Michael Renton (UWA) for providing statistical software and assistance for select analyses in
Chapter 3. Bernadette Streppel for GIS assistance and fantastic debates over integrating science
and management. Todd Jones (Curtain University of Technology) for great chats over
sustainable tourism at Exmouth and indulging me with an aerial tour of Cape Range and
Ningaloo.
Last but not least I would like to give special thanks to my supervisors Dr Brenton Knott
(UWA), Prof. Alex Gardner (UWA), Dr Andrew Storey (UWA), Dr Miles Dracup (Water
Corp) and Mr Andrew Baker (Water Corp). Under their guidance over the past 3 years I have
been encouraged to follow my own research interests, expand my social and professional
networks, refine my writing skills, and develop the level of critical thinking I apply to my own
work as well as to others. Their constructive criticism and high standards have made my PhD
candidature a tough but personally rewarding experience. Further, I would like to express my
xii
deepest gratitude to both Brenton Knott and Andrew Baker for taking on the additional
challenge of mentoring me through full-time work and studies. Countless coffees later (and a
roller coaster of professional and personal challenges), I feel privileged and humbled at having
been given the opportunity to draw upon their combined wisdom and knowledge over the
years. It has been an enriching and inspiring journey – so thank you.
xiii
STATEMENT OF CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION
Although I delivered some preliminary results from Chapter 3 at the 19th International Symposium
of Subterranean Biology on 24 September, 2008 (co-authored with my supervisors Andrew Storey,
Alex Gardner, Miles Dracup and Brenton Knott), the Chapter has been substantially revised in
completing my thesis.
Throughout the preparation of my thesis I have debated and sought feedback from each of my
supervisors based on their relevant experience in the different facets that comprise my case-study
approach. However, inputs have been on a supervisory level only, with the ideas, analyses and
writing herein expressly my own work.
I intend to publish my thesis in its entirety - as a monograph. All appendices including a PDF
version of the complete thesis are provided on CD with this hard copy of my thesis.
xiv
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Are Stygofauna Really Protected
in WA?
PERCIFORMES
DECAPODA
BATHYNELLACEA
THERMOSBAENACEA
1
1. INTRODUCTION
There is considerable regulatory focus currently on the protection of groundwater-dependent
stygofauna in Western Australia (WA) as competing priorities to develop groundwater resources
for human use begin to be realised. For my thesis I have investigated whether the legal and
regulatory frameworks in place in WA - ostensibly designed to protect stygofauna - really achieve
the objective of protection. I have anchored my thesis to a case-study investigation of
environmental conditions set for the Exmouth water supply borefield, although the discussion that
arises is more broadly applicable on regional, state and national scales. Here, in my introduction, I
provide an overview of the legal framework that underpins environmental law in Australia and the
importance of a multidiscipline approach balancing science and legal objectives. I then introduce
the decision-making authorities in WA responsible for administering relevant legislation to protect
stygofauna and the groundwater resources upon which the latter depend, highlighting overlaps in
administrative jurisdiction where they occur. Next, I outline the origins of stygofauna research
from international and national perspectives, identifying drivers behind today’s knowledge base
and prevailing management objectives. An overview is provided of ground water, contextualised as
a reservoir, a habitat and a resource, and followed by international, national and WA State policy in
place for the protection of groundwater resources and their dependent fauna. Finally, I introduce
the case-study example forming the core of my thesis, establishing the direction and scope of my
study and embedded hypotheses.
1.1. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN AUSTRALIA
An awareness of the importance of environmental protection and planning in Australia can be dated
to the late 1700s, i.e. amidst our colonial origins, when environmental laws were created by edict
but underlain by a general sense of utilitarianism (Bonyhady, 2000; Tyrell, 2004). However, the
formal implementation of environmental law in Australia occurred just over 30 years ago following
on from international initiatives in the United Nations and United States (Bonyhady, 2000). Since
this time, existing environmental legislation has undergone rapid development to be where it is
today. There has been a shift in social thinking from a purely anthropocentric view of protecting
the environment, expanding the definition of ‘environment’ to include our social (aesthetic,
cultural, economic), physical (natural environment = land, air, water) and biological (species,
communities, ecosystems, biodiversity) surroundings and the associated links between them
(Tyrell, 2004). A large majority of environmental law is a product of legislation which is constantly
subject to reform and fine-tuning - as scrutiny of its overarching intent is tested over time (Bates,
1995).
The creation and authorisation of government authorities to undertake specific actions, make
decisions, issue permits and prosecute offences to protect the environment, is controlled within the
legislation. As the scope of the environmental law broadens so do the reaches of bureaucratic
2
control - to the point where, in some instances, they overlap. Thus, the administrative structure and
powers of each authority are subject to the hierarchy of legislative tools in place (Chapter 2) with
Commonwealth law prevailing over State law where conflict occurs (Bates, 2006). The day-to-day
administration of government body functions tend not to be generated from the legislation directly
but guided by a suite of memoranda, guidelines, procedures and directives designed to implement
policy based upon respective powers authorised by the legislation. However, although the link
between these administrative documents and the prescribed purpose of the overarching legislation
should be clear, in practice this clarity is not always evident (Bates, 2006).
1.2. A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH IS REQUIRED
Simply looking at the words of legislation does not always clarify how it is implemented, enforced,
or how the levels of success in achieving the underlying purpose are measured. Often the true
measure of success requires evidence or data on what is really happening in the ‘environment’.
Thus, for environmental law to be administered to full effect, a multidisciplinary command of legal
and scientific concepts and methodologies is required (Bates, 2006). For example, scientific
evidence of the sustainable nature, or otherwise, of a proposed project may prove pivotal to
deciding the risk, probability or likelihood that the project might cause environmental harm if
implemented. Equally, should a project or action be approved conditional upon short- or long-term
monitoring commitments, it is imperative to understand whether the objectives and criteria agreed
to are scientifically sound and achievable within the given time-frame (Peterman & M’Gonogle,
1992). Unfortunately, the underlying principles of criminal law often conflict directly with the
foundations of scientific principles upon which monitoring programs are designed (Bates, 2006).
Criminal law requires proof ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, which equates in scientific terms to being
able to detect a change with a near absolute degree of confidence (i.e. 99.99%; p<0.001) (Peterman
& M’Gonogle, 1992). However, from a scientific perspective, acknowledging uncertainty over the
influence of other contributing factors of change warrants a precautionary approach and more
appropriate degree of confidence (95%; p<0.05). Otherwise, more moderate changes occurring
might go undetected but result cumulatively in a significant impact on the environment, potentially
beyond recovery (Peterman & M’Gonogle, 1992). In more instances than not, regulatory focus of
an approved project is on proving an impact has occurred rather than investing in research to
establish that no impact could occur in the first place. Equally, in many instances of projects being
approved, a lack of resources to undertake post-hoc evaluations and test the effectiveness of
monitoring requirements is often overlooked - unless public complaint or criticism is brought to the
attention of decision-makers. Of all the Australian States, Western Australia is considered to be the
only State to attribute a prominent level of priority on post-decision monitoring (Bates, 2006).
1.3. DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITIES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Administration of WA State environmental laws to conform to a national approach is partitioned
3
into categories pertaining to the resources they aim to protect; namely, Mines & Petroleum,
Fisheries, Energy, Agriculture & Forestry, Water Resources and Environment (Bates, 2006;
Gazette, 2008b). As my thesis is focused on the protection of fauna residing in, and dependent
upon, groundwater resources, I limit my focus to regulation of Water Resources and the
Environment, although in Chapter 2 I highlight statutory responsibility under Fisheries resource
management as a third element relevant to consideration. Presently, the administrative authority
responsible for ensuring the protection of fauna within WA State boundaries is the Department of
Environment and Conservation (DEC, formerly CALM), residing within the Minister for
Environment’s portfolio. The allocation and control of groundwater resources (including their
dependent ecosystems) is regulated by the Department of Water (DoW, formerly WRC) sitting
within the portfolio of the Minister for Water Resources. The Environmental Protection Authority
(EPA) provides an additional layer of statutory administration responsible for preventing the likely
incidence of ‘environmental harm’ that might result from proposed development of a groundwater
resource considered of significant scale worthy of assessment. Whilst the EPA also resides within
the Minister for Environment’s portfolio, it functions as an independent authority, providing advice
to the Minister without fear or favour of existing political objectives. Striving for stygofauna
protection creates an overlap in the administrative functions of DEC and DoW whereby one is
charged with protecting the fauna directly and the other the habitat that supports them. The overlap
is further complicated when a third tier of regulation is triggered by the EPA. In the past 10 years
there have been numerous restructures to these portfolios predominantly reflecting changes in
statutory powers and political terms of State governance, the details and ramifications of which are
considered in Chapter 2.
1.4. STYGOFAUNA RESEARCH
Stygofauna is used here as the collective term for subterranean aquatic fauna, completely restricted
from the surface environment and residing within water-filled cavities and interstitial spaces
underground (Culver & Pipan, 2009). The prefix stygo- originates from the Greek language
meaning ‘hateful’, linked to the river Styx which, in ancient Greek mythology flowed underground,
carrying the souls of the dead to Hades. In this mythological context stygobionts were those
creatures that lived in the watery regions of the underworld (Botosaneanu, 1986). In the scientific
literature, the term ‘stygofauna’ was first used by Lazare Botosaneanu (1986) in Stygofauna Mundi,
translating as subterranean aquatic fauna of the world.
Crustaceans typically constitute the focus of stygal studies with other forms including amphibians,
fish, worms, insects and mites (Culver & Pipan, 2009). In appearance stygofauna are distinctive -
having adapted morphologically and physiologically from marine or surface water populations to
reside in a world of complete darkness and often-times small living spaces (Coineau & Boutin,
1992). Langecker (2000) considered that an absence of light renders visual structures functionless,
favouring animals with alternate sensory apparatus that act as receptors of chemical or mechanical
4
stimuli to assist in spatial orientation, navigation, reproduction and sourcing food. Without sight or
exposure to light, the physiological and behavioural requirements for pigment to provide
camouflage or protection from ultraviolet wavelengths are also removed, resulting in a
characteristically pale or translucent appearance (Langecker, 2000). Small, interstitial spaces and
cavities directly constrain body shape and size, selecting for flattened or elongate forms, or overall
miniaturisation compared to animals living in larger niches at the surface (Coineau, 2000).
Despite these challenges, living underground does have some advantages. Environmental
conditions, especially temperature, are generally far more constant than those of surface systems,
presumably requiring less metabolic energy to maintain core body functions and lowering the
requirement for a reliable food supply (Langecker, 2000). Further, typically unpredictable food
supply, leading to periods of glut and extended periods of starvation, favours those organisms that
have adopted opportunistic feeding strategies to take advantage of sporadic detrital and microbial
energy sources (Hüppop, 2000; Gilbert & Deharveng, 2002). While light-driven circadian and
seasonal triggers may not play a time-keeping role in physiological and behavioural activities in
deep subterranean systems (Langecker, 2000), it is possible these signals still function in shallower
systems where connections with epigean environments remain (i.e. through tree roots (Jasinska et
al., 1996) or anchialine connections). Similarly, episodic rainfall or storm events likely result in
rapid and dramatic changes in subterranean air currents, water levels, water chemistry and food
influxes. However, the ability of stygofauna to withstand these naturally occurring changes
physiologically remains largely unknown (Culver & Pipan, 2009).
Vandel (1965) gives a comprehensive review of the origins of biospeology during the late 19th to
early 20th century transition. Restricted sampling access to subterranean ecosystems has meant
much of the published information on species biology and physiological tolerances has been
restricted to cave and spring systems, dominated by research efforts in Europe and Northern
America (Culver & Pipan, 2009). However, growing interest across speleological, scientific,
government and industry groups, combined with gradual recognition of the importance of
maintaining groundwater dependent ecosystems, is now helping to bridge these gaps (Malard et al.,
2001). Recently, extensive studies have been conducted on the biogeography of subterranean fauna
and theories on the contribution of continental drift or historic events on observed species
distributions patterns evident today. Further, advances in molecular techniques have been used in
distinguishing species of similar morphology and to estimate times of divergence on an
evolutionary scale (Culver & Pipan, 2009). Yet, despite all these advances, limited focus has been
devoted to improving knowledge on species biology and ecology of subterranean fauna - or
perhaps more importantly from a conservation management perspective, reproductive viability
after disturbance from episodic or human induced influences on the system.
Internationally, the challenges associated with quantifying fauna residing within aquifers are well
documented, with restricted access to groundwater habitats via pastoral wells or bore-holes and the
5
suitability of existing sampling apparatus used to collect data on species population numbers and
abundance, both considered key limitations (Malard et al., 1997; Hahn, 2002). During the past
decade, much effort has been spent developing sampling techniques to overcome these challenges
including an assortment of pumps, nets and traps all with varying levels of success (Dumas &
Fontanini, 2001; Hahn & Matze, 2005; Hahn, 2005; 2006; Bork et al., 2007). However,
interpretation of data, for example for management purposes, largely remains confounded by a lack
of understanding of species’ biology and the natural drivers of changes observed in sampling data
(Culver & Pipan, 2009). Allford et al. (2008), recently compared the effectiveness of netting,
discrete interval sampling and pumping as tools for assessing the conservation significance of a
subterranean ecosystem in WA. Despite acknowledging that results collected from each method
optimised for accuracy, efficiency and ecological information differently - the authors concluded in
favour of using and promoting the sampling technique that gave the least ecological information.
Thus, data are being collected to answer biogeographic and evolutionary questions rather than to
inform ecological questions targeted at maintaining ecosystem functions without causing
deleterious changes.
Whilst not widely recognised, published records of stygofauna from Australia date back to the
1940s such as the collective work on phreatocid isopod systematics by Nicholls (1943-4).
Nationally, stygofauna have been collected from Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory,
New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Christmas Island (Jasinska et al., 1996;
Eberhard 2004). In the eastern states, stygofauna research is limited and mostly comprises work on
taxonomic descriptions (Schminke, 1973), cave systems (Thurgate et al., 2001) and hyporheic
zones (Boulton & Foster, 1998, Boulton & Harvey, 2003; Hancock, 2006; Hancock & Boulton,
2008). In WA, knowledge on the biogeographical distribution of stygofauna populations has
advanced considerably from those records first collected from the Cape Range (Whitely, 1945;
Holthuis, 1960; Mees, 1962) and Swan Coastal Plain (Jasinska et al., 1996). Particularly in the past
10 years, the collective effort between speleologists, scientists, and government institutions has
been matched by increased regulatory focus requiring commercial and industrial proponents to
fund surveillance programs to inform proposals undergoing Environmental Impact Assessments
(EIA) by the EPA. Yet, contrary to external perceptions, the collaboration has not been smooth
sailing due to inconsistent application of the EPA guidance by administrative authorities and a
general uncertainty over a proponent’s legal obligations towards protecting stygofauna (Playford,
2001).
1.5. GROUNDWATER AS A RESERVOIR, A HABITAT AND A RESOURCE
Groundwater plays a pivotal role in sustaining life on earth, comprising 30% of the world’s fresh
water reserves (Shiklomonalv, 1993; UNEP, 2002). As part of the global hydrological cycle,
groundwater is recharged by rain infiltrating directly into the subsurface environment or by seepage
6
beneath surface waters such as lakes marshes, wetlands and rivers (Danielopol et al., 2003; Figure
1). Depending on the volume, intensity and geographical scale over which rain falls, the fresh water
received may either build an unsaturated layer by partially filling subterranean voids and interstitial
spaces, or flow freely through a series of fissures and voids in consolidated rock to form a saturated
zone. The geological strata, through which ground waters move, determines the flow and speed of
water movement. For example, karst formations with large solution channels allow for rapid flows
and large-scale advection of water, compared to the lagged response of groundwater flow through
loosely packed sediments such as sand, gravel and pebbles (Lovley & Chapelle, 1995). Ground
water is returned finally to the hydrological cycle through either evaporation to the atmosphere
when groundwater is expressed at the Earth’s surface, either into standing or flowing water bodies,
or through discharges into the marine environment (Danielopol et al., 2003). Thus, in a broad sense
of the term, ground water can be considered to be all water that occurs in the hydrological cycle
below the land surface (NWQMS, 1995).
Figure 1. The hydrological cycle (as presented in Danielopol et al., (2003), illustrating linkages and flows between atmospheric, surface, ground and marine water bodies. The resulting water balance determines the volume and quality of fresh water available to support groundwater dependent ecosystems.
A major function of ground water is to transfer energy and matter from the surface to the
subsurface for further processing or recycling before transporting them through the subterranean
environment (Danielopol et al., 2008). As water passes through the strata, its chemical properties
change as a result of physical, chemical and biological activity. The degree of change in the
chemical properties of water is determined by the residence time of water in superficial alluvial
aquifers, which may vary from days to years to geological time scales, affecting interaction times
with the rock formations (Mathess, 1982).With increasing depth and time, ecological dynamics are
thought to slow, directly affecting the processing and redistribution of energy and matter (Lovley &
Chapell, 1995). Micro-organisms contribute to purification of ground waters by converting harmful
impurities into biologically inert or useful nutrients through decomposition processes of natural
attenuation (Danielopol et al., 2003). Although yet to be substantiated, it has been hypothesised
7
that stygofauna inhabiting interstitial spaces or subterranean cavities within an aquifer might play
an indirect role in transforming nutrients and maintaining water quality through grazing,
movement, and excretion (Hancock et al., 2005)(Figure 2). Furthermore, certain stygal species are
more susceptible to changes in inputs of energy, nutrients, water or contaminants (Malard et al.,
1996) and, therefore, might prove to be useful biological indicators of ground water quality if used
to measure changes in groundwater for management purposes (Tomlinson et al., 2007). Indeed,
monitoring groundwater changes through response at the surface is certainly down the causality
chain in the context of triggering management actions to protect these ecosystems.
Figure 2. Major types of organisms inhabiting subterranean waters based on body size (as presented in Danielopol et al., 2003). Macro-organisms (body size >2 mm; e.g. fish, eels, amphibians, shrimp), meio-fauna (body size 0.02-2 mm; e.g. copepods, ostracods, thermosbaenaceans, remipedes) and micro-organisms (body size < 0.2 mm; e.g. protists, bacteria, viruses, fungi).
Many of the world’s most productive aquifers are found in karst terrains where rare, specially
adapted animals live in caves. Thus, it is important also to incorporate the ecological dimension
that human activities play on these systems in both space and time (Rapport et al., 1998;
Danielopol et al., 2003). Anthropogenic environmental pressures on ground water can affect both
quantity and quality which, singularly or in concert, have the potential to affect the structure and
function of subterranean aquatic ecosystems and pose a threat to human health (NWQMS, 1995).
Escalating water demands resulting from global population increase, agricultural practices and
landscape alteration, domestic and potable water supplies, industrial activities, tourism and climate
change all contribute to a critical reduction in available subsurface water reserves (Frees et al.,
2010). Technological advances in drilling and pumping infrastructure have confounded this
problem, enabling the abstraction of greater volumes of ground water to meet these demands – at a
cost of depleting available fresh groundwater resources. Further, groundwater pollution resulting
8
from chemical and biological runoff (exacerbated by transformed catchment landscapes), hinders
natural water quality regulatory and recycling functions within the aquifer (Levin et al., 2002).
1.6. INTERNATIONAL POLICY FOR THE PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF
GROUNDWATER RESOURCES AND THEIR DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEMS
The importance of protecting subterranean fauna in karst systems has been formally recognised
through global organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
and its published Guidelines for cave and karst protection (IUCN, 1998). The primary objective of
these guidelines is to raise awareness of management considerations for cave and karst systems,
especially in regions where existing surface management boundaries do not align with subterranean
networks, or where catchment runoff from surrounding land use practices may pose a threat. More
recently, the Ramsar Convention held in 2005 in Kampala, Uganda, led to the development of
Guidelines for the management of groundwater to maintain wetland ecological character
(Resolution IX.1 Annex C ii, 2005). These guidelines recognise the interdependence of wetlands
and groundwater systems – describing habitats for stygal biota as ‘subterranean wetlands’. As a
party to the Convention, Australia has a national obligation to protect listed wetlands within
territorial or jurisdictional boundaries by way of implementing strategies that meet ‘wise use’
practice guidelines (Ramsar, 2009). As such, potential now exists in an international setting to
provide new avenues for protecting ground water dependent fauna at State, national and federal
levels in Australia.
The protection of ecological communities within ground water, as distinct from groundwater-
dependent surface ecosystems, is relatively novel in water resource management policy
(Danielopol & Griebler, 2008). In 1998, the Swiss Water Protection Ordinance (GSchV, 1998) was
one of the first international authorities to incorporate water quality standards and ecological
criteria for ground water systems (Danielopol &Griebler, 2008). The term ‘biocenosis’ is used to
encompass the natural state of self-regulating communities, their habitat conditions and water
character upon which they are dependent (GSchV, 1998). However, base-line information on what
constitutes a ‘natural state’, and methods to assess an aquifer’s ecological status adequately, remain
to be finalised. Around the same time as the release of the Swiss Ordinance, a report presented to
the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment proposed the use of groundwater invertebrates as
bio-indicators for measuring environmental performance within groundwater systems (Bright et al.,
1998). After a decade of scientific scrutiny, the new European Groundwater Directive (EU-GWD,
2006) now recognises the importance of protective measures for groundwater ecosystems,
advocating that researchers develop better criteria for ensuring groundwater ecosystem quality
(Danielopol &Griebler, 2008). Given this international focus on protection of ground water
communities, it is pleasing to note that Australia is considered world leading in its recognition of
the need to protect groundwater resources and their dependent ecosystems through water resource
policy.
9
1.7. A NATIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS PROTECTING GROUNDWATER
RESOURCES AND THEIR DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEMS
In Australian policy, groundwater is defined as all water found under the land surface which
occupies the pores and crevice of soil or rock. Approximately 17% of Australia’s current accessible
water resources comprise ground water, accounting for greater than 30% of the nation’s total water
consumption. While ground water is commonly used as a source of domestic, recreational, rural
and industrial water, its importance has been poorly understood by the Australian community living
in urban regions of the country (NWQMS, 1995). However, an even slower process was our
realisation of the role of ground water in the physical environment. In fact, it was not until the two
opposing trends of rising saline ground water levels and falling surface water levels began to affect
our use of these systems that we recognised the intrinsic linkages between them and saw value in
their protection (NWQMS, 1995). As a flow-on effect, we also began to identify the numerous
plant and animal species dependent on ground water for all or part of their life cycle. Those
systems where community composition, species interactions and ecological processes are
determined by the volume and quality of ground water are now referred to as Groundwater
Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs)(ARMCANZ & ANZECC, 1996). River and lake systems,
phreatophytic vegetation, marine ecosystems, and aquifer and cave ecosystems are all examples of
GDEs. To date, aquifer ecosystems have received far less attention than surface systems - even
despite complete reliance on ground water for their survival (Tomlinson et al., 2007).
Historically, matters of environmental protection and natural resource allocation in Australia were
managed at state and local government levels. In 1992, the foundations of a national approach to
the protection and management of natural resources and biological diversity in Australia was
established in the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (IGAE, 1992)(Table 1). This
agreement bound the Commonwealth Government, the state and territory governments, and the
Australian Local Government Association in a co-operative national approach towards protecting
the environment (Leanne et al. 1997). The IGAE designated responsibilities for each tier of
government and highlighted areas of joint interests between them to facilitate the federal co-
operative exercise of government powers. It also identified six keystone principles by which to
guide national, state and local policy development: 1) ecologically sustainable development; 2) the
integration of environmental considerations into government decision-making processes; 3) the
precautionary principle; 4) the principle of intergenerational equity; 5) conservation of biological
diversity and ecological integrity; and, 6) improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms
(IGAE, 1992). Each of these principles relate to realms of environmental management, including:
resource assessment; land-use decisions and approval processes; environmental impact assessment;
national environment protection measures; measures to address climate change; protection of
biological diversity; and/or nature conservation (Leanne et al., 1997).
10
1
Table 1. Chronology of Australian policy relevant to the management groundwater quality, quantity and dependent ecosystems
NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND FRAMEWORKS
1992 Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (IGAE 1992)
National Strategy for Ecological Sustainable Development (NSESD, 1992)
National Water Quality Management Strategy (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 1992)
1994 Council of Australian Governments Framework Agreement on Water Resources Policy Reform (COAG, 1994)
1995 Guidelines for Groundwater Protection in Australia (NWQMS, 1995)
1996 National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity (COABD, 1996)
National Principles for Provisions of Water for Ecosystems (ARMCANZ/ANZECC, 1996)
Allocation and Use of Groundwater – A National Framework for improved Groundwater Management in Australia (ARMCANZ/ANZECC, 1996)
2000 The Australian Water Quality Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Waters (ANZECC /ARMCANZ, 2000).
2004 National Water Initiative (COAG, 2004)
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG, 2004)
STATE POLICY PROVISIONS FOR THE PROTECITON OF STYGOFAUNA
1999 Position Statement No. 1: Environmental Protection of Cape Range Province (EPA, 1999)
2000 Environmental Water Provisions Policy (WRC, 2000)
2002 NSW State Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Policy (SGDEP, 2002)
2003 Consideration of Subterranean Fauna in Groundwater and Caves during Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia (EPA, 2003)
2007 Sampling methods and survey consideration for subterranean fauna in Western Australia (DRAFT) (EPA, 2007)
11
National policy objectives towards the direct protection and conservation of aquatic fauna are
described in the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity
(NSCABD)(COABD, 1996). The overarching policy goal of the strategy is to “protect biodiversity
and maintain ecological processes and systems”: where, ‘biological diversity’ is defined as the
“variability of all living organisms and the aquatic ecosystems and other ecological complexes of
which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems”
(COABD, 1996). It is recognised that the well-being of humans is intrinsically linked to biological
diversity through the subsequent provision of: ecological services (including those that maintain
fresh water supplies); recreational opportunities; inspiration; and cultural identity. Consequently,
the policy extends an obligation to protect and conserve Australia’s biodiversity beyond
governments, conservation groups, and commercial operators - to include the broader community.
As such, all planning and decision making processes should be ‘efficient, equitable and
transparent’ and the costs and benefits of conserving biological diversity should be shared across
all community sectors. It is advocated that biological diversity is conserved in-situ, managed across
land and government administrative boundaries, and that a lack of knowledge should not be used as
excuse for delaying actions for protection. An intrinsic respect for all species that share the Earth’s
resources is encouraged – whether or not they are of benefit for human use.
At a national level, water resource policy is governed through the Council of Australian
Governments (COAG), in accordance with the National Water Quality Management Strategy
(NWQMS, 1992) and the National Water Initiative (NWI)(COAG, 2004). The policy objective of
the NWQMS is “to achieve sustainable use of the nation’s water resources by protecting and
enhancing their quality while maintaining economic and social development” (NWQMS, 1992).
The strategy comprises 21 national guidelines and papers for the management of key elements of
the water cycle: two that address aspects of groundwater resource protection (ARMCANZ &
ANZECC, 1995) and their dependent ecosystems (ARMCANZ & ANZECC, 1996)(Table 1). The
NWI is a shared commitment by the Cth, State and Territory Governments to reform the allocation
of water resources to human consumption and environmental purposes, tackling over-allocation
and overuse and providing greater security of water allocations for investment and productivity, for
rural and urban communities, and for the environment. The NWI builds on the 1994 COAG water
reform framework (and subsequent amendments in 1996 and 1999), with signatories committed to:
prepare water plans with provision for the environment; deal with over-allocated or stressed water
systems; introduce registers of water rights and standards for water accounting; expand the trade in
water; improve pricing for water storage and delivery; meet and manage urban water demands.
Relevantly, each government jurisdiction was required to make legal provisions for environmental
water requirements of surface and groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs).
In Australia, policy uniformity across jurisdictional boundaries is dependent on cooperation
between state governments, through the use of support mechanism such as ministerial councils,
12
intergovernmental agreements, and central administrative agencies (Bates, 2006). However,
intergovernmental agreements are not enforceable in court because they are developed as policy
instruments, without the intention to have a binding legal effect enforceable by a court. Thus, until
included in state legislation, members that breach or renege on these agreements face political,
rather than legal, repercussions (Leanne et al 1997).
1.8. WA POLICY FOR THE PROTECTION OF GROUNDWATER DEPENDENT
ECOSYSTEMS
In WA, recognition of the environmental value of stygofauna communities dates back to 1999. It
was at this time that the EPA released the first of a series of Position Statements on matters
considered to be of State environmental importance. Position Statement No. 1: Environmental
Protection of Cape Range Province (EPA, 1999), targeted a region globally recognised for its
subterranean fauna and karst systems. The objectives of the position statement were to protect the
environmental quality of environmental systems, and to ensure that these were managed in
accordance with the National principles of ecologically sustainable development and conserving
biological diversity (COABD, 1992). The EPA identified the existing allocation of ground water
for human consumption as a major threat to karst systems and its dependent flora and fauna.
Specific management guidance relevant to the protection of stygofauna included: restricting water
supply for human use based on resource capacity (prohibiting augmentation of existing water
supply by desalination or other means); protecting water-dependent ecosystems within karst
formations; restricting human influences on lateral and vertical movement of aquifer bodies and
direct damage of fragile ecosystems; and ensuring sustainable use of the limited water resources.
Consequently, it was proposed that existing groundwater management practices be brought into
alignment with the National Principles for Provisions of Water for Ecosystems (ARMCANZ &
ANZECC, 1996).
In 2000, WA released a state-wide policy approach to setting Environmental Water Provisions for
water dependent ecosystems (Policy No. 5; WRC, 2000), incorporating guidance for a catchment
approach to sustainable groundwater resource use in accordance with national environmental,
social and economic principles (ARMCANZ & ANZECC, 1996). The need for the protection and
restoration of ecological processes and biological diversity for future generations was also
recognised, and a precautionary approach to groundwater use advocated where scientific
knowledge was lacking (WRC, 2000). WA’s ‘Policy No. 5’ established a statutory planning
process by which to identify specific environmental values in need of protection (including
stygofauna communities) and establish how rights to water should be allocated among users to
include the needs of the environment. All water provisions for the environment were to be captured
in regional, sub-regional and local water resource allocation plans. The Rights in Water and
Irrigation Act, 1914 (RWI Act, 1914: s.4(1))(discussed in Chapter 2) provides the legislative
framework to implement the policy, although linkages with State and National environmental
13
protection laws were considered pivotal in identifying environmental values and establishing
ecological criteria for water provisions.
In 2003, the WA EPA released guidance on Consideration of Subterranean Fauna in Groundwater
and Caves during Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia (EPA, 2003). The
objective was to establish a consistent approach to ensuring adequate protection of important
habitats for subterranean species and the biophysical processes that support them - in the case of
large-scale ground water exploitation or cave damage. The guidance is stated to be in accordance
with legal obligations under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) (EP Act 1986), as well
as the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WA) (WLC Act, 1950) and federal Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act, 1999) legislation for species and/or
community protection (discussed further in Chapter 2). Essentially, proponents are required to
sample for the presence of stygofauna and report on whether or not the proposal is likely to pose a
threat to their future viability. Within the guidance, no linkages are made to other statutory or
policy requirements in place for ground water resource planning, allocation and/or environmental
water provisions. In 2007, a second DRAFT guidance statement was released for Sampling
methods and survey consideration for subterranean fauna in Western Australia (EPA, 2007). The
draft document is a bold and significant attempt at creating a structured approach to the
conservation of subterranean biota in Western Australia through the State’s Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) process. However, I believe much work is still required to take into account
sound scientific principles and management objectives and relevant legal obligations to make it
workable for proponents trying to fulfil EIA requirements.
1.9. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF STYGOFAUNA PROTECTION IN AUSTRALIA
Danielopol et al., (2003) suggests the success of legislative and policy tools for stygofauna
protection is largely determined by the cultural and social attitudes of communities - multiplied by
factors of economy, demographics and technology. In Australia, it might be argued that the
broader debate over why stygofauna should be protected currently hinders the ‘efficient, equitable
and transparent’ delivery of national and in WA State policy principles that advocate stygofauna
protection. Differing values attributed to stygofauna species and/or communities (e.g. as
biodiversity reserves, ecosystem service providers, or as biological sentinels of environmental
change) has led to varying perceptions among the scientific community, regulatory authorities,
commercial operators and general public concerning the relative need for their conservation and
protection (Tomlinson et al., 2007). Certainly, there are significant philosophical differences
between protecting stygofauna for their own sake (an ethical ‘right’ to exist) versus attribution of
values based upon how stygofauna might benefit either ecosystems, and/or human activities
directly (Singer, 1989). These differences are somewhat analogous to the ‘shades of green’;
approaches to environmentalism that reflect social attitudes towards protecting the environment at
individual, community and industry levels (Quevauviller, 2008)
14
1.10. CASE-STUDY EXAMPLE: EXMOUTH, NORTH-WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The overarching objective of my thesis is to analyse whether the legal and regulatory frameworks
in place in WA to protect stygofauna really achieve the overarching objective of protection. I have
based my discussion on relevant environmental commitments set on the Exmouth water supply
borefield as a result of proposed extensions assessed by the EPA and WA Minister for
Environment in 1996. Exmouth is a remote town located 1270 km north of Perth (Figure 3) on the
coastal fringe of the North West Cape of Western Australia and derives its potable water locally
from the limited groundwater resource underlying the town. The Water Corporation (the
Corporation) is responsible for the operational management of the borefield to supply potable water
to a permanent population of 2063 people at Exmouth (ABS, 2006); a further 100,000+ people visit
the town each year, contributing substantially to the local business and tourism sectors (Carlson &
Wood, 2004).
Figure 3: Geographic location of Exmouth 1270 km north of Perth, North-Western Australia
The Exmouth borefield is located west of the town site and extends for roughly 7 km along the
eastern flank of the Cape Range (Figure 4) and comprises 25 low yielding production bores,
varying between 30 and 200 m deep abstracting from the unconfined Tulki limestone aquifer. The
northern end of the borefield lies adjacent to the town and proximal to numerous private and
commercial users of the aquifer. Abstraction by all ground water users results in thinning of the
freshwater lens and initiates an inland migration of the saltwater wedge (WRC, 1999). Exmouth
currently is undergoing rapid expansion to meet demand for land and housing driven by the tourism
sector, with future demand for potable water supply expected to reflect approved development
(WAPC, 2008). Consequently, a conflict now exists between the need to meet current and future
demands for human consumption and the prospect of restricting supply to meet existing
environmental commitments established to protect the aquifer and its resident fauna.
15
The aquifer is now described, with an overview of short-term factors likely to contribute to its
structure and function. Also, the Cape Range Group stygofauna and relevant environmental
management commitments are introduced.
Figure 4: Location of the Corporation’s borefield within the Exmouth ground water reserve: a) Location of Perth and Exmouth within Western Australia; and b) Location and longitudinal extent of operational production bores within the Exmouth borefield, proximal to Cape Range. Graduated colouring indicates elevation above mean sea level in m AHD.
1.11. THE EXMOUTH GROUNDWATER RESOURCE
The Exmouth ground water resource is located on the eastern coast of the Cape Range peninsula,
within the Carnarvon Basin, and is underlain by strata dating from Palaeozoic to Cainozoic Eras
(Playford et al., 1975). The Cape Range anticline evolved in the Tertiary Period through tectonic
folding of the underlying limestone from Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Epochs (Wyrwoll, 1993).
Residual sediments of the peninsula found today are formed of Tertiary and coastal Quaternary
16
deposits. The Exmouth Groundwater Area covers 2020 km2 of the Cape Range peninsula
immediately west of Exmouth; it occurs in two strata, the Cape Range Group and the underlying
Birdrong formation, which occurs at depths of 1000-1500 m below sea level. This project targets
the Cape Range Group, which comprises, with increasing depth, the highly transmissive Trealla,
Tulki and Mandu Limestone sequences with localised cavities and elongate solution pipes
(Hocking et al., 1987). The sequences contain the largest volume of fresh water in the area and thus
are utilised as the major source of potable water supplying Exmouth (WRC, 1999). However, the
presence of clay banding in the Mandu limestone may provide barriers to natural groundwater
flows or advection (Michael Martin, cited WRC, 1999).
The Cape Range peninsular emerged as an island in the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene and its
karst formations derived from local tectonic history, past sea level changes and varying climatic
conditions (Hocking et al., 1987). The local, groundwater dynamics of the aquifer are considered
similar to that of a carbonate island karst system in that they comprise: 1) a body of fresh water
overlying sea water, with a thick mixing zone between the two systems (Mylroie & Carew, 1997);
2) asymmetric geometry of the freshwater aquifer (Vacher & Rowe, 1997), being thicker on the
gulf (east) side when compared to the fringing reef (west) side; and 3) the permeability of the
aquifer, and ultimately its productivity, may be attributed to conduits developed within the lower
karst terrain (Vacher & Rowe, 1997) i.e. the Cape Range Group formation. Estimation of the
thickness of these freshwater aquifers often is calculated using the Ghyben-Herzberg principle
where it is estimated there is a 1: 40 ratio between ground water measured above sea level and the
thickness of the fresh water lens (Vacher & Rowe, 1997). Direct applicability of this principle at
Exmouth has yet to be confirmed, although its importance for management is often referenced in
the context of establishing sustainable yields from the aquifer.
The structure and function of the Exmouth aquifer likely is affected by a range of factors subject to
short-term (10 year) variation, including rainfall, sea level changes and storm events. The 1945-
2008 average annual rainfall for nearby Learmonth (~40 km from Exmouth) is 257 mm, although
annual rainfall totals are highly variable, ranging from 37.2 mm (2003) to 614.7 mm (1961), with
several consecutive years of low rainfall not uncommon (BOM, 2008). Mid-latitudinal pressure
systems and tropical cyclones produce heavy rainfall deluges, generating fresh water recharge into
the Cape Range Group aquifer. Along the spine of the peninsula, Cape Range is a topographical
divide that directs runoff eastward and westward, discharging into the marine environment (Forth,
1972). Freshwater recharge into the Cape Range Group aquifer is estimated conservatively at 10%
of the annual rainfall across the region. The recharge contributes to the freshwater lens that
stratifies on top of the inward migration of marine water, forming a saltwater wedge with a thick
(10-20 m) mixing zone between the two systems (Forth, 1973)(Figure 5). The fresh water is
estimated to reach 200 m depth ~5 km inland, with a slight water table gradient between the
Corporation’s borefield and the Range (Forth, 1973).
17
Direct percolation of large volumes of fresh water into the aquifer via karst formations and/or
ephemeral stream beds (Forth, 1972) may also provide a mechanism for altering the balance
between fresh and underlying saline waters. Response of the aquifer to rainfall events likely is
determined by the structure and permeability of the underlying sediments. Thus, areas with well
developed conduits and highly permeable matrices presumably respond rapidly, whilst those with
few large cavities and diffuse flow may show a damped or lag response (White, 1988). Exmouth is
also subject to localised surface flooding following large rainfall events due to an extensive
drainage network between the Cape Range Plateau catchment area and the town-site. There have
been two major flood events in Exmouth in the past 10 years (Mar-99 & Jun-02) likely to have
altered significantly the ground water regime at Exmouth (SKM, 2007).
Highly transmissive links with the marine environment means that both groundwater levels and the
position of the fresh- to salt-water interface are likely affected by tidal cycles (Forth, 1972). The
Exmouth Gulf is mesotidal, with semi-diurnal tides limiting each period of tidal flow to <6 hours.
The mean neap-spring tide range is 0.6-1.8 m, respectively, with a daily tidal range >1 m for all but
a few days each month (Blandford and Associates & Oceanica, 2005). Similar to island karst
systems, during low tide, fresh water is expected to flow toward the coast and into the ocean via
coastal springs or submarine discharge zones. Conversely, this flow would be reversed at high tide,
with marine water forced back into the aquifer (Dauseman & Langevin, 2002). In comparison to
the western Ningaloo Reef coast, the lag times near Exmouth potentially are greater between tidal
activity and groundwater level response due to the finer-grained, less permeable sediments on the
gulf restricting penetration of sea water into the aquifer (Rowe, 1984). A change in tides should
result in a pressure wave being propagated with dampening through the system at a rate determined
by the substrate conditions through which it travels; the limits of detection and extent of this tidal
pulse presumably decrease with increased distance and depth from the coast. Also, the combined
influences of spatial heterogeneity and fluxes between incoming and outgoing tidal pulses means
groundwater levels at any one point of the shelf may be out of phase with those recorded elsewhere
in the aquifer (Dauseman & Langevin, 2002).
Wave energy, storm surge and tsunamis all increase the potential for sea water intrusion into the
ground water via two avenues: 1) pulses of sea water into karst conduits; and 2) inundation of low-
lying coastal plains (Blandford and Associates & Oceanica, 2005). Exmouth Gulf is largely
protected from wave energy of the Indian Ocean by the geological barriers of the North West Cape
and surrounding island landforms. Consequently, the majority of wave energy experienced locally
either originates from the north or is wind-generated, sometimes causing elevated water levels
beyond the predicted tidal range, known as storm surge (Blandford and Associates & Oceanica,
2005). Typically, storm surge is greatest during the summer months, with levels ≥0.4 m than those
experienced in the winter, possibly reflecting occurrence with low pressure systems and frontal
18
18
Figure 5: Cross-sectional west-east transect of groundwater and strata underlying the Exmouth town-site. This diagram has been modified from that presented in the Exmouth Sub-area Groundwater Allocation Plan (WRC, 1999) and shows the relative location of the Corporation’s borefield to the town-site. The blue arrows indicate freshwater recharge and directional flow toward the gulf, green arrows represent inland flows of the underlying marine environment. The mixing zone between the two systems is highlighted in pale yellow. Abstraction by multiple users is indicated by the dark yellow arrows. Relevant for management is prevention of the upward movement of the salt-water interface.
19
systems, respectively. During storm events, elevated water levels at the shoreline can extend well
beyond the normal tidal marks, subjecting low lying coastal landforms or paleodrainage channels to
marine inundation. To-date, the greatest storm surge near Exmouth was recorded during Tropical
Cyclone Vance in March 1999, when water levels reached +4.7 m AHD with 3.6 m attributed to
storm surge (Nott and Hubbert, 2005). The north-west of WA is also subject to tsunamis, although
the risk of damage to the coast is considered low unless they co-occur with spring high tides
(BOM, 2009).
Understanding the influence of long-term sea level changes provides a context for interpreting the
chemistry in terms of salinity and ionic composition of groundwater bodies present today.
Palaeogeography of the WA coast suggests that Cape Range peninsula was inundated by marine
waters until the late Quaternary, followed by a series of transgression and regression events
(Playford et al., 1975; Kendrick, et al. 1991; Wyrwoll et al., 1994). Since the late Quaternary, sea
level is estimated to have ranged from 5-8 m higher (125,000 BP) and 130 m (18,000 BP) below
today’s level (Wyrwoll et al., 1994). The most recent transgression event is thought to have
occurred around 6300 BP when sea levels rose to 3 m above present. Since 1,500 BP a gradual
decline has occurred to where sea level rests today (Wyrwoll et al., 1994). Ionic composition of
ground waters from the upper Tulki limestones around Exmouth are sodium chloride (Na+Cl-)
dominated, with concentrations similar to that of sea water (Franzman, 1996). However, samples
from the underlying Mandu limestone aquifer are HCO3- dominated, probably due to longer
residence times of water facilitating more chemical reaction with the limestone strata (Franzman,
1996).
1.12. THE CAPE RANGE GROUP STYGOFAUNA
The stygofauna from the Cape Range peninsula are of international scientific significance and
thought to inhabit the fresh and mixing zones of the aquifer within the Cape Range Group of
limestone (Humphreys, 1994). The stygofauna comprise macrofaunal (decapods, amphipods,
thermosbaenaceans, fish) and meiofaunal (protists, turbellarians, nematodes, oligochaetes, acarines,
ostracods and copepods) elements. The ancestry of this fauna is linked to the Tethys Sea
(Humphreys, 1993; Knott, 1993), the ocean that separated the continents of Gondwanaland and
Laurasia some 200-40 million years ago, giving rise in part to the present Mediterranean Sea
(Smith & Briden, 1977). Long-term sea level changes probably provide a mechanism for the
origins and evolution of the local stygofauna. Subsequent rises and falls of sea level along the Cape
Range peninsula may also facilitate marine and/or freshwater species to contact and recruit into the
local aquifer, adapting over time to become ground water-dependent (Culver & Pipan, 2009).
There are 3 main conservation issues that threaten this Cape Range Group stygofauna: 1) low
rainfall and excessive water use reducing available habitat for freshwater-dependent species or
causing localised upwelling/mixing of underneath saline waters; 2) land clearing, quarrying and
20
high density pedestrian traffic causing compaction of sediment and underground cavities that
support restricted communities; and 3) illegal dumping of rubbish, pollutants and aquarium pest
species into ground water wells and caves which can damage or destroy the existence of natural
subterranean assemblages (Black et al., 2001). My project targets the first of these issues. In the
absence of controlled, experimental information of the biology of the local fauna, physico-chemical
information collected concurrent to specimen collection (Humphreys, 1993) has been used to infer
species tolerances to salinity concentrations. Stygofauna considered most at risk of increasing
salinity levels are the isopod Haptolana pholeta and an amphipod species collected from
freshwater bodies with conductivity readings <530 μs/cm (WRC, 1999). However, the ability of the
resident fauna to tolerate changing groundwater conditions remains largely unknown, including
their ability to withstand alterations to salinity concentrations triggered by short-term climate
and/or oceanic events.
Relevant commitments by the Corporation to the Minister for Environment are monitoring the local
aquifer for: 1) stygofauna species presence and abundance (to detect evidence of loss caused by
abstraction); and 2) increases in groundwater salinity (to detect saline upwelling due to heavy
abstraction). Eight years after the monitoring program was established, concerns were raised over
the adequacy of the established monitoring program to yield data that could be interpreted
meaningfully to inform current and future management decisions (Goater, 2007). Subsequently, a
two-year reprieve from the commitment to monitor was approved by the relevant decision-making
authorities (DEC, DoW and EPA Service Unit) in favour of a research and development approach
to investigate these allegations and, if required, proposal of an alternative approach. Although not
legally enforceable, recommendations provided in the EPA’s Position Statement No. 1 are
particularly relevant to the case-study presented (EPA, 1999: Appendix 3), not only due to the
location of the study site within the Cape Range Province, but also by providing an evidence-base
of the dawning awareness on the need to integrate water resource management and biological
conservation policy practice in WA. Moreover, many of the EPA’s recommendations were adopted
into the regional groundwater allocation plan (WRC, 1999) prior to formal the establishment of
statutory and policy foundations for stygofauna protection in WA (see Chapter 2).
Despite originating during a different socio- and regulatory environmental climate, there are many
lessons to be learned from this case-study, as the ministerial objectives analysed here remain
similar to those still being set by the Minister for Environment through the EIA process today.
Additionally, the Exmouth program is the longest running cumulative data set collected for
compliance purposes in Australia that I am aware of, spanning 8 reporting years (1999-2007) and
comprising 24 sampling occasions.
21
1.13. HYPOTHESIS
The overarching hypothesis on which my thesis is structured is that ‘The current regulatory
framework in place in WA to protect stygofauna and the groundwater resources they are dependent
on is not adequate to provide for their protection’. I have anchored my investigations to a case-
study of the Water Corporation’s Exmouth water supply borefield, allowing broader analyses of the
regulatory framework beyond the legislation to encompass its administration after the planning
phase of an approved project (i.e. throughout the construction and operational phases).
I have purposefully phrased my overarching hypothesis using negative terminology to promote
critical but objective analyses of legislation and regulations that were not designed specifically with
stygofauna in mind. However, throughout the body of my thesis I have phrased all subsequent
objectives in a positive light, under the assumption that all regulatory decisions were not derived
from malicious intent and because I am optimistic my critique will help prioritise areas for further
work and strengthen future management options for stygofauna protection.
1.14. THESIS STRUCTURE AND OBJECTIVES
Several inconsistencies exist between those commitments published in the Ministerial conditions
statement (Table 2), those proposed by the Corporation during the EIA process (Appendix 3 & 4),
and the monitoring protocols actually implemented over the 8 year program (Appendix 5). Due to
the prevailing authority of the Ministerial conditions statement over these inconsistencies, I have
chosen to investigate whether those data collected and submitted each year to the regulator actually
inform the Corporation’s Ministerial requirements, and as such, provide for stygofauna protection
at Exmouth. I recognise an alternative approach might entail analysing the available data set with
the benefit of hindsight to look for patterns or trends to explain changes in stygofauna data
collected. However, my focus throughout was to test the adequacy of the regulatory framework
currently in place and administered by the relevant authorities - to achieve the overarching
objective of stygofauna protection in WA - as defined by, and according to the requirements of,
statutory law.
The body of my thesis comprises three data chapters (Chapters 2, 3 & 4) which, in sequence,
overview the legislative and administrative framework in place for protecting stygofauna in WA
and assess the efficacy of conditions set to protect stygofauna, locally, within the Corporation’s
Exmouth water supply borefield.
In Chapter 2 I investigated from an historical perspective why the Water Corporation of Western
Australia is required to monitor stygofauna in the Exmouth Water Supply Borefield. The specific
objectives were:
1) to clarify the Corporation’s legal obligations to protect stygofauna locally at Exmouth, as
triggered under State and Commonwealth legislation, identifying potential limitations of
22
and/or conflicts with additional regulatory obligations on the Corporation as a service
delivery operator of potable water;
2) to overview the assessment of the Corporation’s proposal by the EPA, including all
relevant recommendations and resulting Ministerial commitments, to set the framework for
assessing the efficacy of these conditions in chapters 3 & 4; and
3) to highlight potential implications for the established monitoring program stemming from
subsequent changes or developments in State and Commonwealth legislation and
administrative bodies since the Corporation’s proposal was assessed in 1996.
In Chapter 2 I took both an historic and present-day perspective on the Corporation’s obligation to
protect stygofauna and the groundwater resource upon which they depend. While the examples are
specific to the Exmouth case-study, much of the discussion applies to other industries utilising
groundwater for private, commercial or industrial purposes.
In Chapter 3 I dealt specifically with those environmental commitments in place to protect the
fauna directly by monitoring to detect a change in species population numbers and abundance. The
specific objectives were:
1) to investigate whether the stygofauna monitoring program can detect a significant change
in stygofauna species presence, population numbers and community assemblages within
the Cape Range Group aquifer resulting from ground water abstraction by the Water
Corporation; and
2) to highlight limitations of the monitoring program and potential risks to local stygofauna
populations that may arise from making management decisions based on data from the
Corporation’s monitoring program at Exmouth.
Chapter 3 is focused on a post-hoc statistical review of the 8 years dataset (1999-2007) submitted
to regulatory administrative authorities each year in compliance with reporting requirements. The
specifics of my discussion are generated from basic scientific concepts, making them broadly
applicable across disciplines or industries not related to water services for human consumption.
In Chapter 4 I address the commitment to monitor habitat conditions to detect an increase in
salinity of the aquifer in the context of the ecophysiological tolerances of stygofauna and their
ability to withstand changing salinities. The specific objectives were:
1) to investigate whether monitoring groundwater salinity data, as collected and submitted to
the regulators each year, is effective in achieving the Corporation’s commitment to protect
and maintain the quality of the karst aquifer at Exmouth as an indirect mechanism of
stygofauna protection; and
23
2) to highlight gaps in the regulatory framework that might jeopardise the overarching
objective of stygofauna protection in WA using examples from the approach taken at
Exmouth .
Here, I considered 8 years of salinity data against natural variation in structure and functioning of
the aquifer under the wide range of climatic and oceanic conditions to which it is likely to be
subject over short (10 year) time-spans. As with Chapter 3, the principles upon which my
discussion is based are broadly applicable beyond this case-study example.
Finally, in Chapter 5 I provide a synthesis of my case-study findings from Chapters 2, 3 and 4, with
discussion set in the broader context of protection truly afforded to stygofauna and the groundwater
resources on which they depend. In this chapter I critique the methodologies used, including
strengths and weaknesses of my approach, before drawing attention to proposed options for future
management in this area.
CHAPTER 2
Why The Water Corporation Of Western Australia Is
Required To Monitor Stygofauna Within The Exmouth
Borefield
An Historical Case Study
Perspective
SWIM BORES
EPHEMERAL DRAINAGE
SEASONAL FLOODING
PRODUCTION BORE
27
2. INTRODUCTION
The Water Corporation is required by law to monitor stygofauna within the Exmouth borefield. In
this chapter I explain how these legal obligations came about and describe the resultant monitoring
obligations.
The Exmouth water supply borefield was established in 1963 to supply the town of Exmouth with
water from the Exmouth Groundwater Subarea. The Corporation (formerly the Water Authority of
Western Australia) manages borefield abstraction, facilitating the provision of water for human
consumption and commercial and private users. In the mid 1990s, reports of private and public
water supply bores turning saline from over-abstraction raised unsubstantiated concerns of upward
movement of saline groundwater from below the fresh water lens, posing a potential risk to future
potable water supply at Exmouth (WRC, 1999). In response to these concerns, the Corporation
proposed to extend the town’s water supply borefield southwards to alleviate the cumulative
pressure on the groundwater system supplying the town site and provide for future demands on the
system from population expansion (Muir Environmental, 1995). In 1996 this proposal was formally
assessed by the EPA (EPA, 1996) and the Minister of Environment (MoE, 1997). During
assessment, risks to local stygofauna populations were introduced as a key environmental
consideration for ongoing management of the borefield. Following assessment by the EPA, the
Corporation agreed to additional regulatory requirements to ensure its operations enabled
protection of local stygofauna communities and the aquifer upon which they are dependent. These
regulatory requirements need to be understood in the context of the general legislative framework
for the conservation of species, ecological communities and groundwater resources that provide the
overarching legal protection of stygofauna.
In this Chapter, I provide an overview of Commonwealth and State legislation providing directly or
indirectly for protection of stygofauna in WA at the time the Corporation’s proposed extensions to
the Exmouth water supply borefield were assessed. As there have been changes to the State
governmental agencies responsible for administering the legislation relevant to stygofauna
protection, I begin by describing those changes since the Corporation was assessed by the EPA.
Then, using examples from Exmouth, I identify additional regulatory obligations on the
Corporation as a service delivery operator of potable water and highlight potential limitations of,
and/or conflicts with, other legislative tools that were in place to protect stygofauna. I then review
the assessment of the Corporation’s proposal by the EPA, including all relevant recommendations
and resulting Ministerial commitments, to set the framework for assessing the adequacy of these
conditions in Chapters 3 & 4. Lastly, I introduce potential implications for the established
monitoring program stemming from subsequent changes or developments since 1996 in
Commonwealth and State legislation. The implications of these changes will be discussed further in
Chapter 5.
28
2.1. CHANGES IN ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES RESPONSIBLE FOR GROUNDWATER FAUNA AND RESOURCE PROTECTION
Since 1994, there have been five major restructures of government agencies responsible for the
provision of groundwater fauna and resource protection (Figure 6). In 1995, a reform of the State’s
water resource management institutions led to the creation of the Water Corporation, the Water and
Rivers Commission (WRC) and the Office of Water Regulation (OWR). Between 1995 and 2005
the most notable change to the administrative functions was the segregation of the Corporation as a
government enterprise out of the Water Resources portfolio (1995) and the transfer of
administrative responsibility for water resource management legislation to the WRC (2004). This
segregation left the OWR to regulate service delivery standards and pricing, which is now
integrated into the Economic Regulatory Authority (ERA). Less than 12 months later the WRC was
merged with the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) under the Environment Portfolio to
become the Department of Environment (DoE). Whilst, for all intents and purposes, these two
regulatory authorities sat under one administrative portfolio, they functioned as two, separate
entities. Within 6 months, the administrative functions of the WRC were again segregated out of
the DoE to form the Department of Water (DoW), leaving the DoE to resume administrative
support to the EPA. In 2008, the DoE was then merged with the Department of Conservation and
Land Management (CALM) to form the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).
However, as with the previous merger, these two entities continue to function quite separately, with
the former DoE constituent now known as the EPA Service Unit (EPASU).
As a consequence of these restructures, sufficient potential exists for confusion over the
administrative responsibilities of each agency to provide protection of stygofauna and the
groundwater resources upon which they depend - likely confounded by uncertainty over the most
relevant legislative tools to enforce. Ultimately, however, each agency has to act in accordance
with the legislation, so throughout I refer to the relevant specific details of the legislation in my
investigation.
2.2. DIRECT LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION OF STYGOFAUNA
The following section describes legislative protection afforded directly to stygofauna between 1994
and 1996, the period of assessment by the EPA for the Corporation’s extensions to the Exmouth
water supply borefield. Between 1994 and 1996, all fauna native to Western Australia were
protected under the State’s Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (the WLC Act ) unless temporarily or
permanently declared otherwise by notice in the Government Gazette (s.14(1) and (2)(a)&(b)). The
Act was administered by the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) and
applied to all land within WA state boundaries, including marine waters up to 3 nautical miles from
Figure 6: Regulatory administration of legislation providing for stygofauna and groundwater resource protection in WA 1995-2008. Government agencies are presented relative to the four key legislative tools that empower them. The respective administrative portfolio under which each agency resides is coloured according to the legend provided. Where administrative functions of the agency differ from the portfolio under which it resides, internal colours represent the former and borders colours represent the latter. Information presented is as published by the WA Government Gazette and may not reflect interim changes not published. Sources: Gazettte (2008a, 2006, 2005a, 2005b, 2003, 2002a, 26/07/2001a, 2001b, 2000, 1998a, 1998b, 1997, 1995, 1994b)
29
Dept. of Environment & Conservation (DEC)Est. Oct-2008
Dept. of Environment (DoE)Nov-2005
Dept. of Cons & Land Mgt (CALM)
1994
Off ice of Water Regulation
(OWR) Est. 1995
Economic Regulation Authority
(ERA)Est. 2004
Water Corporation
(Corporation)Est. 1995
Water Corporation
(Corporation)2001
Dept. of Environment
(DoE)Mar-2005
Dept. of Env. Protection
(DEP)1994
Dept. of Cons. & Land Mgt. (CALM)
Department of Water (DoW)
May-2006
Env. Protection Authority
(EPA)Est.1972
Dept. of Fisheries
(DoF)1994
Water Authority of WA
(WAWA)1994
Waters & Rivers Commission
(WRC)Est. 1995Fisheries
western Australia (FWA)
1998
Dept. of Fisheries
(DoF)2001
Waters & Rivers Commission
(WRC) Jul-2001
Water Corporation
(Corporation)2005
Waters & Rivers
Commission (WRC)
Dept. of Environment
(DoE)
Dept. of Environment
(DoE)May-2006
EPA Service Unit (EPASU)
Off ice of Water Regulation
(OWR) 2001
Dept. of Fisheries
(DoF)Mar-2005
Waters & Rivers Commission
(WRC) Mar-2005
Env. Protection Authority
(EPA)2008
Water Corporation
(Corporation)2008
Dept. of Fisheries
(DoF)Mar-2005
RIGHTS IN WATERS & IRRIGATION ACT 1914
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT 1986
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
ACT 1950
FISH RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
ACT 1994
ENVIRONMENT
WATER RESOURCE
TREASURER
GOVT. ENTERPRISE
FISHERIES
PRIMARY INDUSTRY
FORESTRY & FISHERIES
PORTFOLIO KEY
30
the coast. The WLC Act provided protection to most fauna by prohibiting, or controlling under
license, the taking of fauna (s.20(6) & 27(4)), whereby ‘fauna’ were defined as animals indigenous
to, or periodically migratory within, the State or Commonwealth territories (6(1)); and, to ‘take’
fauna meant to undertake actions or means to disturb, injure or destroy an animal (s.6(1)).
Considering this, the administrative scope of the Act revolved around the definition of the term
‘animal’, namely, all living things other than humans or plants (s. 6(1)). Stygofauna are
subterranean aquatic animals comprising vertebrate and invertebrate forms; hence, by definition
they are ‘animals’ and should be afforded protection under s.14(1) of the Act within WA territory.
The Corporation’s proposal to abstract groundwater from the Exmouth groundwater resource for
human consumption inadvertently had the potential to ‘take’ stygofauna inhabiting waters
influenced by its operations.
In 1987, under s.14(2a) of the Act, the Minster for Environment declared all ‘invertebrates’ to be
unprotected unless otherwise listed under s.14(2ba) of the Act as rare, likely to become extinct, or
otherwise in need of special protection (Gazette, 1987b). This notice did not apply to invertebrate
fauna residing within the boundaries of a marine reserve or park, or protected under the Fisheries
Act 1905. The term invertebrate was neither defined under the WLC Act nor under the Fisheries
Act 1905. For the purposes of this chapter, an ‘invertebrate’ is as defined in the scientific literature
as an animal metazoan member of all phyla other than the phylum Chordata i.e. lacking a backbone
or spinal column; not of the subphylum Vertebrata (Brusca & Brusca, 2003). Stygal invertebrate
forms include Crustacea, worms and mites, however, it might also be argued that single-cell
protists (Kingdom: Protista) should also be considered in this regulatory discussion. In 1994, the
Minister made a subsequent notice declaring additional protection of all invertebrate faunas
residing within conservation and/or marine reserves (Gazette, 1994b). This meant that, external to
specified reserves, no protection was afforded to invertebrate stygofauna species unless listed as in
need of special protection under s.14(2ba) of the Act or provided for under the Fisheries Act 1905.
As the Corporation’s proposal did not relate to a conservation reserve, a licence was not required to
take invertebrate stygofauna inadvertently through abstraction if they were not listed by notice in a
Government Gazette as needing special protection. Vertebrate stygofauna remained protected at all
times.
At the time the Corporation underwent assessment by the EPA, four species of stygofauna from
Exmouth and surrounds were listed as ‘rare or likely to become extinct’ under Schedule 1 of the
Wildlife Conservation (Specially Protected Fauna) Notice 1994 (Gazette, 1994b). The listed fauna
comprised: two stygal species of fish: (Milyeringa veritas, Ophisternon candidum); and two stygal
species of decapod crustacean (Stygiocaris lancifera, Stygiocaris stylifera). At this time, only
subterranean forms of aquatic fauna were afforded special protection under the WLC Act. These
listings resulted from recommendations by the Museum of Western Australia which was
undertaking research at Cape Range and Barrow Island. Preliminary sampling of the Corporation’s
31
borefield prior to assessment yielded two species of protected fauna (Milyeringa veritas and
Stygiocaris stylifera) and four unprotected species comprising: Isopoda (Haptolana pholeta),
Copepoda (Diacyclops humphreysi), Amphipoda (Nedsia douglasi) and Thermosbaenacea
(Halosbaena tulki). Implications of sampling and identifying listed species during assessment
meant that, for the Corporation to be compliant with the Act, a licence would be required to ‘take’
the listed fauna. No WLC Act protection was afforded to the four other unlisted invertebrate
species known from the borefield.
It is arguable that, at the time of the EPA’s assessment of the Water Corporation’s Exmouth
borefield expansion, stygofauna should have been protected under the WA Fisheries legislation. In
1994, the Fisheries Act 1905 was superseded by the enactment of the Fish Resources Management
Act 1994 (FRM Act) but all former notices were carried over under s.18 of the new Act (Gazette,
1994a). The FRM Act provided protection for ‘fish’ found in ‘WA waters’ with a key objective of
the Act to ‘conserve fish and protect their environment’ (s.3(2a)) although the focus is
predominately on the sustainable development of fish resources in the State. The Act was
administered by the Department of Fisheries WA (DoF), yet joint authority (s.15) existed within
CALM land subject to powers and regulations detailed in s.25 and s.28 of the FRM Act. CALM
land is defined as “land, or land and waters” including “caves and parts of cave on or under that
land” as stated under s.2 of the Conservation and Land Management Regulations, 2002. The FRM
Act defines ‘WA waters’ as comprising all waters within the limits of the state, including coastal
waters, whereby ‘waters’ included the bed and/or subsoil to a depth of 200 m and the airspace
above any waters (s.5; s.4); and ‘coastal waters’ extended out to 3 nautical miles as defined in the
Off-shore (State Powers) Act 1980 (s.1; s.4). ‘Fish’ were defined as a species of aquatic organisms,
including their reproductive structures or juvenile life stages. By this definition, stygofauna
(vertebrates and invertebrates) are subterranean aquatic organisms, and therefore considered as
‘fish’ under the FRM Act. Relevantly, the FRM Act defines ‘take’ to include the capture,
entrapment, removal, killing or destruction of fish by any means (s.4). Arguably, therefore, the
Corporation’s incidental extraction of stygofauna in the process of abstracting groundwater would
have come within the FRM Act’s protection of fish in WA waters.
External to marine parks and reserves, the FRM Act provided protection of fish by prohibiting or
controlling under an array of licenses (as defined in s.4), the taking of commercially or totally
protected fish (Part 5 Div 2 s.24(1)(a)(b)), whereby totally protected fish are as declared by the
Minister via Government Gazette under s.43(1) of the FRM Act, and listed under Part 2 of
Schedule 2 of the Fish Resources Management Regulations 1995 (Gazette, 1995). However, heavy
focus on marine and commercial fisheries renders the protection afforded to subterranean fishes
under the FRM Act unaccounted for, particularly those fishes inhabiting ground water or water
bodies that are temporarily or permanently fed by ground waters (i.e. sink holes, springs,
subterranean pools in cave systems) or groundwater bodies underlain or interacting with marine
32
waters (i.e. coastal peninsular or island systems). At Exmouth, stygofauna reside in ground
‘waters’ overlying and interacting with the marine environment. Thus, in addition to the WLC Act,
provisions existed to protect these fauna under (Part 5 Div 2 s.24(1)(a)(b)) of the FRM Act as they
reside within WA waters. However, no stygofauna species were listed as ‘totally’ protected under
Part 2 of Schedule 2 of the FRM Regulations 1995 at the time of assessment by the EPA (nor are
any listed today).
In addition to State legislative requirements, the EPA was required to consider national and
international obligations to protect wildlife as specified under the National Parks and Wildlife
Conservation Act 1975 (Cth) and Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cth). As with State
regulatory requirements, the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 provided
protection of wildlife within national parks or reserves but only those on Commonwealth lands or
declared as such by a State or Territory. The protection was achieved by controlling the taking of
those forms listed as wholly protected or in need of special protection (s. 8A (1)). Beyond the
boundaries of Commonwealth national and/or marine reserves, protection of fauna within WA
territories was at the discretion of administrators of the State’s wildlife protection legislation. At
the time of assessment, no species of stygofauna known from the Corporation’s borefield or
surrounds were afforded additional protection under this Act. The Endangered Species Protection
Act 1992 (Cth) (ESP Act, 1992) was enacted to achieve a national approach to the protection of
rare, vulnerable and endangered native species or communities (Part 2, Div. 1, Sch. 1-3,
respectively) should their survival, abundance or evolutionary development be considered at threat
(ESP Act 1992). Native species and ecological communities protected under the ESP Act were
listed under section 15; with a threatening process defined as one which was considered likely to
affect adversely two or more native species or communities listed under the s. 17 (Sch. 3) Act; or
drive a native species or community to become endangered. Although nationally comprehensive,
the Commonwealth regulatory controls to protect listed species applied only to Commonwealth
areas. Thus, even if some stygofauna species had been listed at the time, the Commonwealth could
not assert protective measures unless they were found within its jurisdiction. Regardless, at the time
of assessment, no stygofauna species were listed.
2.3. INDIRECT LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION OF STYOGAUNA
In 1995, indirect protection of stygofauna potentially could have been achieved by regulating the
taking of water resources, although it is unlikely this would have been an easy task. The Waters
and Rivers Commission (WRC) was charged with the assessment and planning of water resource
uses (s.10(2)) but had no statutory power to enforce planning systems in place. The Country Areas
Water Supply Act 1994 (CAWS Act) provided statutory powers to protect water resources for
public water supply by creating and controlling access to catchment areas and water reserves
(s.12AA). Yet, there were no mechanisms to prevent inconsistent application of, or conflicts with,
other State or local government administrators exercising their statutory rights (Gardner, 1997).
33
Prior to 2001, specific protection of ‘underground waters’ was provided by licensing the taking
of ground water in proclaimed areas under section 26D of the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act
1914 (RWI Act). In groundwater areas proclaimed under s.26B of the Act, the construction of a
bore and the taking of non-artesian ground water were prohibited without a licence issued by the
Commission. Thus, protection of stygofauna could have occurred through licensed use of
underground waters by controlling the volume of water abstracted, although there was no statutory
requirement to ensure the environment (e.g. stygofauna and/or their habitat) would be considered
when setting the amount of water that could be drawn under each license. However, provisions
existed to exempt licensing of bores used for domestic purposes and watering stock if access to the
prescribed land was deemed lawful (s.26C(2)).
In 1965, two years after the Corporation’s borefield was established, the Exmouth Groundwater
Subarea was proclaimed under section 26 of the RWI Act as part of the Pilbara Groundwater Area
(Gazette, 1965). In 1990, the Exmouth Subarea was excised from the Pilbara Area and included
within the Gascoyne Groundwater Area (Gazette, 1990), which the Minster for Water Resources
had proclaimed in 1987 (Gazette, 1987c). Exemptions for domestic and ordinary use of private
wells, including the watering of stock, were also declared in 1987 (Gazette, 1987a). Thus, the
Corporation’s taking of ground water from the Exmouth Groundwater Subarea, whether from new
or existing bores, required a licence under regulation by the WRC unless in accordance with the
declared exemptions.
Around the same time, the late 1980s, exploration drilling at Exmouth for ground water to
supplement existing water services to the town found elevated salinities beyond that suitable for
human consumption, raising concerns over unsustainable yields from the water resource (WRC,
1999). The causal factor for this increase was attributed to excessive abstraction, triggering
upwelling and inland movement of underlying marine waters (WRC, 1999). Consequently, as
stated in the Exmouth Groundwater Allocation Plan 1999, a moratorium was proclaimed on new
licenses over the entire subarea in 1991 until the hydrological regime was better understood (WRC,
1999). The allocation plan does not document whether the moratorium for bore licenses applied to:
1) the receipt of license applications (i.e. no new license applications would be accepted); 2) the
administrative processing of license applications (i.e. applications would be received but cued for
processing following further assessment of the resource to determine whether a greater volume of
ground water could be allocated for abstraction); or 3) the granting of license applications based on
assessment criteria (i.e. applications were received but routinely rejected based on limited existing
knowledge of the hydrological regime of the aquifer). It would appear no statutory power existed
under the RWI Act to cease (option 1) or stall (option 2) licensing and, if such approaches were
adopted, they may not have been legally enforceable. However, Sch.1, cl.7(2) of the RWI Act
(inserted in 2001) empowered the WRC to exercise discretion when granting license applications -
by assessing each application against “all matters that it consider(ed) relevant” (option 3). The
34
legal position would have been similar under the RWI Act prior to the 2001 amendments.
2.4. POTENTIAL CONFLICTS BETWEEN PROTECTING HUMAN HEALTH & PROTECTING STYGOFAUNA
In 1995, increasing pressure on WA water resources and the 1994 COAG Water Reform
Framework Agreement led to reform of the State’s water industry, including service delivery and
pricing, independence of water resource management and improvements in water allocation. The
reform instigated a restructure of the former Water Authority of WA, segregating the regulatory
and service delivery functions into the Water and Rivers Commission and the Water Corporation,
respectively. The Corporation was established under s.4 of the Water Corporation Act 1995 (WA)
as a government enterprise, subject to water services regulation by the Office of Water Regulation
(OWR) in accordance with Water Services Co-ordination Act 1995 (WA) (later changed to the
Water Services Licensing Act 1995 in 2003) and to water resources regulation by the Waters and
Rivers Commission under the Rights in Waters and Irrigation Act 1914. Under the Water Services
Co-ordination Act 1995, all water service providers required a license to supply water (s.15(1))
from a controlled area (s.18(1); s.16(1)) as defined in s.10(1)(a). However, provisions existed to
exempt licensing of water service providers if the exemption was not considered contrary to public
interest (s.19(1)(a)). The range of public interest matters to be considered included: environmental,
social welfare and equity, economic and regional development, customer service interests, interests
of other licensees, a competitive market in water services, provision of safe drinking water and
policy objectives pertaining to water (s.1b(a-i)). It may be helpful to clarify here that a license to
operate a water service for the supply of safe drinking water under the WSC Act (1995) is in
addition to those licenses obtained under the RWI Act (1914) to drill a bore (s.26D) and to take and
use water (s.5C).
The Corporation’s water services operating license in 1996, obtained in accordance with s.15(1) of
the Water Service Co-ordination Act 1995, was valid for five years and identified a range of service
and performance standards pertaining to drinking water quality with which the Corporation was
required to comply. At the time of assessment of the Exmouth borefield extensions by the EPA,
monitoring criteria to be adhered to were detailed in the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality in
Australia 1987 (NHMRC & AWRC, 1987). The ‘Guidelines’ stipulated that criteria for both
‘health related’ and ‘non-health related’ characteristics were to be met by water service operators
with provisions for the Health Department to approve departures from the guidelines where
appropriate (i.e. where background levels naturally exceed guideline values; NHMRC & AWRC,
1987). Of relevance for this study, salt concentrations of potable water constituted a ‘non-health
related’ characteristic for compliance purposes. The recommended guidance for Total Dissolved
Solutes (TDS) of potable water was <1000 mg/L TDS (NHMRC & AWRC, 1987); although
provisions existed to exceed these guidelines in areas where ground water was naturally higher.
Flexibility in this guideline reflects the application of a physiological criterion of human taste, set
35
lower than salt concentrations that might trigger an adverse medical response. This guideline is
not mandatory; it simply provides a framework for the Corporation to negotiate acceptable water
quality criteria with the Health Department. Adherence to these guidelines was jointly regulated by
the OWR and the Health Department of WA.
Upwelling of saline water within the Exmouth aquifer resulting from abstraction introduced three
sources of risk to the Corporation:
1) Reduction in the available resource suitable for human consumption might thereby require
more expensive treatment facilities to meet basic human needs;
2) Reduction in the available habitat for freshwater dependent species residing in the aquifer,
thus increasing the likelihood of causing ‘environmental harm’ and potentially posing a threat to
freshwater dependent species; and
3) Reduction in the available resource for downstream private and commercial users, which
might have increased the likelihood of impinging on existing license holders’ use of
groundwater or affect the public interest in water quality.
All three sources of risk are linked to State and/or Commonwealth legislation, respectively,
pertaining to health, environmental and groundwater resource sectors. At Exmouth it has always
been inevitable that continued town expansion would increase demand for fresh water,
necessitating either: a proportionately larger allocation of the limited groundwater resource for
human consumption; or development of an alternate source for future potable water supply. As
allocation of the Exmouth groundwater resource by the WRC was, on the basis of policy
objectives, prioritised in order of environment, human consumption, then private and/or
commercial users (WRC, 1999; WRC. 2000), a conflict became apparent at the nexus of these
priorities.
As part of its operational procedures, the Corporation ensures adequate storage and supply of
drinking water in the event of severe weather conditions, and by doing so, meets its legal obligation
to safeguard against the potential outbreaks of waterborne disease (WSC Act: s.1b(a-i)). However,
the prioritisation of human health over environmental considerations in both instances requires
actions (i.e. rapid abstraction or chemical treatment) that may likely contribute to changes in
stygofauna populations not previously considered. The annual occurrence of storm and cyclonic
activity at Exmouth brings with it a high-risk of power loss to the borefield and extensive flooding
to the town, potentially leaving residents stranded without a reliable supply of drinking water. The
road link to the south is particularly vulnerable to being cut-off for a period following heavy rain,
preventing transport of water from external supplies into the town. To reduce this risk, the
Corporation established an ‘Exmouth Cyclone Emergency Plan’, requiring the town’s water storage
tank to be filled and diesel generators to be ready from when the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
first issues a Cyclone Watch (>24 h prior to cyclone). Emergency supplies of bottled water are also
36
kept on site (Water Corporation, unpublished). The borefield is equipped predominantly with
low-yielding bores to reduce environmental and financial risk from upwelling saline waters,
however one, high-yielding ‘emergency’ bore is utilised to fill the tank in preparation for a cyclone.
The cumulative impacts of rapid abstraction on the structure and function of the aquifer following
the cyclone season each year is unknown and might contribute to changes in stygofauna population
numbers previously not considered.
Indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, are monitored regularly in groundwater samples to
identify the presence of pathogens deemed harmful to human consumers or that promote water
born disease (NHMRC & ARMCANZ, 1996). The presence of E.coli in routine samples is
considered a likely sign of faecal contamination of the water source from dead animals or human
interaction (NHMRC & ARMCANZ, 1996). Increased water flow into groundwater systems,
particularly after significant rainfall events, may result in high E. coli counts which can lead to
widespread enteric illness if not detected or controlled early. Preventative measures such as
encasing bores to a reasonable depth and ensuring bore heads are sealed to prevent flow from
surface waters provide some level of protection (NHMRC & ARMCANZ, 1996). However, in
groundwater systems such as Exmouth where percolation of rainfall directly into the groundwater
occurs over a wide geographical area and the presence of large underground voids are not visible at
the surface, pinpointing the source of contamination is particularly difficult. Thus, operational
procedures are in place to detect contamination early so that the affected bore/s can be taken off-
line until treatment resolves the issue. The ADWQG recommends treatment of bulk storage
facilities (such as storage tanks) or sites of broken infrastructure with chlorine followed by
treatment of the source directly with appropriate disinfectant solutions (NHMRC & ARMCANZ,
1996). All chemicals used must comply with Australian Standard AS/NZ 4020 Products for use in
contact with drinking water. The Water Corporation’s operational response to drinking water
quality incidents, including high E. coli counts, conforms to these guidelines with procedures
implemented to best reduce the risk to human health based on evidence of local response to
treatment options (Water Corporation, unpublished). The mechanisms for direct treatment of
groundwater sources of contamination are not clearly outlined in the ADWQ guidelines. However,
if treatment of the source directly implies injecting chemicals into the groundwater for treatment
purposes, this then raises another potential conflict with environmental management of local
stygofauna populations as direct mortality or avoidance of mobile species may impact upon
monitoring data collected from affected bores.
2.5. EPA ASSESSMENT, CONSIDERATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND MINISTERIAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS
Groundwater resources and groundwater-dependent ecosystems are managed in WA through
application of water licensing and environmental protection legislation in conjunction with relevant
policy and practical management guidelines or management plans. The Environmental Protection
37
Act, 1986 (WA)(EP Act) is predicated on a precautionary approach to resource development
(s.4A), with many mining and water supply industries subject now to varying levels of
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The primary role of the EPA is to provide independent environmental advice to the WA State
Minister for the Environment through development of environmental protection policies and
assessment of development proposals and management plans in accordance with the EP Act (EP
Act, 1986).
The EPA was established in 1972 and, at the time of assessment of the Corporation’s borefield
extensions, operated under the EP Act (1986), a legislative tool which prevails over most other
State laws (s.5). Recognised as a statutory authority under s.7(1) of the Act, the Authority (EPA)
comprised five members appointed for their relative expertise and interest on environmental
matters and provided independent advice to the Government on matters relating to the
environment. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as it was in 1996, was
established to assist the EPA in the performance of its administrative functions (s.22) and in pursuit
of its objectives to protect the environment and to ‘prevent, control and abate pollution’ (s.15(a)-
(b)). A key role of the EPA was to assess potential environmental impacts of a proposal considered
likely, if implemented, to have a significant impact on the environment (s.16(a)). A proposal
includes a ‘project, plan, program, policy, operation, undertaking or development or change in land
use’ (s.3(1)). Proposals could be referred to the EPA by either a proponent, member of the public
or a decision-making authority (a government agency authorised to make a decision with respect to
any aspect of the proposal (s.38(1)). The Authority retained the power to decide whether an
assessment was required and, if so, at what level (s.39a). The procedures for environmental impact
assessment are detailed in Part IV of the Act and in a set of “Administrative Procedures” made
under s.122. In general, the assessment process involved the proponent preparing an
‘environmental review’ of its proposal and, subject to EPA approval, submitting that document to a
public review period during which any person has the opportunity to make submissions to the EPA
about the proposal. The proponent then has the opportunity to respond to issues raised during the
public review period before the EPA prepares its assessment report, which is submitted to the
Minister.
At the time the Corporation’s Exmouth borefield proposal was assessed, there were three levels of
environmental review: 1) a Consultative Environmental Review (CER), where environmental
impacts were considered likely to be relatively easy to manage and public interest was restricted to
local community or special interest groups; 2) a Public Environmental Review (PER), where a
proposal was either of major public interest or might result in significant environmental impacts;
and 3) an Environmental Review and Management Plan (ERMP), which might be instigated if the
proposal was of state-wide or strategic environmental importance (Bates, 1995). The EPA’s advice
to the Minister would be presented as an EPA Bulletin providing a synopsis of relevant information
38
gathered during assessment, whether the EPA considered the project was environmentally
acceptable and recommended conditions and procedures under which the project should be subject
if approved (s.44(2)(a-b)). The Minster would then consider recommendations, in consultation with
relevant decision-making authorities or Ministers, including those with issues of public interest not
assessed by the EPA (s.45). If the Minister approved the project, legally binding “implementation
conditions” could be imposed and published in accordance with s.45(5)(b), and are usually referred
to as “Ministerial Conditions”. Usually, but not always, Ministerial Conditions will be consistent
with those recommended by the EPA - although provisions existed for any person to appeal against
the EPA recommendations to the Minister and for the proponent to appeal against Ministerial
Conditions to an appeal committee appointed by the Minister (EP Act 1986 ss. 100-110). The
appeals process was managed by an Appeals Convenor.
Assessment of the Corporation’s extensions to the Exmouth Water Supply Borefield was
undertaken as a CER because the environmental impacts from additional abstraction were
considered likely to be relatively easy to manage and the public interest was restricted to the local
Exmouth community and special interest groups such as the Western Australian Museum and the
Conservation Council of WA. During the EIA process, the EPA’s objectives were to determine
whether extensions to the Exmouth borefield could be managed adequately by the Corporation: 1)
to ensure protection of stygofauna, consistent with the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950; 2) to
maintain the abundance, diversity and geographical distribution of stygofauna (within the Cape
Range Group aquifer); and 3) to improve knowledge of stygofauna through documentation of
research comprising sampling and identification (EPA, 1997).
At the time of assessment, anecdotal evidence suggested select species of stygofauna (i.e. Isopoda;
Amphipoda) from the Cape Range peninsula were restricted to fresh and upper mixing zones of the
aquifer within the Cape Range Group limestone (Humphreys, 1994). This raised concern that a
direct consequence of heavy abstraction by the Corporation could result in localised upwelling, or
mixing of saline waters, or a proportionate decrease in habitat available for the freshwater-
dependent taxa. However, data presented to the EPA indicated that the volume of water to be
abstracted from the aquifer was less than the annual recharge, thus no reduction in the baseline
aquifer water storage would occur if the extensions were approved (Muir Environmental, 1995). It
was predicted that <1% of the total aquifer and <0.5% of the cumulative fresh and mixing zones
would be affected by the operation of the borefield. Additionally, it was estimated that
approximately 240 000 specimens of stygofauna per year would be inadvertently removed (killed)
during water abstraction (Water Corporation, 1996). These figures were predicted from the work
of Humphreys (Muir Environmental, 1995) who collected stygofauna specimens (and parts there
of) from operational and monitoring bores within existing and proposed extensions of the borefield,
respectively. Based upon a precautionary approach to development of the local groundwater
resource, it was decided that the EPA’s objectives could be met if the Corporation: 1) implemented
39
research and development initiatives to improve knowledge on stygofauna present; and 2)
established measures for maintaining stygofauna species populations and habitat conditions. It was
thought that both of these issues could be addressed by establishing a scientifically sound
monitoring program (EPA, 1997).
An appeal was lodged in 1997 by the Conservation Council of WA Inc. (Appeal #86, 1997) on the
grounds that the EPA should not have completed its assessment on the proposal until: 1) the peer
review of the proposal and EPA recommendations was completed and public access to the final
report had been made available; 2) an environmental policy for the area or an integrated approach
to planning and environment for the Exmouth Cape-Range area had been developed; in their
opinion, 3) a 1% loss of stygofauna habitat from abstraction was considered unacceptable; 4) a
more described and accurate analysis of possible impacts to stygofauna than those presented in the
CER should have been required prior to approval - as a monitoring programme to monitor damage
once it has occurred would not ensure maximum protection; 5) possible impacts of lowering the
water table on subterranean fauna and/or vegetation were not detailed; 6) alternatives to borefield
expansion and water pricing should have been considered; and 7) sustainability of water supply and
inter-generational issues should have been considered. Appeal #86 was dismissed by the Minister
on the recommendation of the Appeals Convenor, although no public records were available for the
reasons behind the dismissal.
Recommendations by the EPA were also subject to standard EIA appeals processes involving
review and input from decision-making authorities and relevant Ministers with a vested interest.
The proposed environmental management commitments were finalised by the DEP, approved by
the Minister, agreed to by the Corporation, and formed the proponent’s objectives and
commitments under the aegis of the published Ministerial conditions statement. Commitments
relating to stygofauna protection and their habitat are summarised in Table 2.
2.6. IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGES IN LEGISLATION TO MONITORING
REQUIREMENTS
Since the Corporation’s proposal to extend the Exmouth borefield was assessed as a CER and
approved in 1997 (MoE, 1997), there have been several changes to existing environmental laws in
place to protect stygofauna in WA. In the following section I address these changes from a present
day perspective and highlight potential implications for the Corporation with regard to protecting
stygofauna at Exmouth. Stygofauna reported from the Exmouth borefield in accordance with
established monitoring commitments from 1999-2007 are detailed in Table 3.
40
Table 2: The Water Corporation’s objectives and commitments to stygofauna conservation, in managing supply of groundwater to the Exmouth town-site, as detailed in the Ministerial conditions statement (August, 1996) and approved by the Minister of Environment (MoE) through the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process
Proponent’s objectives Proponent’s commitments
1. Protect and maintain stygofauna species populations in the aquifer
i. Finalize a detailed Stygofauna and Aquifer Monitoring Program
2. React in a timely fashion to protect and maintain the stygofauna species population in the aquifer
ii. Submit data on stygofauna species composition and numbers; and
iii. Implement actions to protect stygofauna populations and habitat to the requirements of the EPA and advice of CALM (now DEC)
3. Protect and maintain the quality of the fresh water in the karst aquifer
If salinity increases: iv. Immediately reduce the rate of pumping from the
bore(s);
v. Reduce the total production of water from the group of bores in the area;
vi. If the above measures do not improve (lower) salinity levels, cease groundwater production from the bores involved
Table 3: Stygofauna taxa recorded from the Corporation’s Exmouth stygofauna monitoring program (1999-2007).
Phylum NEMATODA
Unidentified form
Phylum ANNELIDA
Class POLYCHAETA
Unidentified form
Class OLIGOCHAETA
Unidentified form
Subphylum CRUSTACEA
Class MALACOSTRACA
Stygiocaris lancifera Stygiocaris stylifera Haptolana pholeta Nedsia douglasi Halosbaena tulki Unidentified form
Class MAXILLAPODA
Subclass COPEPODA
Diacyclops humphreysi Stygoridgewayia trispinosa
Subclass OSTRACODA
Unidentified form
Class ARACHNIDA Unidentified form
Subphylum VERTEBRATA
Class OSTEICHTHYES Subclass ACTINOPTERYGII
Milyeringa veritas
Unidentified form
Suborder Sabellida
Unidentified form
Order Decapoda Order Decapoda Order Isopoda Order Amphipoda Order Thermosbaenacea Order Bathynellacea
Order Cyclopoida Order Calanoida
Unidentified form
Unidentified form
Order Perciformes
41
In general, invertebrate stygofauna today remain unprotected by the WLC Act throughout the State
of WA, unless found within CALM management parks and reserves or are listed under s.14(2)(ba)
of the Act. However, there have been several changes to listed fauna since 1996, reflecting
progressive inclusion of new fauna considered rare or likely to become extinct and removal of
species no longer considered in need of special protection. Of relevance to subterranean fauna,
modifications to Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Conservation Act (Specially Protected Fauna) Notice,
as published by the Government Gazette since 1996, are presented in chronological order in Table
4. The crustacean Stygiocaris stylifera was removed from the list in 1997, the year after the
extensions were assessed (Gazette 1997c). In 1998, 12 new species of subterranean crustacean (11
stygal species) were added to the list (Gazette, 1998c), largely reflecting increased research interest
and sampling effort by the Western Australian Museum around Cape Range and Barrow Island. It
was not until 1999 that fish other than stygal forms were included on the list (Gazette, 1999). In
2002 another five species of subterranean crustaceans were added to the list (Gazette, 2002b) and
in 2004 non-subterranean crustacean forms were included (Gazette, 2004). As of August 2009
(Gazette, 2008b = most recent SPF notice), no new listings of stygofauna species have been made
since 2002 despite the collection and identification of an estimated >300 species collected across
the State (Ebehard et al., in press). However, many of these species are yet to be described formally
in the scientific literature following the recommended International Code on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999).
Table 4: Subterranean fauna listed under s.14(2)(ba) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (Specially Protected Fauna) Notices Information presented has been taken from publically available material from the Western Australian Government Gazette as published by the WA State Law Publisher: Gazette (1994b, 1996, 1997c, 1998c, 2002b). Note the authorities for each species are not included in the published notices and as such are not included here.
1994 1996 1997 1998 2002Fish Ophisternon candidum Ophisternon candidum Ophisternon candidum Ophisternon candidum Ophisternon candidum
Milyeringa veritas Milyeringa veritas Milyeringa veritas Milyeringa veritas Milyeringa veritasCrustaceans Stygiocaris lancifera Stygiocaris lancifera Stygiocaris lancifera Stygiocaris lancifera Stygiocaris lancifera
Stygiocaris stylifera Stygiocaris stylifera Lasionectes sp. Lasionectes sp. Lasionectes sp. Lasionectes sp. Abebaioscia troglodytes*Abebaioscia troglodytes* Abebaioscia troglodytes*Abebaioscia troglodytes* Liagoceradocus branchialis Liagoceradocus branchialis
Liagoceradocus subthalassicus Liagoceradocus subthalassicusNedsia fragilis Nedsia fragilisNedsia humphreysi Nedsia humphreysiNedsia hurlberti Nedsia hurlbertiNedsia macrosculptilis Nedsia macrosculptilisNedsia straskraba Nedsia straskrabaNedsia urifimbriata Nedsia urifimbriataundescribed Crangonyctid sp. undescribed crangonyctid sp.Stygiocaris lancifera Speleophria bunderae
Danielopolina kornickeriStygiocyclopia australis
42
The rapid advance in stygofauna species distribution information in the past decade can be
attributed largely to increased regulatory focus of decision-making authorities during
Environmental Impact Assessment triggered under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act
1986. Unfortunately, species included under s.14(2)(ba) are not recorded in accordance with the
accepted scientific nomenclature, which requires inclusion of the authority responsible for the
description of that species. This presents serious implications for ongoing conservation and
management of these species as the appropriate controls to ensure correct species identification are
not in place; e.g. the scientifically accepted taxonomic protocols for species identification based on
proven key morphological characters.
The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 listing process only applies to individual species and not
communities or population assemblages. In an attempt to recognise this limitation of the Act, the
DEC (formerly, CALM) developed a list of Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) across the
State. In January 2008, sixty-six TECs were endorsed by the WA Minister for the Environment,
eight of which comprise subterranean fauna. Near Exmouth there are two TECs listed: a troglobitic
community at Cameron’s Cave, situated adjacent to the Exmouth town-site and potentially at
increasing risk of urban development and subsequent influence of local groundwater use; and the
Remipede Community of Bundera Sink Hole located on the south-west coastal plain of the Cape
Range peninsula. A general misconception among proponents and scientists is that listed TECs are
afforded the same statutory protection as specially protected fauna. However, without a statutory
process for recognition by a Ministerial declaration under the WLC Act in the Government
Gazette, these TECs are not legally recognized. State assessment bodies have attempted to cover
this gap in the legislation by accounting for possible impacts to listed TEC sites when assessing
applications to clear land through land use planning and the EIA processes. However, this has
resulted in a focus on resource developers to provide for the conservation of stygofauna
communities, rather than on state administrative authorities of relevant legislation that directly or
indirectly provides protection to stygofauna species. As it stands, the only way a State listed TEC
can be afforded legislative protection is if it is endorsed by the Federal Minister for the
Environment under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 or if it contains a species listed as in need of special protection under the WLC Act.
While the WLC Act (1950) remains the principle legislative tool used to protect individual
stygofaunal species in WA, it might be argued that the FRM Act (1996) could be utilised better to
provide this protective function. Both the WLC Act and the FRM Act require the specific listing of
individual stygal species in order to trigger the obligation to obtain a license to ‘take’ them (i.e. by
means of abstraction or sampling for monitoring purposes). Similarly, both Acts have the capacity
to declare all stygofauna (in its collective form) protected throughout WA – although to date such
protection has not been invoked. Considering this, an argument might be explored as to whether the
FRM Act may be the more logical statutory tool to provide for stygofauna protection in WA. For
43
example, the definition of ‘fish’ under the FRM Act can more readily accommodate both
vertebrate and invertebrate forms of stygofauna when compared to the implications of amending
the WLC Act provisions to incorporate all invertebrates across the State. Consequently, if the
Minister were to revoke the existing exclusion of invertebrate protection under the WLC Act
outside conservation and/or marine reserves, all invertebrate fauna would fall under this banner of
protection - including terrestrial forms. Furthermore, the administrative jurisdiction of the FRM Act
has broader and more relevant boundaries than that of the WLC Act - in that it applies to all WA
waters, which could be argued to include subterranean aquatic ecosystems.
There is no clear statement in either the WLC Act or the FRM Act as to which prevails over the
other should a dispute in authority arise. In the absence of an express statement, it is generally
presumed that both Acts were intended to operate in conjunction so that the requirements of both
are to be satisfied. (Bates, 2006). However, if there is an irreconcilable conflict between two
statutes, then there are two general rules that determine how to resolve the inconsistency. First, the
most recent statute prevails, reflecting the Parliament’s (and therefore society’s) most recent
position on the matter. However, that proposition is qualified where the context, application and
intent of a specific matter being regulated (i.e. stygofauna), or the specific nature of the matter is
not being addressed by the more recent legislation (i.e. the FRM Act) (Cook et al., 2008). In those
situations, the specific legislation may prevail over the general. In this thesis, I have not explored
the potential for such arguments and have relied solely on the principle of primacy of dates of
enactment to suggest the resolution of apparently irreconcilable conflicts between different statutes.
A fundamental change to Commonwealth environmental law was instigated in 2000 with the
enactment of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC
Act), which is now administered by the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water,
Heritage and the Arts. The Act supersedes two repealed Acts, the Endangered Species Protection
Act 1982 and the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974, with extended
jurisdictional boundaries in some instances beyond just Commonwealth lands (s.5(2)). Of
relevance to the protection and management of stygofauna, any action likely to have a significant
impact on a listed threatened species or on ecological communities can now be referred under s.18-
19 of the EPBC Act to the Federal Environment Minister for environmental impact assessment and
approval. However, protection is afforded to groundwater resources only by indirect means:
namely, only if a species or ecological community dependent on that resource is at threat. Under
the Act: an ‘action’ is defined as a project, development, undertaking, activity or series of activities
(s.523); a ‘significant impact’ is “an impact which is important, notable, or of consequence, having
regard to its context or intensity”; and, a significant impact is considered ‘likely’ when there is a
real (not remote) chance or possibility of the impact occurring (EPBC Policy Statement 1.1).
Pertinent to stygofauna protection, it is an offence under s.18 of the Act to undertake any action
that has, will or is likely to have a significant impact on: 1) any species listed as extinct in the wild,
44
critically endangered or vulnerable; or 2) an ecological community listed as endangered or
critically endangered. Additionally, any decision made during assessment with regard to threatened
species or ecological communities listed under the EPBC Act must not contravene Australia’s
obligation to the International Biodiversity Convention (s.133, 136(f)).
There are three stygal species Australia-wide currently listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act: 2
fishes (Milyeringa veritas; Ophisternon candidum) and one crustacean (Lasionectes exleyi), with
only the fish (Milyeringa veritas) known to occur in the Corporation’s Exmouth borefield. Under
s.43A of the Act, any action authorised before 16 July 2000 under State, Territory or
Commonwealth law not requiring further authorisation beyond this date is exempt from referral for
assessment under the EPBC Act. Considering this, unless the Corporation were to apply for an
expansion of the borefield, beyond the boundaries approved by the WA Minster for Environment in
1996, no additional obligations can be triggered under the EPBC Act to those already in place set
under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. Further, as ‘abstraction’ was the raison
d’être for the Corporation’s proposal to extend the borefield and given authorisation by the WA
Minister for the Environment prior to implementation of the EPBC Act, the EPBC Act
environmental approval process cannot be triggered for the current borefield operations.
The Water Corporation is required under environmental commitments set out in Ministerial
Statement 459 (Table 2) to monitor impacts on stygofauna by sampling and submitting data,
annually, on species’ population numbers and abundance - to delegated decision-making authorities
(now DEC, DoW, EPASU). Approval of the Corporation’s extensions to the Exmouth borefield
also, simultaneously, approved the ‘taking’ of an estimated ~240,000 specimens of stygofauna via
abstraction each year, an indeterminate proportion of which would likely comprise S. stylifera and
M. veritas, listed as specially protected under s.14(2)(ba) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 at
the time. However, the additional ‘taking’ (effectively killing the organism as they are preserved in
ethanol) of listed stygofauna whilst sampling to meet monitoring obligations was not considered
during assessment and the Corporation was required to obtain a licence to collect fauna to meet
their environmental commitments. In the absence of an appropriate licensing system to ‘take’
stygofauna for compliance purposes, the Corporation obtained a license annually to take fauna for
scientific purposes’ from the DEC (and its previous denominations) in accordance with section
15(1) and regulation 17(1) of the Act. The ‘Regulation 17’ license was originally designed to
approve the ‘taking’ of terrestrial flora and fauna for scientific or research purposes and requires
submission of a proposal detailing the reason for sampling and targeted species for the study. The
Corporation has complied with the specified requirements under their licence and submitted data
for each monitoring year since the project was assessed. However, the appropriateness of
regulating the collection of stygofauna using a license designed to collect terrestrial biota remains
to be validated when the reality of selectively sampling target species from those inadvertently
collected cannot be controlled using current accepted sampling techniques, including those
45
currently promoted by the EPA (EPA, 2003; EPA, 2007).
Exemption from the operation of the EPBC Act approval requirement under Part 9 does not
authorise the prospective taking of any species listed under the EPBC Act. Part 13 (s.196, 196A,
196B, 196C) of the Act sets out offences and liability for certain ‘actions’ in relation to listed
threatened species and ecological communities which broadly encompass the killing, injuring or
taking of a member of a listed threatened species or ecological community without a permit to
‘take’ listed stygofauna issued by the Minister. A permit for any given action on a listed species
(including lethal sampling for stygofauna monitoring) would be approved only if the action is
likely to contribute to the conservation of that species (s.201(a)), or the action of taking a listed
species is incidental to and not the target of the action (s.201(b)). At the time of assessment, no
species within the Corporation’s borefield, or proposed extensions, were protected under
Commonwealth legislation warranting a permit from the Commonwealth to kill stygofauna for
abstraction or monitoring purposes. However, the listing of M. veritas, O. candidum and L. exleyi
as vulnerable, threatened species under the Act in 2008 (Gazette 2008a) might now be argued to
add an additional level of complexity to the Corporation’s ongoing environmental commitments. If
it was argued that the ‘action’ of sampling for monitoring purposes takes, injures or kills a listed
species (e.g. M. veritas) the Corporation might be required to apply for a permit. However, the
requirement to apply for a permit can only be enforced if the ‘action’ takes place on
Commonwealth lands. As such the Corporation is not legally required to do so because the
borefield is situated outside Commonwealth lands.
Amendment of the RWI Act in 2000 also provides for indirect protection of stygofauna through
legislative controls over the utilization and conservation of groundwater resources. The Act is now
administered by the DoW (formally the WRC) to provide for the sustainable use and development
of water resources which includes protecting the groundwater ecosystems upon which stygofauna
are intrinsically linked to reproduce and survive. The amendments also promote equitable and
efficient use of the resource in collaboration with local communities and natural resource
management authorities (s.4(1)(a-d)). As defined by s.2 of the Act, a ‘water resource’ includes
watercourses, wetlands, surface waters, aquifers and underground water. Protection of ground
water resources and their dependent ecosystems is provided by controlling the taking of ground
water by licence, issued under section 26D of the Act. However, provisions still exist to exempt
licensing of bores used for domestic supply and use, watering stock and/or for fighting fires if
access to the prescribed land was deemed lawful and not in a proclaimed area (s.25A(2)). The
Exmouth Groundwater Subarea is still proclaimed under 26B of the Act, so the taking of non-
artesian ground water is prohibited without a licence, requiring abstraction of water to be regulated
by the DoW. The Corporation’s licence continuance is now subject to annual compliance with
environmental commitments set by the State Minister under the EP Act, rendering the practical
application of monitoring commitments again pivotal to the protection of stygofauna within the
46
borefield. However, ascertaining the significance of mortality from abstraction or sampling for
monitoring purposes would require understanding of the relative impact of sampling on species
population numbers and abundance, which have yet to be determined (Chapter 3).
The majority of remote towns in WA are supplied from groundwater resources as such sources
provide a low health-risk source of water, with comparatively low operational costs required for
treatment and supply. At Exmouth, when the town’s borefield was established, the priority was to
service the town with water for drinking, wastewater and drainage services at low cost to the
government and the end user. In the mid-1990s, concerns over saline upwelling from the
underlying marine environment posed a risk to the quality of the groundwater resource for human
consumption (EPA, 1999; WRC, 1999). From a service delivery perspective, increased salinity
increases costs of providing water at standards suitable for consumption. Whilst these costs are
born jointly by the Corporation and the State government, a small percentage is inevitably passed
on to the end user to make the delivery viable. Thus, the Corporation proposed an alternative plan
to extend the borefield south which would alleviate pressure on the system, reducing salinity levels
and remain financially viable to meet future demands of regional growth.
Around the same time as extensions to the borefield were approved, the WRC was bringing the
State’s approach to groundwater resource management into alignment with national reforms in
groundwater resource management. A management process (later documented in WRC’s Policy
No. 5) was being developed that would prioritise the utilisation and conservation of groundwater
resources in order of environment, potable water supply and, lastly, private and commercial users
(WRC. 2000). Recognition of stygofauna as an important management consideration in the
allocation of Exmouth’s ground water resource (WRC, 1999) reflected the beginning of the policy
transition within WRC towards ensuring environmental water provisions for ‘environmental
values’ in need of protection (WRC, 2000 – see Chapter 1). Arguably, documenting this transition
in the Exmouth Groundwater Allocation Plan 1999 ahead of formalised policy introduced the
potential for conflict between emerging environmental management principles and the reality of
existing legal and regulatory frameworks to deliver these new objectives. This was particularly so
within the Corporation’s operational bore field, which was founded on providing water suitable for
human consumption at low cost.
Over the past decade, the rapid discovery of large numbers, putatively, of new stygal species,
combined with political pressure from resource developers to clarify their responsibility towards
conserving stygofauna populations, has put pressure on the EIA process - as the reality of delays to
projects came to be realised. A review commissioned by the EPA (Playford, 2001) suggested the
EPA should: 1) consider the potential impacts of a proposal on the environment if the proposal
were to be approved; and 2) test the null hypothesis that an agreed level of human activity will not
result in extinction of species endemic to the area. As phrased, and as a prevailing view of the time,
this null-hypothesis inferred that proposals to develop groundwater resources were compatible with
47
stygofauna protection - despite an absence of knowledge on indicators of ecological stress in
these systems. A stygofauna workshop organised in 2001 concluded that species conservation and
commercial development were compatible if: a) no protected species are restricted to the impact
area; b) the anthropogenic impacts planned will not affect deleteriously the existence of species
because the impacts will not exceed the ecological or micro-habitat tolerances of the species; and
c), impacts can be lessened sufficiently through effective management plans to maintain species
populations (Anonymous, 2001).
In 2003, the objectives of the EP Act were amended to include the prevention and abatement of
environmental harm (s.5(a)(b): whereby, environmental harm is defined as the direct or indirect
removal, destruction or damage to native vegetation (s.3A(2)(i)), the habitat of native vegetation, or
indigenous aquatic or terrestrial animals (s.3A(2)(ii)). Stygofauna are, by definition, subterranean
aquatic animals. Thus, a proposal likely to cause direct or indirect removal, destruction or damage
to stygofauna via abstraction or sampling can now trigger a proposal to be assessed under Part IV
section 38. Relevantly, the EPA released Guidance on Considerations of Subterranean Fauna In
Groundwater And Caves During Environmental Impact Assessment in WA (EPA, 2003). While
assessments are undertaken in consideration of State (WLC Act 1950) and federal (EPBC Act
1999) species and/or community protection legislation, no linkages are made to existing ground
water resource planning or environmental water allocation. Prior to assessment, proponents are
advised to sample for the presence of stygofauna and report on whether or not the proposal is likely
to pose a threat to their future viability. If stygofauna are present, but ‘no threat’ can be
demonstrated, the EPA will in most instances request a stygofauna management plan be drafted for
approval, inclusive of a detailed monitoring program. However, once a project is approved, little
follow-up attention has been given to whether existing approved subterranean fauna management
plans and ‘monitoring’ programs actually provide for their protection beyond the planning phase
(i.e. throughout the construction, operational and decommissioning phases) of an approved project.
For the full powers of protection afforded to stygofauna under the EP Act to be realised, evidence
of material or serious environmental harm must be demonstrable and clearly linked to the
Corporation’s borefield operations.
The Environmental Regulations (Part V) of the EP Act were also amended in 2003. Now, a person
who causes or allows (intentionally, with criminal negligence or otherwise), serious or material
environmental harm to occur, commits an offence under the EP Act (s.50A-B). Material
environmental harm is defined as environmental harm that is: (a) neither trivial nor negligible; or
(b) may result in loss or property damage <$20 000 (s.3A(2)). Serious environmental harm means
environmental harm that is: (a) irreversible, of a high impact or on a wide scale; (b) significant in
an area of high conservation value of special significance; or (c) results in loss or property damage
>$100 000 (s.3A(2)). Thus, regardless of approval through the EIA process in 1996, one might
argue that should the Corporation be found to cause material or serious environmental harm to
48
stygofauna populations residing within the Exmouth borefield, either through abstraction or
monitoring, the Corporation could be prosecuted under the EP Act (s.50A-B). It might also be
argued that, because the entire Cape Range peninsula is classed as an Environmentally Sensitive
Area (ESA) and the ‘Cape Range Province’ is considered of State environmental importance (EPA,
1999), the higher penalty of serious environmental harm should be considered. However, at the
same time that the regulations of the EP Act were amended in 2003, the defences to these
regulations were also redefined - with EIA approvals assessed prior to 2003 having potential now
to operate as a defence to environmental harm (s.74A(a)). For example, if the Corporation can
illustrate the extensions to the Exmouth borefield were implemented in accordance with agreed
commitments resulting from the EIA process, then this may provide a defence to any future claims
of causing environmental harm. Thus, effective regulatory protection of stygofauna within the
Corporation’s borefield is dependent on the collection of monitoring data that are reflective of
species population changes occurring within the aquifer and can also distinguish any observed
changes from those of natural variation.
2.7. DISCUSSION
The Commonwealth’s powers to protect stygofauna in WA under the EPBC Act 1999 are severely
limited by referral triggers being based on select listing of stygofauna species. Additionally,
retrospective application of the Act to protect listed species from being captured or killed without a
permit is limited by statutory authority being restricted to Commonwealth lands. Whilst the EPBC
Act affords no protection to stygofauna populations within the existing State-approved Exmouth
borefield, other large-scale commercial and planning projects assessed after 16th July 2000 may
trigger referral to the Federal Minster for Environment if the actions undertaken are: a) situated on
Commonwealth lands; and/or, b) affect a matter of National Environmental Significance e.g.
species or communities listed as threatened under the EPBC Act. To date, stygofauna species and
communities remain poorly represented on these lists. Consequently, in WA, protection of
stygofauna not listed under the EPBC Act, or that are listed but reside outside Commonwealth
lands and therefore do not require a permit to ‘take’, is dependent on the administration of State
legislation to do so, either by direct or indirect means.
The principal statutory tool used for direct protection of stygofauna is the State’s WLC Act.
However, the use of this Act to control the taking of stygofauna specimens is fundamentally limited
by its application to select species listed as being in need of special protection. Current listing of
stygofauna species appears to reflect past and present-day paradigms of research interest rather
than a more holistic approach to protecting stygofauna in the collective sense. Whilst provisions do
exist for the State’s Minister for Environment to declare ‘stygofauna’ in its entirety as in need of
special protection, these provisions have yet to be exercised and the practical application of
administering compliance would be no small feat given the vast geographical area of WA. Thus, an
argument seems justified for a review of the WLC Act to provide better protection for habitats
49
rather than select species and bring it into alignment with other State legislation and policy in
place for groundwater dependent ecosystems. Also, the use of scientific purpose permits to regulate
the taking of listed fauna for compliance monitoring purposes seems to serve more generally as an
administrative band-aid than as a regulatory tool to protect stygofauna populations due to their
being designed for better understood surface systems and previously described animals of
comparatively large body size. A lack of understanding of stygal ecosystems would appear to
necessitate research that can better inform the law – although this raises an implicit query as to the
underlying purpose and/or need for stygofauna protection (see Chapter 5).
Arguably, the Fish Resources Management Act 1996 might be a more appropriate legislative tool
to provide for stygofauna conservation in WA for three key reasons: 1) the definition of ‘fish’
under the FRM Act can more readily accommodate both vertebrate and invertebrate forms of
stygofauna when compared to the implications of amending the WLC Act; 2) the administrative
jurisdiction of the Act has broader, more relevant jurisdictional boundaries in that it applies to all
WA waters, including subterranean aquatic ecosystems, and; 3) the FRM Act was enacted more
recently than the WLC Act and, as such, might be considered to override the statutory protection
afforded by the latter. However, to do so, stygofauna in its collective form would need to be
declared ‘totally’ protected within WA waters under the FRM Act. Although it might be
administratively easier to protect all stygofauna by such a declaration, the question of why we are
protecting stygofauna in the first place may in fact counter the benefits of such an approach.
Certainly, national principles of the IGAE (e.g. to conserve biological diversity and ecological
integrity) might be used as a counter argument to this approach (IGAE, 1992) – as terrestrial and
subterranean invertebrates would still remain unprotected under the WLC Act. Further, if the
administrative boundaries and definitions of ‘WA waters’ in the FRM Act are indeed considered
more appropriate for the collective management of stygofauna, then perhaps equivalent
amendments to the WLC Act might prove equally effective.
To date, narrow application of the FRM Act to regulate marine and commercial fishing activities
has inadvertently prevented its extended use in subterranean aquatic ecosystems and, to my
knowledge, has not even been considered in this context. Indeed, it might be argued that there is an
underlying expectation (given the administrative portfolio in which it sits) that the FRM should be
primarily used for the protection of fish that have some economic benefit to humans, rather than
species protection ‘for their own sake’. However, the Department of Fisheries has statutory power
to protect fish species inhabiting inland waters without any economic (or recreational) benefit to
humans, and do so by implementing research programs managed by the Recreational Freshwater
Fisheries Sub-committee of the Recreational Fishing Advisory Committee (RFAC)). Obviously,
with administrative responsibility comes the challenge of resourcing its regulation, although there
is no reason why joint authority between DEC and Fisheries may not provide an achievable
framework in this instance if the two government agencies can manage to collaborate effectively
50
and sufficient funding is made available to do so. As it stands, the overlap between the
administrative boundaries of the WLC Act and the FRM Act does not utilise effectively existing
statutory powers, rendering the majority of stygofauna species populations and communities
unprotected by direct means despite provisions within the legislation to do so.
Whilst provisions do exist for indirect protection of stygofauna populations and community
assemblages by protecting the groundwater resources on which they are dependent, the
administrative focus to date has centred on potential impacts of large-scale projects through the
EIA process without considering local, regional and state-wide cumulative impacts on stygofauna
populations from smaller-scale operations, including residential and commercial use. Exmouth is
no exception to this scenario with regulatory focus to date largely confined to the Corporation’s
operation of the Exmouth borefield rather than the cumulative impacts of adjacent residential
groundwater users and commercial developments on the structure and function of the underlying
aquifer upon which local stygofauna are dependent. Glimpses of a policy transition towards
provision of water for the environment at Exmouth (including stygofauna and their habitat) were
emerging at the time of assessment, although the statutory powers for this approach had yet to be
finalised. Amendments to the RWI Act in 2000, combined with those to Part IV of the EP Act in
2003, now provide the necessary authority and mechanisms to establish ecological criteria and/or
environmental commitments to monitor for deleterious changes to stygofauna species populations
during assessment of large-scale projects. However, it is the inclusion of sections 50A-B into the
Environmental Regulations in 2003 that makes the EP Act (1986) by far the most powerful
legislative tool in place to provide for stygofauna protection in WA. Whether these powers are
adequate or not is entirely subject to the regulatory framework in place to administer them and
available knowledge on stygofauna biology (Chapters 3, 4, 5).
Frequent restructuring of relevant authorities does not instil confidence in the administrative
process: it takes several years to gain an understanding of the functions of each authority and build
the knowledge required to make sound management decisions to protect stygofauna in WA.
Crossley (2009), in a comparable example from Tasmania of government restructure, describes in
detail the steps followed in the deconstruction of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife
Service during numerous iterations between 1987-2009, terminating as the Department of
Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts. Crossley’s synopsis attributes a decade of restructuring
and reorganisation to a shift in administrative focus over this period - from protecting
environmental values and habitat to promoting anthropogenic values, to advocating commercial
enterprise, and most recently to tourism to generate income to meet administrative functions. The
result in Tasmania has been greater isolation from effective policy and decision making – by
amalgamating existing administrative bodies into a mega-department under generic direction,
concomitantly stripping each administrative authority of political influence. Care will need to be
applied to ensure that a similar scenario does not develop in WA – or is it an inevitable progression
51
of government in the current socio-political climate where the economic values of resources are
not fully evaluated? Certainly, the linkages and interactions occurring within groundwater
ecosystems that might drive stygofauna community assemblages remain largely unknown, leaving
a huge gap in functional understanding of how to quantify environmental harm to trigger regulatory
attention.
It is also apparent that application of environmental laws to protect stygofauna is done in isolation
of competing statutory requirements to provide water for human consumption, creating overlaps in
some instances and gaps in others, which inhibit the effective use of regulatory framework. This
highlights concerns over the real protection afforded by environmental commitments ‘to monitor’
and/or ‘implement actions to protect’ stygofauna when the impacts of incident response to protect
human health are unknown and seemingly overlooked. In the event that a mismatch in priorities
exists, it might be argued that the protection of human health prevails over environmental
management obligations to protect stygofauna populations. For example, should a cyclone near
Exmouth threaten water supply to local residents, does one approve the rapid abstraction of
groundwater to ensure their basic needs for potable water are met at the cost of potentially creating
short or long-term effects on local stygofauna populations? Likewise, if an outbreak of E.coli
resulting from flood events could potentially result in an epidemic of enteric illness throughout the
town, would it be deemed acceptable to dose the ground water directly to reduce the risk to human
health at the expense of creating localised stygofauna population extinction? Or, should the
emphasis be on developing alternative options to use of a limited groundwater resource to minimise
threats to both human and stygofauna populations? If this is the preferred option, should the cost of
developing and implementing new strategies be borne by ~2000 users who choose to live in a
remote location of limited groundwater supply? Or, should the local government who continues to
approval residential and commercial expansion to entice >100 000 tourists each year be made
accountable for their decisions by covering these costs?
2.8. CASE-STUDY APPROACH
Whilst the legal framework imposes a top-down control over environmental protection, the
effective application of on-going administrative regulation devolves to interaction between various
State administrators working in collaboration with proponents who propose developmental
projects. This presumes sufficient knowledge and expertise exists within government departments
to establish environmental commitments that provide adequate information to demonstrate
evidence of effective management and protection of stygofauna populations in WA. Despite
originating six years before the 2003 amendments to the EP Act, the Corporation’s Ministerial
objectives together incorporate the EPA’s objective to prevent or abate environmental harm, i.e. the
direct or indirect removal, destruction or damage to indigenous aquatic animals (s.3A(2)(i)).
In the following chapters I investigate the efficacy of environmental commitments established to
manage stygofauna population of the Exmouth Water Supply Borefield (Table 2) as a case study
52
example. I evaluate critically the capacity of the monitoring program in place to meet these
environmental commitments by analysing data collected from the eight year program and
highlighting its underlying assumptions and limitations. I then consider these assumptions and
limitations in light of the Corporation’s legal obligation to protect local stygofauna at Exmouth
including the habitat upon which they are dependent. Lastly, I draw on my findings to debate my
overarching thesis hypothesis of whether the regulatory framework in place to ensure legislative
compliance actually achieves the overall objective of protection of stygofauna in WA.
CHAPTER 3
Can A Change In Stygofauna Populations Within The
Exmouth Borefield Be Detected From Monitoring
Protocols In Place?
North West Cape, Western
Australia
PERCIFORMES
DECAPODA
BATHYNELLACEA
THERMOSBAENACEA
55
3. INTRODUCTION
The Corporation’s objectives and commitments to stygofauna conservation, for the expansion of
the Exmouth borefield, are presented in Table 2 (p. 40) and entail two management objectives to
provide for: 1) direct protection of the stygofauna populations within the Exmouth borefield by
monitoring species presence and abundance; and 2) indirect protection of the stygofauna by
monitoring to maintain the quality of their fresh water habitat. Combined, these management
objectives require the collection of relevant information to aid in the prevention and abatement of
‘environmental harm’ i.e. direct or indirect removal, destruction or damage to indigenous aquatic
animals. Here, in Chapter 3, I evaluate critically whether monitoring stygofauna species population
data, as collected and submitted to the regulators from 1999-2007, actually achieves the
overarching regulatory objective of stygofauna protection. Primarily, I focus on the capacity of data
collected to trigger management actions in place to mitigate impacts of groundwater abstraction on
stygofauna populations. My findings are then discussed in the broader context of the overarching
regulatory framework in place to meet relevant legislative obligations. The latter issue of indirect
protection, namely through habitat protection, is discussed in Chapter 4 of this thesis.
Many other relevant environmental commitments established through the EIA process in Western
Australia focus on the prevention of the extinctions of species and the maintenance of biological
diversity. These focal topics reflect administrative requirements of the State’s Wildlife
Conservation Act, 1950 and the Commonwealth’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act, 1999. The elements of interest are either the entire ecosystem (whole of aquifer
approach) or sub-components such as communities or species populations. Species richness,
species diversity, biomass and population size are all variables used to measure or assess biological
diversity. However, in the absence of clear, achievable objectives and a lack of acknowledgement
of sources of error when estimating biological diversity (as highlighted for example by Yoccoz et
al., 2001), it might be argued that data required to be collected as an outcome of the EIA process
cannot be interpreted meaningfully to trigger management actions in place. Equally, in the context
of stygofauna protection, concerns might be raised over the capacity (statistical power) of
monitoring programs to trigger regulatory obligations to provide adequately for the protection of
stygofauna in WA (Goater, 2007).
As published in the Ministerial condition statement, the Corporation’s objective to ‘react in a
timely fashion to protect and maintain the stygofauna species populations in the aquifer’ requires
the Corporation to: i) submit data on stygofauna species composition and numbers; and ii)
implement actions to protect stygofauna populations and habitat to the requirements of the EPA
and advice of CALM (now DEC). In the absence of a definition of terms within the Ministerial
conditions statement, I have adopted those of Lincoln et al. (1998) where species populations refers
to the abundance of individuals of one taxon; species composition and numbers refer to the
community assemblage within the aquifer i.e. the number of different taxa co-occurring in the same
habitat and their respective populations; and an aquifer is a permeable subterranean rock stratum
holding water. The underlying purpose of these objectives was to provide a direct mechanism of
56
protection for freshwater-dependent stygofauna residing within the area of influence of the
Corporation’s borefield. How the Corporation would go about monitoring to achieve these
management objectives is not detailed in the Ministerial condition statement but can be traced back
to the compliance reports submitted each year to meet regulatory reporting requirements: Kinhill
Engineers Pty Ltd, 1999; Brown & Root, 2000, 2001; Haliburton KBR, 2002; KBR, 2003, 2004,
2005; Goater, 2007.
The Corporation’s stygofauna monitoring program was developed and finalised in 1998, 30 years
after abstraction of ground water for Exmouth commenced. The program was developed in
consultation with a panel of key stakeholders representing the Waters and Rivers Commission
(now DoW), the Department of Environment (now DEC), EPA SU and the Western Australian
Museum (WAM). The approved monitoring program comprised 4 bores within the borefield and 4
reference bores adjacent to the south end of the borefield limits, with additional sampling effort
across the borefield to establish the distributions of taxa. In the absence of meaningful baseline data
on community assemblages within the aquifer, a reporting criterion of ‘an apparent loss of any
stygofauna species in 33% of monitoring bores within the area of impact of the proposed
extensions’ was adopted (Muir Environmental, 1995). In 1999, it was found that the program did
not yield data that could be subject to meaningful statistical evaluation in order to meet the
established reporting criterion. Thus, it was recommended that a new criterion be adopted, namely
to detect “the apparent reduction in stygofauna densities and/or stygofauna diversity within the
production field, when compared with control stations”. These changes were approved by the DEP
in 2000 along with the recommendation that the Corporation investigate changes in stygofauna
over time across the whole borefield, not just in the area where extensions were approved (KBR,
2001). The program currently involves sampling 21 bores (Figure 7) three times per regulatory year
(July, December and April) that spans two calendar years. However, the inclusion of additional
bores resulted in an unbalanced design with 17 monitoring sites within the borefield far
outweighing the four reference sites considered outside the zone of influence of abstraction.
Realisation of the expansions to the borefield, as approved by the EPA, also resulted in two of the
four ‘control’ bores no longer representing ‘natural’ conditions as they inadvertently fell within the
influence of abstraction as production sites became operational.
Three fundamental assumptions underlie this sampling program: 1) that the Cape Range Group
stygofauna is randomly distributed throughout the aquifer, therefore the 21 bores can be considered
replicates; 2) that the data collected from these 21 sites suitably represent the stygofaunal
community assemblages inhabiting the aquifer; and 3) that any change to the community
assemblage within the aquifer would be detected between reporting years. These three assumptions
also underlie the EPA’s current thinking as detailed in its guidance for developmental proposals
that may affect subterranean ecosystems (EPA 2003, 2007). I investigate these issues in the context
of the Water Corporation’s responsibility to provide potable water supply at Exmouth in a manner
that affords protection of all of the species of stygofauna and their habitat. I hypothesize that the
57
Figure 7: Study site location, Exmouth, Cape Range peninsula, Western Australia: a) Location of Perth and Exmouth within Western Australia; b) Location and longitudinal extent of sampling program proximal to Exmouth; c) Bore locations proximal to large drainage features facilitating freshwater aquifer recharge (note: DSO2/96 & DSO6/96 lie beyond the southern extent of this map, inset b. Also, a drainage line lies <2 km north of the northern boundary of this map)
58
design of the monitoring program is such that it is possible to detect a change in the stygofaunal
species populations within the aquifer in order to trigger the Corporation’s legal obligation to
‘implement actions to protect’ them. My hypothesis is tested through post-hoc analysis of
stygofauna data collected during the Corporation’s eight year program which were submitted to the
regulator at the end of each monitoring year in the form of an Annual Compliance Report (Kinhill
Engineers Pty Ltd, 1999; Brown & Root, 2000, 2001; Haliburton KBR, 2002; KBR, 2003, 2004,
2005; Goater, 2007).
3.1. METHODS
The methodology comprised a post-hoc analysis of the complete stygofauna monitoring database
collected from the Exmouth borefield from 1999-2007. As noted above, the regulatory year spans
two calendar years, but for the purposes of this chapter, the sampling year is referred to as the year
in which the first samples (July and December) were collected.
SAMPLING DESIGN
Twenty-one bores were sampled, 17 within the operational borefield, and 4 external to its
boundaries (Figure 5a, b & c). The bores vary in structure but two main types are used: 1) 17
Monitoring Bores (MB), internal diameter (ID) ranging between 65-105 mm with 3-6 m of 2 mm
horizontal slotting at the base; and 2) four Designated Stygofauna Observation (DSO) bores, ID
ranging between 135-145 mm with large 25 x 290 mm vertical slotting vertically offset in layers
along the entire bore casing. All MBs are decommissioned production sites converted for
monitoring purposes and intersect the freshwater lens only. The four DSO bores are located
adjacent to the southern boundary (Figure 5b) of the borefield. These bores were designed
specifically for stygofauna monitoring and, being deeper than the MBs, intersect the fresh, mixing
and marine groundwater environments.
My interpretation of the Ministerial conditions and proponents commitments, and subsequent
sampling design, identifies an underlying assumption that all bores are randomly distributed across
the aquifer. Random distribution by definition requires equal chance of sampling stygofauna at any
point in the sampling area, irrespective of their proximity to another individual (Elliot, 1977). Thus,
in keeping with the assumption of randomness, I treat the 21 bores as replicates, irrespective of
structure, location or original segregation into exposed and reference sites.
STYGOFAUNA SAMPLING
From 1999 to 2005, the Water Corporation outsourced stygofauna monitoring commitments (e.g. to
sample, sort, identify and report on relevant compliance requirements) (Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd,
1999; Brown & Root, 2000, 2001; Haliburton KBR, 2002; KBR, 2003, 2004, 2005). From 2005,
the Corporation took over the sampling program and reporting to regulators on the same
commitments. Thus, data analysed here were collected from two sources as specified but on the
basis that standard sampling protocols were used throughout, both sources are combined in
analyses.
59
The sampling involved (except in March 1999) three net hauls of the accessible water column
using modified plankton nets (150 μm mesh) with removable sampling vials designed to fit each
bore leaving an annulus of <5 mm and following the protocol as established by Kinhill Engineers
Pty Ltd (1999). Each haul involved lowering the net on a rope to the bottom of the water column,
raised then lowered ~1 m to stir benthic organisms from the sediment into the water column, with a
resting period of approximately one minute to allow suspended sediment to settle into the net. The
net was then drawn gently upwards through the water column to avoid producing a bow wave and
to maximise entrainment of animals within the net. In March 1999, depletion sampling of 50 net
hauls was undertaken at some bores, thus March 1999 data were excluded from the following
analyses.
Processing at the bore-site involved decanting water back through the net before specimens were
washed into the attached vial using 70-100% ethanol. This protocol reduced loss of animals that
may occur in transfer between vials. The vial was then removed, labelled, sealed and stored in a
temperature-controlled container for transport to the laboratory for sorting using a dissecting
microscope at 40x magnification. Where possible, raw data were categorised into nine data fields:
Date, Bore, Net haul number, Class, Subclass, Order, Family, Genus Species, and Raw Count. A
summary of these data is provided in Appendix 1.
DATA ANALYSES
Community Assemblage – Population data from the 8 year monitoring program (1999–2007)
were analysed to determine if a change in community assemblage over time within the aquifer
could be detected. In the first instance, the abundances of each taxon in the three net hauls were
totalled for each bore, data were then averaged across all bores (n=21) on a sampling occasion, and
changes in the relative proportion of each taxon on each sampling occasion (n=24) plotted to
determine if there were changes in the relative abundance of each taxon. Changes in abundance per
taxon are also presented to identify relative contributions to changes in community assemblage
over time.
Subsequently, the multivariate analysis package PRIMER-E (Clarke & Warwick, 2001) was used
to test for changes in assemblage composition over time, using average abundance of each taxon
across the 21 bores on each sampling occasion (n = 24). Data were square-root transformed, and
similarity between sampling occasions calculated using the Bray-Curtis coefficient. A Multi-
Dimensional Scaling (MDS) ordination was constructed to illustrate dissimilarities between
reporting years and coloured by sampling event. Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) was used to
test for significant differences between reporting years, using seasonal sampling occasions (March,
July & December) as replicates within years. Average similarity was then calculated within and
between reporting years using occasions within years as replicates. The one-way SIMPER
(Similarity Percentages) procedure was then used to determine the contribution of each taxon to the
average Bray-Curtis dissimilarity between reporting years to the 90% dissimilarity threshold.
Percentage contribution of each bore to the mean population abundance of each of the four
60
dominant taxa were calculated across the 24 sampling occasions to test whether the 21 bores
sampled support the assumption of random dispersal. A one-way SIMPER was also run to establish
the contribution of each bore to the average Bray-Curtis dissimilarity across the entire 8 year
sampling period.
Power Analyses – The ability of the sampling program to detect statistically significant changes in
the abundance of each taxon between reporting years was assessed using statistical power analysis
(R Development Core Team; 2007), with the hypothetical model of testing for changes in mean
abundance of each taxon using one-way analysis of variance. The mean abundance of each taxon
within the aquifer was calculated for each reporting year by: 1) summing the data from the three
net hauls at a bore to calculate species abundance within each bore on each sampling occasion; 2)
within each bore, averaging the species abundance across the three sampling occasions in each
reporting year to give a mean abundance for each bore for the year (n=21); and 3) averaging the
mean abundances across the 21 bores to give mean abundances for each year of the 8 year program.
Analyses were performed for the four dominant taxa, with the remaining eight taxa occurring in
insufficient numbers to provide meaningful statistical analysis.
Using a power of 0.8 and p < 0.05, R Statistical package was used to calculate the number of
replicates needed to detect a significant difference between the observed mean abundance of a
taxon for a year and a hypothetical change (viz. effects size). Effect size was imposed on the data
by adjusting the observed mean per taxon for each reporting year, simulating an hypothetical
change in population size of 10%, 20% and 30%. Power analyses were then performed on each
observed and derived mean, using the standard deviation of the observed mean (derived from the
21 replicate bores in each year) to calculate the number of replicate bores required to detect a
change in each year’s data. Where raw data obtained from all net hauls in any year were equal to
zero, or were all of the same number (i.e. invariant), it was not possible to do post-hoc analysis.
Consequently, these data were excluded from the analyses.
61
3.2. RESULTS
COMMUNITY ASSEMBLAGE
Twelve stygofaunal taxa (predominantly crustaceans) were collected over the 8 years, comprising
Amphipoda, Isopoda, Bathynellacea, Decapoda, Thermosbaenacea, Ostracoda, Copepoda, but also
including, Acarina, Nematoda, Sabellida, Oligochaeta and Perciformes. Changes in the relative
proportion of each taxa within the aquifer (community assemblage) over time shows the fauna is
dominated by 4 groups, Amphipoda, Decapoda, Thermosbaenacea and Copepoda (Figure 8), with
the remaining 8 orders comprise <10% of the species assemblage. Since the monitoring program
commenced in 1999, the assemblage composition has changed from an Amphipoda dominated
system to that of a Copepoda dominated system.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Jun-
99A
ug-9
9O
ct-9
9D
ec-9
9F
eb-0
0A
pr-0
0Ju
n-00
Aug
-00
Oct
-00
Dec
-00
Feb
-01
Apr
-01
Jun-
01A
ug-0
1O
ct-0
1D
ec-0
1F
eb-0
2A
pr-0
2Ju
n-02
Aug
-02
Oct
-02
Dec
-02
Feb
-03
Apr
-03
Jun-
03A
ug-0
3O
ct-0
3D
ec-0
3F
eb-0
4A
pr-0
4Ju
n-04
Aug
-04
Oct
-04
Dec
-04
Feb
-05
Apr
-05
Jun-
05A
ug-0
5O
ct-0
5D
ec-0
5F
eb-0
6A
pr-0
6Ju
n-06
Aug
-06
Oct
-06
Dec
-06
Feb
-07
Apr
-07
DATE
SP
EC
IES
AS
SE
MB
LA
GE
Amphipoda Decapoda Thermosbaenacean Copepoda
Figure 8: Community Assemblage data recorded from June 1999- April 2007. Community assemblage data as recorded on 24 sampling occasions are presented with the four dominant taxa identified in the legend and the combined data for the 8 minority taxa presented in white. The broken line segregates the two sources of data as collected by different parties.
Mean population abundance data for the four dominant taxa shows there has been a decline in the
number of amphipod specimens collected over the 9 year sampling period but Decapoda and
Thermosbaenacea have remained comparatively stable (Figure 9). In contrast, there is a trend of
increasing Copepoda numbers over this same period, peaking in Jul-06 with a notable decline in all
taxa evident in Jul-05 and Dec-05.
62
62
Figure 9: Mean population abundance plots for the four dominant taxa collected from Exmouth borefield between Jun-99-Apr-07. Mean abundance data for each taxa were calculated across all bores (n=21) for each of the 24 sampling occasions. Data are presented with regression lines and equations of best fit over the 8 year sampling period.
y = -0.0005x + 17.926R² = 0.3823
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
Jun-
1999
Oct
-199
9
Feb-
2000
Jun-
2000
Oct
-200
0
Feb-
2001
Jun-
2001
Oct
-200
1
Feb-
2002
Jun-
2002
Oct
-200
2
Feb-
2003
Jun-
2003
Oct
-200
3
Feb-
2004
Jun-
2004
Oct
-200
4
Feb-
2005
Jun-
2005
Oct
-200
5
Feb-
2006
Jun-
2006
Oct
-200
6
Feb-
2007
Amphipoda
y = 0.0007x - 23.895R² = 0.078
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
Jun-
1999
Oct
-199
9
Feb-
2000
Jun-
2000
Oct
-200
0
Feb-
2001
Jun-
2001
Oct
-200
1
Feb-
2002
Jun-
2002
Oct
-200
2
Feb-
2003
Jun-
2003
Oct
-200
3
Feb-
2004
Jun-
2004
Oct
-200
4
Feb-
2005
Jun-
2005
Oct
-200
5
Feb-
2006
Jun-
2006
Oct
-200
6
Feb-
2007
Thermosbaenacea
y = 0.0056x ‐ 206.14R² = 0.4307
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
Jun-
1999
Oct
-199
9
Feb-
2000
Jun-
2000
Oct
-200
0
Feb-
2001
Jun-
2001
Oct
-200
1
Feb-
2002
Jun-
2002
Oct
-200
2
Feb-
2003
Jun-
2003
Oct
-200
3
Feb-
2004
Jun-
2004
Oct
-200
4
Feb-
2005
Jun-
2005
Oct
-200
5
Feb-
2006
Jun-
2006
Oct
-200
6
Feb-
2007
Copepoda
y = 0.0003x - 10.459R² = 0.1326
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
Jun-
1999
Oct
-199
9
Feb-
2000
Jun-
2000
Oct
-200
0
Feb-
2001
Jun-
2001
Oct
-200
1
Feb-
2002
Jun-
2002
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-200
2
Feb-
2003
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2003
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-200
3
Feb-
2004
Jun-
2004
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-200
4
Feb-
2005
Jun-
2005
Oct
-200
5
Feb-
2006
Jun-
2006
Oct
-200
6
Feb-
2007
Decapoda
63
Apr-00Aor-01
Apr-02
Apr-03
Apr-04
Apr-05
Apr-06
Apr-07
Aug-02
Dec-00Dec-02
Dec-03Dec-04
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-99Jul-00
Jul-01
Jul-03
Jul-04
Jul-05
Jul-06
Jun-99
Nov-01
REPORT YRYR1YR2YR3YR4YR5YR6YR7YR8
2D Stress 0.08
Apr-00Aor-01
Apr-02
Apr-03
Apr-04
Apr-05
Apr-06
Apr-07
Aug-02
Dec-00Dec-02
Dec-03Dec-04
Dec-05
Dec-06
Dec-99Jul-00
Jul-01
Jul-03
Jul-04
Jul-05
Jul-06
Jun-99
Nov-01
REPORT YRYR1YR2YR3YR4YR5YR6YR7YR8
2D Stress 0.08
Figure 10: MDS plot of Bray-Curtis similarities between reporting years (overall ANOSIM, R=0.56; p <0.001). Bray-Curtis similarities are presented for the 24 sampling occasions with each reporting year according to the solid or empty symbols in the legend.
Despite variability within years the MDS plot (Figure 10) shows a trend of change in Bray-Curtis
similarities from Year 1 to Year 6 over the 8 year sampling period. The ANOSIM yielded an R
statistic of 0.56 and a highly significant p value of <0.0001 eliminating observed trends being
attributed to chance. Dec-05 and Apr-06 of Year 7 and all 3 sampling occasion in Year 8 stand out
from this general trend.
SIMPER analysis on community assemblage data within each reporting year showed that the
average Bray-Curtis percentage similarity between sampling occasions within each year varied,
with the community assemblages least variable within Year 8 (88.1%) and most variable in Year 7
(51.3%) (Table 5a). Between-year average Bray-Curtis dissimilarities ranged from a maximum of
56.1% (Year 1 vs Year 8), to a minimum of 18.5% (Year 3 vs Year 4) (Table 5b). High
dissimilarity percentages were also evident between Years 1 and 7. In general, the dissimilarity in
community assemblages between consecutive reporting years was lower than in non-consecutive
years. Non-consecutive years demonstrated greater changes in community assemblages over time.
The change in community assemblage between Year 1 and Year 7 is attributed to a concurrent
decline in Amphipoda abundance with increased Copepoda abundance which, when combined,
contribute to >65% of the cumulative dissimilarity between these years. However, between 1999
and 2007 the increase in Copepoda abundance is the overwhelming contributor to changes in
community assemblages within the aquifer at 48.6% of the cumulative dissimilarity (Table 5c).
64
Table 5: Summary of results from SIMPER (Similarity of Percentages) statistical analyses. a) Similarity of community assemblage within reporting years; b) matrix of dissimilarity values between reporting years c) Dissimilarity of community assemblages between select years with percentage contribution of each taxon presented in decreasing order of contribution.
a)
YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 YR6 YR7 YR8Average similarity 72.8 74.5 34.4 80.4 87.4 80.7 51.3 88.1
b)
YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 YR6 YR7 YR8YR1 28.0 39.8 36.2 51.9 46.4 52.4 62.4YR2 25.7 24.3 37.4 32.7 45.2 48.6YR3 18.5 21.6 17.9 38.9 38.9YR4 25.9 24.3 41.6 40.6YR5 20.4 48.3 33.3YR6 41.3 35.2YR7 56.1
c)
Species Av.Abund Av.Abund Av.Diss Diss/SD Contrib% Cum.%Average dissimilarity: 41.27 Group YR1 Group YR7Amphipoda_Amphipoda 1.4 0.2 18.6 2.1 35.6 35.6Copepoda_Copepoda 0.2 1.6 16.6 1.6 31.7 67.3Thermosbaenacea_Halosbaenidae 1.1 1.3 11.7 1.8 22.3 89.6Decapoda_Atyidae 0.8 0.9 5.4 1.9 10.4 100.0Average dissimilarity: 62.37 Group YR1 Group YR8 Copepoda_Copepoda 0.2 4.8 30.3 7.2 48.6 48.6Thermosbaenacea_Halosbaenidae 0.0 1.1 6.8 3.6 10.8 59.4Acarina_Acarina 0.8 1.6 5.9 2.5 9.5 68.9Decapoda_Atyidae 1.1 1.9 5.7 1.6 9.2 78.1Ostracoda_Ostracoda 0.0 0.7 4.8 5.6 7.7 85.8Amphipoda_Amphipoda 0.0 0.6 3.7 6.2 5.9 91.6
YR
1 &
YR
8Y
R1
& Y
R7
Percentage contribution of each bore to the mean population abundance of the four dominant taxa
show that 60-75% of population data collected can be attributed to seven of the 21 bores sampled
(Figure 11; Appendix 1). These bores comprise MB30, MB31, MB29, DSO2/96, MB39, MB24
and MB40. SIMPER analysis on community assemblage data within each bore across the 8 year
sampling period showed that the average Bray-Curtis percentage similarity between bores varied,
with the community assemblages least variable within DSO2/96 (50.03%) and MB30 (48.17%)
(Figure 12). The most variable community assemblage was evident in MB1 and MB12 with <2%
average similarity. The similarity in community assemblages within all bores was low, at <50%
across the entire 24 sampling occasions.
65
65
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Amphipoda
0%
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Copepoda
0%
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100%
Decapoda
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Thermosbaenacea
Figure 11: Percentage contribution of each bore to mean population abundance of four dominant taxa between Jun-99-Apr-07. Mean population abundance data of Amphipoda, Copepoda, Decapoda and Thermosbaenacea taxa as calculated from 24 sampling occasions with percentage contribution of each bore identified as coloured in the legend.
MB30 MB17 DSO2/96 MB31 MB39 MB24 MB40 DSO6/96 MB14 MB38 MB18 MB34 MB29 MB35 DSO4/96 MB37 DSO1/96 MB26 MB10 MB12 MB1
66
0
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DS
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40
BORE
AV
E.
SIM
ILA
RIT
Y (
%
Figure 12: Summary of results from SIMPER (Similarity of Percentages) statistical analyses. Similarity of community assemblage within each bore as calculated across the 8 year sampling period.
POWER ANALYSIS
Results of the power analysis (Table 6) indicate that, to detect a 10% change in population numbers
for each of the 4 dominant species sampled during the 8 year monitoring program, the following
number of replicate bores would be required: Amphipoda =947-5372; Copepoda = 1519-3027;
Decapoda = 828-3027; and, Thermosbaenacea = 2802-7647. The number of replicate bores that
would be necessary to detect a 20% change in species populations would be: Amphipoda = 238-
1344; Copepoda = 381-3062; Decapoda = 208-758; Thermosbaenacea = 702-1913. Lastly, a 30%
change or loss in species population numbers would need the subsequent number of replicate
sampling occasions: Amphipoda = 106-598; Copepoda = 170-1362; Decapoda = 93-338; and
Thermosbaenacea = 313-851.
67
Table 6: Number of replicate bores required to detect a 10-30% change in species population numbers between reporting years. Calculations were derived for the four dominant faunal groups using total abundances per bore, average. across 3 sampling occasions each year, using bores within each year as replicates(n=21; 0.95 c.l.; 0.8 power).
Order YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 YR6 YR7 YR8Copepoda n 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20
mean 0.11 1.60 3.21 1.67 3.33 4.25 3.85 22.85stdev 0.44 3.89 5.39 3.43 7.11 6.35 5.35 34.6510% 12246 4632 2219 3333 3576 1754 1520 180620% 3063 1160 556 835 896 440 381 45330% 1362 516 248 372 399 197 171 202
Decapoda n 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20mean 0.78 1.59 1.46 2.13 1.44 1.05 0.98 2.67stdev 0.90 1.63 1.66 4.18 1.88 1.11 1.23 3.5810% 1045 829 1018 3027 1328 878 1231 141520% 263 209 256 758 334 221 309 35530% 118 94 115 338 149 99 139 159
Thermosbaenacea n 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20mean 1.32 1.70 4.30 3.62 4.81 5.17 2.55 3.80stdev 2.59 3.87 9.21 8.90 10.17 16.13 6.68 7.1810% 3044 4080 3600 4754 3512 7648 5381 280320% 762 1021 902 1190 879 1913 1347 70230% 340 455 402 530 392 851 600 313
Amphipoda n 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20mean 1.49 1.06 0.60 1.11 0.52 0.52 0.07 0.77stdev 2.40 1.17 0.96 1.57 1.01 0.70 0.17 1.2910% 2034 947 2006 1565 2944 1428 5372 223720% 510 238 503 393 738 358 1344 56130% 228 107 225 176 329 160 599 250
3.3. DISCUSSION
The overarching hypothesis of this chapter is that the stygofauna monitoring program developed by
key stakeholders (WRC, DEP, EPA,WAM, WC), can detect a significant change in stygofauna
species presence, population numbers and community assemblages within the Cape Range Group
aquifer that might result from ground water abstraction by the Water Corporation. The ‘change’
originally intended in the 1996 Ministerial conditions statement required detection between
reporting years of an apparent loss of stygofauna species from 33% of bores within the proposed
extensions (Muir Environmental, 1995; pp 68-72). However, in 2000 this particular reporting
criterion was changed to “the apparent reduction in stygofauna densities and/or stygofauna
diversity within the (entire) production field, when compared with control stations” (Brown &
Root, 2001). This was justified by an inability of the program to detect a 33% loss of species
populations (= abundance of a species) due to poor statistical design (Brown & Root, 2000).
Unfortunately, it was not recognised that alteration of the program to sample across the entire
borefield inadvertently removed the ‘controls’ against which the program was to report. This was
due to the fact that two of the four ‘control’ bores now fell within the influence of abstraction from
the approved expansions to the borefield. Reducing the number of control bores eliminated the
ability to make robust statistical comparisons – as such the 21 bores sampled can only be
68
considered as replicates within the aquifer. Additionally, the practical difficulty in defining ‘an
apparent reduction’ was also overlooked.
Alteration of the original reporting criteria appears to have been made in isolation of the
proponent’s objectives under which they were created, namely, the requirement to ‘react in a timely
fashion to protect and maintain the stygofauna species populations in the aquifer’’ (MoE, 1996;
Table 2). Consequently, the capacity of the monitoring program to meet this objective has been
diminished for the following two reasons: 1) there are no clear reporting thresholds in place to
trigger actions to protect the fauna; and 2) current knowledge on the natural processes driving
population sizes and ecosystem changes are still largely unknown. Thus, delineation of an
‘apparent loss’ in species population data in order to ‘react in a timely manner’ is purely subjective
when considered in the context of the biology of the species present.
The Corporation’s commitments require identification of specimens to species level and collation
of abundance data to detect a reduction in population numbers. Whilst some voucher specimens
were identified to species level in 1999, from 2000-2005 the majority of specimens were grouped
to ordinal level only, with a total of 12 taxa recorded. This may be justified in part if the
assumptions that one aquifer alone was sampled, and that each order is represented by a single
species, are correct. However, taxonomic revision of 2005-2007 data suggested that the copepods,
ostracods and perhaps amphipods collected may have been represented by more than one species
(Tang, 2006; Water Corporation unpublished data). Until independent revision is undertaken on
molecular and morphometric species delineations, the status of species collected from this program
will continue to be subject to uncertainty. Taxonomic revisions can be expected to be a long,
ongoing process, and when considered against the numerous other challenges reported here, may
not be pertinent to immediate attention by management authorities. However, the consistent use of
the defined 12 taxa as applied here will allow valid assessment of changes over time at this higher
taxonomic level.
None of the taxa identified to species level and collected from within the borefield are restricted to
the sampling area, with all known to occur across a much larger geographic area (Tang, 2006;
Bennelongia, 2008). Nevertheless, preventing direct or indirect harm to stygofauna species (i.e.
environmental harm) remains a key consideration for the Corporation to ensure conservation of the
stygofaunal species present, locally. In WA, the focus of subterranean work at any point in time
typically reflects prevailing priorities based upon state of knowledge. For example, stygofauna
attracted attention long before troglofauna became a focus for regulatory attention. Likewise, the
stygofauna initially attracting attention were macroscopic forms, often crustaceans, with little
attention directed towards the prokaryotes or forms difficult to fix in the field. This may offer some
explanation for an absence of monitoring records of the two protist species (Euplotes sp. and
Paramecium sp.) or micro-turbellarians previously recorded from the Cape Range Group aquifer
(Knott, 1993; Knott, unpublished data). Conversely, while selective application of the State’s
Wildlife Conservation Act (WLC Act, 1950) and the overarching Commonwealth Environmental
69
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 may protect larger forms from being driven to
extinction, its prescriptive application inadvertently omits species that are not on the regulatory
radar.
Within the Corporation’s borefield, of the fauna listed under both Acts as in need of special
protection, only the blind fish Milyering veritas has been collected to date. However, as discussed
in Chapter 2, the Corporation has no statutory obligation under the EPBC Act to protect the fish
because the Corporation gained EIA approval prior to enactment of the Act in 1999, and a license
to ‘take’ is not required as the borefield is not located on Commonwealth land. The Corporation
has met its legal obligations under the WLC Act (1950) by obtaining and retaining a Regulation 17
license each reporting year and submitting monitoring data directly to DEC. Although it might be
argued a license should be required for abstracting fauna also. Amendments to the EP Act in 2003
extended the State’s legislative protection to all stygofauna, collectively, by introducing the
concept of ‘environmental harm’. For example, grounds for criminal charges might be argued for
proposals assessed post-2003 amendments, if it could be demonstrated that a proponent’ actions
(e.g. direct or indirect removal, destruction or damage to stygofauna via abstraction or sampling)
may have lead to material or serious environmental harm (Chapter 2). Yet, for those proposals
assessed pre-2003 amendments (e.g. Exmouth borefield extensions), a defence to a criminal charge
could validly be argued by way of demonstrating the action of abstraction and removal of
stygofauna was done so in accordance with commitments resulting from the EIA process. The
implications of these amendments have yet to be addressed by either the Corporation or relevant
regulatory authorities with respect to protecting local stygofauna at Exmouth (Chapter 5).
Despite complying with environmental management commitments to monitor and report annually
on species population data, it is impossible to delineate causes of changes observed in the
community assemblage data given the current limited knowledge of the biology of the relevant
species. Data presented in this paper provide evidence of a gradual transition from a faunal
assemblage dominated by amphipods in 1999 to one dominated by copepods in 2007. This change
in species dominance may be attributed to any of the following variables:
1) changes in natural variation in population cycles;
2) changes in water quality and water volume driven by natural process;
3) changes in water quality and water volume driven by abstraction; and/or
4) sampling affects.
Population cycles of stygofaunal species are likely to reflect variability in reproductive rates and
trophic interactions. However, to date no knowledge currently exists of the breeding biology of
species inhabiting the Cape Range Group aquifer. Cave forms elsewhere are known to exhibit
delayed reproduction and low reproductive rates driven by available energy sources (Culver, 1982).
Thus, whilst an apparent shift from Amphipoda to Copepoda dominance observed at Exmouth may
70
reflect natural variation; this seems unlikely if the breeding biology dictates slow population cycles.
Unfortunately, the absence of true control sites within and external to the borefield, or data
representing pre-abstraction conditions, prevents any changes observed being attributed to natural
or induced factors influencing the system.
With respect to habitat variation resulting from changes in volume or water quality, the
Corporation has been providing water to Exmouth since 1963. Yet, since the stygofauna
monitoring program commenced in 1999, no significant change in water quality has been detected
(Water Corporation, unpublished). Clearly, abstraction removes a proportion of available habitat
from the freshwater lens; however, the overall impact on water storage and water quality from
abstraction is interdependent also upon localised short- and long-term rainfall patterns (Chapter 4).
Currently, there is no direct relationship known between changes in available habitat and ecological
parameters on prevailing stygofaunal species populations. Additionally, the impacts on local
stygofauna populations of operational response to episodic cyclone events or bacterial blooms (via
rapid abstraction or chemical treatment) are not known and have not been considered previously in
this context. For example, short-term impacts of incident response such as localised mortality or
avoidance of select stygofauna species for unknown periods of time may be reflected in the
monitoring data but cannot be accounted for.
Similarly, the affect of sampling on species populations is unknown. Yet a change in
amphipod/copepod dominance at Exmouth has occurred since the advent of sampling commencing
in 1999. Whilst the program consistently applied three net hauls to recover specimens, this was
preceded by depletion sampling (50 net hauls) in March 1999 with one bore alone (DSO2/96)
yielding 209 amphipod specimens (Brown & Root, 2000). From this first sampling event a
proportionate decline in amphipod dominance has occurred from >75% in June 1999 to <10%
since March 2003. It is important to consider changes in community assemblage data (that might
otherwise be overlooked by simply observing species population abundance data), as the resource
requirements of different stygal species are yet to be understood; i.e. how large an increase in
copepod abundance might be required to compete for resources utilised by one amphipod?
Depletion sampling during baseline investigations may have been considered beneficial for
establishing species presence, although it is plausible to suggest that the cumulative effect of
repeated sampling at 4 monthly intervals on a recovering, slow-breeding population may have
caused the observed shift in species dominance. Also, it has been observed that 17 of the 21 bores
show a shift in specimens sampled from large to small body size. These findings are consistent
with the suggestion that the observed shift in species population data may have been driven by the
sampling. If this proves true, then the guidance currently issued by the EPA (EPA, 2003, 2007)
warrants review for two reasons: 1) if community assemblages within bores do accurately reflect
that of the adjacent aquifer, then changes imposed by sampling for monitoring purposes may
threaten the community assemblages we are trying to protect; or 2) if community assemblages
within bores do not accurately reflect those of the surrounding aquifer, then management decisions
71
to reduce abstraction ‘to protect and maintain’ will be based on data reflecting artificial population
changes.
While the data presented in Figure 8 represent changes in relative abundance of the community
assemblage over time, the commitments require detection of an apparent loss in species population
within/between reporting years. SIMPER analysis of the 8 year dataset (Table 5) shows less
variation between consecutive years than those separated by a gap of one or more years. Small
levels of change can be detected between reporting years (dissimilarity: 18.5-56.1), yet there is no
way of evaluating the significance of these values without controls for comparison (bores where
natural population changes are occurring external to the influence of the borefield but within a
similar environment). Originally four controls were designated for comparison to borefield data,
but early modifications to the program left only two of these outside the influence of the borefield,
one of which (DSO2/96; Figure 5b) remains in an area likely affected by unrelated commercial
abstraction. Thus, delineation cannot be made between the influences of the Corporation’s
abstraction or natural variation occurring within the system.
Consistent with the above discussion, the sampling design assumes that stygofauna are randomly
distributed within one aquifer, thus 21 bores are considered as replicates. However, seven of the 21
bores sampled (MB30, MB31, MB29, DSO2/96, MB39, MB24 and MB40) contribute 60-75% of
the mean abundance data collected to represent the community assemblage within the aquifer
(Figure 11). Of these bores DSO2/96 and MB30 yielded relatively consistent community
assemblages compared to the high variability of the remaining 19 bores. Thus, despite there being
21 bores in the sampling program, doubt must be raised as to whether they are truly random and
therefore able to yield reliable data of trends. Five of the six bores yielding high population
abundances show a transitional shift from amphipod to copepod dominance, strongly influencing
previous observations at the aquifer level (21 bores combined). In most cases, these 5 bores are
separated longitudinally by >2 km with all located close (<0.5 km) to recharge zones within
drainage lines (Figure 7c). This suggests that population dynamics are localized, not random along
the aquifer, and may be driven by proximity to favourable habitat conditions such as proximity to
lines of recharge. Therefore, from a regulatory perspective, pooling data from all the bores
confounds spatial and temporal differences occurring within the aquifer, leading to complex and
potentially misleading results, i.e. where the errors seem immense but the source of variability 'over
time' is probably more due to bore-to-bore variation.
In the absence of clear reporting criteria in the commitments, it is not clear how to distinguish an
‘apparent reduction’ in species population numbers in order for the Corporation to instigate actions
to ‘protect and maintain’ them. Likewise, Western Australian and Commonwealth legislation do
not provide triggers of acceptable levels of species population loss that can be readily adopted.
Considering this, I have taken a conservative approach calculating the number of bores required to
detect changes of 10, 20 and 30% effect size on available species population data which should
cover regulatory requirements should they one day be adopted. Results at all three levels for each
72
of the four dominant taxa conclude that sampling far greater than 21 bores (93-12,246) is required
to detect a loss in population numbers between consecutive reporting years. Note, the 21 bores are
considered here as replicates of spatial variation in population numbers within the aquifer and thus
higher replication cannot be achieved from the cumulative data of consecutive sampling
events/years. The requirement to detect a change at the species level, as opposed to the ordinal
level, as presented, would likely further reduce the statistical power of the program and require an
even larger number of replicate bores than those calculated above. In addition, results here are for
the 4 numerically dominant taxa. The 8 less common taxa will likely require even higher
replication to achieve adequate statistical power. Thus, results collected from 21 sites do not
support my hypothesis, indicating strongly that the monitoring program currently in place is not
sufficient to detect an apparent loss let alone a change in species assemblages between reporting
years within a timeframe suitable to inform management decisions.
There is inherent risk of a Type II error occurring when a monitoring program is implemented that
cannot detect a change in the faunal assemblage due to inadequate power, whereby the null
hypothesis of no change is accepted but a real difference is actually present. Such sources of error
lull the proponent and, consequently, the environmental regulator, into a false sense of security that
the monitoring data are sufficient to inform management objectives. In this instance there is a risk
that irreversible environmental harm may occur if the activity is allowed to continue for an
extended period of time unnoticed (Fairweather, 1991). However, at Exmouth, rectifying the power
of the sampling program is not the only hindrance to effective management of local stygofauna
populations. Even if the program were of sufficient statistical power to detect a change in species
population numbers, interpretation of the cause of change cannot occur until there is greater
understanding of the biological drivers of natural variation occurring. Thus, simply to increase the
number of bores to improve statistical power would not only be costly, the data will likely still be
subject to the difficulties of meaningful interpretation, whereby detection of a significant change in
population numbers and abundance cannot be attributed to, or distinguished from, natural and/or
induced factors influencing the system.
While it continues to be administratively easier to monitor species populations for compliance
purposes without considering the practical application of data for ongoing regulatory
administration, interpretation of stygofauna population data within a dynamic and complex longer-
term uncertainty will continue to be hindered until data are collected in a way that is informative
for management purposes. I have identified a disturbing break-down in intent between the sound
advice of the EPA during EIA assessment (Chapter 2), the final outcome presented in the
Ministerial conditions, and how they were implemented through the operational phase of this
approved project. As such, the EPA’s request for a scientifically robust approach to stygofauna
management at Exmouth has been lost amongst administrative regulation, driven by a lack of
knowledge of the natural processes governing groundwater ecosystems and a reluctance by
regulators to accept that these changes likely occur within a dynamic and complex longer-term
73
uncertainty. This has resulted in the imposition of a lesser monitoring program using inadequate
sampling techniques that do not inform management decisions. Thus, if detrimental changes to
stygofauna communities at Exmouth were to result from unintended over-allocation of the
groundwater resource to meet human population expansion, it is likely they would go undetected
despite current measures set in place for their protection (Type II error). This is a failure of the
regulatory administrative framework to provide for, adequately, stygofauna protection at Exmouth.
Regardless of a failure in the regulatory administration to establish appropriate Ministerial
commitments and subsequent monitoring program at Exmouth, amendments to the Environmental
Regulations of the EP Act in 2003 (Chapter 2), means the Corporation could still be prosecuted
under the EP Act (s.50A-B) if it was found to cause material or serious environmental harm to
stygofauna populations residing within the Exmouth borefield. Further, it could be argued that,
because the entire Cape Range peninsula is an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), the higher
penalty of serious environmental harm might also be considered. However, a valid defence to a
criminal charge exists under s.74A(a), if the Corporation can demonstrate the action of abstraction
and removal of stygofauna has been done so in accordance with commitments resulting from the
EIA process. Indeed, for the full powers of protection afforded to stygofauna under the EP Act to
be realised, evidence of material or serious environmental harm must be demonstrable and clearly
linked to the Corporation’s borefield operations. Results and discussion presented in this Chapter
show that monitoring species populations directly, as a mechanism of providing for their
protection, is inadequate due to the limitations of the monitoring program but more so by existing
knowledge on stygofauna species biology. As such, the Corporation’s monitoring program cannot
detect species population changes occurring within the aquifer nor distinguish observed changes
from that of natural variation. Consequently, a clear link between the influence of abstraction or
monitoring from the Exmouth borefield on local stygofauna populations cannot be demonstrated;
further, the legislative powers of the EP Act cannot be triggered to provide for stygofauna
protection at Exmouth. Further discussion over the implications of my findings is presented in
Chapter 5.
3.4. RECOMMENDATIONS
Scientific uncertainty surrounding stygofauna species biology, species behaviour, community
dynamics, and relative responses to natural and induced habitat changes, hinders valid
interpretation of the Corporation’s existing monitoring data to manage and regulate stygofauna
populations at Exmouth. Indeed, these same issues of scientific uncertainty preclude interpretation
of alternate statistical and analytical approaches that might otherwise be developed to answer
ecological research questions. Thus, I propose the current compliance monitoring framework is
abandoned in favour of a research approach designed specifically to improve future monitoring and
management options for the Exmouth borefield. I concede some might argue against this
recommendation, given the uniqueness of the longevity of the program when compared to other
74
regulatory and/or research monitoring programs in Australia. Certainly, I believe the current 8 year
dataset is valuable in that it offers the opportunity to test new hypotheses generated from finer-
scale research projects within a larger broader-scale context. However, until such time that local
data is acquired on species biology, along with appropriate spatial and temporal factors driving
ecosystem changes, I see little value in continuing the existing monitoring program ‘just in case’ it
is of use one day. Further, continuation of the current design places an unjustified financial burden
on the Corporation, by consuming limited funding and operational resources set aside to meet
compliance reporting requirements that would be better redirected towards informing those legal
obligations in place to protect local stygofauna and their habitat.
The Corporation’s current approved licensed water allocation for the Exmouth borefield is used to
meet demands of environmental, residential, commercial, and tourism users. Yet, any plans to
modify the current borefield operations and/or increase existing licensed allocations to meet future
demand (beyond that approved under the original EIA process), will negate the Corporation’s
defence to environmental harm afforded under the existing EIA approval. Accordingly, it is
recommended that existing Ministerial environmental objectives and commitments be proactively
amended so that they transparently link back to the legislative requirements of the EP Act, i.e. to
prevent material or serious environmental harm to local stygofauna species populations, by direct
or indirect means. Importantly, this level of protection needs to be extended beyond the direct and
indirect impacts of abstraction to include potential impacts of chemical treatment or rapid
abstraction during infrastructure maintenance and incident response to extreme weather conditions.
Further, it is recommended that relevant State and regional policy objectives set under the
groundwater resource allocation laws are directly referenced in these commitments, and a
requirement to scientifically develop ecological monitoring criteria based on species and/or
community tolerances to changing habitat conditions be set. The overarching management
objective might remain similar, i.e. ‘To protect local stygofauna populations at Exmouth’ with an
alternative commitment ‘to invest in the development of innovative research techniques to capture
accurately changes in community assemblage data that can be readily interpreted to meet the
overarching management objective, i.e. to establish ecological monitoring criteria based on species
and/or community tolerances to changing habitat’. These techniques should be developed and
tested for effectiveness within an adaptive management framework, but most importantly, be peer
reviewed by the scientific community and the end users of the output (the Corporation and the
regulators) prior to endorsement.
The development of digital imaging techniques might prove an effective, non-lethal approach to
collecting in-situ information on stygofauna community assemblages at Exmouth. Initially, the
focus might simply be to refine existing technology to capture qualitative data on species presence
over time (Appendix 2), whilst indirect measures are put in place to protect their habitat (Chapters
4 & 5). However, if quantitative assessment of species populations can be developed digitally,
potential would exist to investigate a multitude of biological and environmental variables that
75
likely contribute to variation in community assemblage within the Cape Range Group aquifer. For
example, image sequences captured on a range of temporal scales might identify cyclic patterns in
community activity to establish appropriate temporal and spatial scales to refine the focus of future
research. Correlating this information with changing groundwater quality conditions might also
help establish select species as indicators of ecosystem stress, providing an early warning system to
potential health risk for human consumers. Further, high frequency image sequences may be able to
characterise the statistical variability of the system to assist in the design of future research or
sampling programs. Another complementary research project might be to modify existing spatial
recognition software to develop a rapid assessment monitoring tool to quantify species population
or community assemblage data. Also, supplementary laboratory and field investigations to improve
knowledge on breeding biology, feeding behaviour and physiological response of select stygofauna
species to environmental stressors might also prove acceptable. Where relevant, all findings and/or
hypotheses generated from future works should be tested within the 8 year broader-scale.
Further discussions over future management options for Exmouth are provided in Chapter 5.
CHAPTER 4
Is Salinity An Effective Criterion To Trigger
Management Actions For Stygofauna Protection Within
The Exmouth Borefield?
North West Cape, Western
Australia
SWIM BORES
EPHEMERAL DRAINAGE
SEASONAL FLOODING
PRODUCTION BORE
794. INTRODUCTION
An indirect threat to stygofauna populations at Exmouth is presumed to be the removal of
freshwater habitat via abstraction beyond that recharged into the system. Thus, monitoring of
surrogate variables including water levels and salinity, established at appropriate temporal scales,
might be considered sufficient to maintain the groundwater habitat and protect its dependent
stygofauna. In Chapter 4, I consider this approach in the context of the Corporation’s secondary
Ministerial commitment to monitor and maintain the quality of their fresh water habitat as an
indirect mechanism of protection of the stygofauna.
In 1996, when the Corporation’s commitments were endorsed by the WA Minister of Environment
(MoE, 1997), knowledge of the tolerances of local stygofauna populations to changing
groundwater salinity conditions were largely unknown. Similarly, understanding of the structure
and function of the aquifer at Exmouth was limited to a layer of freshwater overlying marine water
with a mixing zone between, and little was understood of aquifer response to abstraction from the
operating borefield. The EIA process highlighted concerns that abstraction might subject
stygofauna to salinity beyond their physiological tolerances and/or reduce the volume of available
freshwater habitat. However, water supply to the town of Exmouth was also recognised as an
essential commodity to meet demand for private, community and commercial purposes.
Considering both factors, the MoE approved continued operation and expansion of the borefield,
conditional upon the Corporation agreeing to fulfil the proponent’s objectives and commitments
published in the Ministerial condition statement (MoE, 1997). Commitments made in the
Consultative Environment Review (Muir Environmental, 1995)(Appendix 3) and supplementary
investigations report (Water Corporation, 1996)(Appendix 4) were also expected to be fulfilled.
However, should any inconsistencies arise between these documents, it was clearly stated that the
conditions and procedures published in the Ministerial condition statement would prevail (MoE,
1997).
In isolation, the Proponent’s objective (Table 2) ‘to protect and maintain the quality of the fresh
water in the karst aquifer’ is open to functional interpretation. Although not clear from the
conditions statement, the underlying purpose of this objective was two-fold: 1) to provide an
indirect mechanism of protection for fresh-water dependent stygofauna, by preventing an increase
in groundwater salinity that might be caused by heavy abstraction; and 2) to mitigate the risk of
reducing the available fresh water resource suitable for private or commercial use that might
otherwise require expensive treatment to provide fresh water to meet demand. As such, the
Corporation proposed and committed to monitor groundwater conditions to detect an increase in
groundwater salinity (presumably as a surrogate indicator of habitat conditions). Should an increase
in salinity be detected, the Corporation would be required to: (i) reduce immediately the rate of
pumping from the affected bore(s); (ii) reduce the total production of water from the group of bores
in the area of salinity increase; or, if the previous measures did not lead to lower salinity levels, (iii)
80
cease production from the bores involved. How the Corporation would go about monitoring to
detect an increase is not presented in the conditions statement but must be traced back to the two
key documents submitted to the EPA during assessment: Muir Environmental (1995) and Water
Corporation (1996).
The Proponent’s commitments 16-18 (Appendix 3), as presented in Muir Environmental (1995),
propose two separate monitoring commitments, complete with reporting criteria and management
actions to be taken in the event of an increase in groundwater salinity. The first (#16), was to
monitor for an increase in salinity “which may render the water unacceptable for drinking or
nearing the established thresholds where it may affect stygofauna”. The second (#17), was to
monitor for increased salinity that might provide evidence of “inland movement of the salt water
interface beyond that which can be expected to result from variable rainfall”. Importantly, these
monitoring commitments address two separate management objectives, namely to prevent: 1)
increased groundwater salinity caused by localised upwelling of or mixing with underlying marine
water; and 2) inland movement of the saltwater lens resulting from reduction in the volume of the
freshwater lens. In the event that an increase in salinity is detected, the Corporation agreed to
reduce the rate of abstraction from that bore. Should inland movement of the salt water interface be
detected, the Corporation agreed to reduce the rate of abstraction from a group of bores in the
affected area. The final safeguard put in place (#18) was that if neither of the aforementioned
management actions improved groundwater quality (i.e. reduced salinity), the Corporation agreed
to abandon abstraction from all bores in the affected area. Compared with the published Ministerial
commitments, the management actions proposed are captured but the underlying objectives for
those actions are not i.e. to prevent localised saline upwelling/mixing vs reduction in volume of the
freshwater lens.
In 1996, the Corporation submitted a supplementary report to the EPA presenting findings of
additional research undertaken to understand better the potential impacts of abstraction on the
aquifer and its resident stygofauna (Water Corporation, 1996; Appendix 4). This supplementary
report deemed the monitoring and management regime proposed by Muir Environmental (1995) to
“no longer be appropriate”. As such, a new monitoring programme was proposed with four
objectives identified: 1) to “determine the influence of abstraction on groundwater levels” beyond
that of natural variation; 2) to profile salinity and oxygen with depth to measure: a) variation in the
thickness of the freshwater lens caused by abstraction, and b) the distribution of stygofauna with
respect to these variables; 3) to identify patterns in species numbers and abundance over time,
including faunal recovery rates from depletion sampling; and 4) to identify temporal patterns of
change in groundwater chemistry. A monitoring (sampling) regime to measure water levels,
salinity, chemical/biological and stygofauna was presented in the Corporation’s report and
submitted to the EPA and Minister for Environment during the EIA process. No reporting criteria
or management actions were presented. As published by the State, the Ministerial conditions (Table
812) do not reflect any of the Proponent’s commitments contained within this alternate monitoring
program.
Consequently, inconsistencies exist between those commitments proposed by the Corporation
during the EIA process and those published in the Ministerial conditions’ statement. Thus, the
prevailing authority of the Ministerial conditions statement over-rides the inconsistencies between
commitments proposed during the EIA process. At this point, two different approaches might be
adopted to investigate whether salinity data, as collected, are effective in achieving the regulatory
objective of stygofauna protection. Firstly, a scientific approach might embrace the best intentions
of proposed commitments during the EIA and treat salinity data with the benefit of hindsight to
identify relationships that might explain changes in groundwater and/or stygofauna data.
Alternatively, a regulatory approach might investigate whether those salinity data collected and
submitted each year to the regulator actually inform the Corporation’s Ministerial requirement ‘to
protect and maintain the quality of the fresh water in the karst aquifer’ at Exmouth as an indirect
mechanism of stygofauna protection. Given the findings of Chapter 3 I have chosen the latter as,
ultimately, the aim of my thesis is to test the efficacy of the regulatory framework currently in
place to provide for stygofauna protection in WA.
Similar to the administrative instruments used within a range of regulatory bodies (in WA) to
implement legislation, the day-to-day administration of the Corporation’s service delivery
functions are guided by a suite of internal documents such as operational strategies, guidelines and
work procedures. The Corporation’s Exmouth Water Resource Management Operation Strategy
(herein referred to as the Operational Strategy) (Water Corporation, 2004) provides the specific
protocols to which the Corporation adheres to meet its Ministerial groundwater monitoring
commitments at Exmouth. Within the Operational Strategy, groundwater monitoring and reporting
commitments are segregated into ‘operational’ and ‘environmental’ requirements. This segregation
reflects differing reporting protocols and submission dates required by the government authorities
charged with administering their regulation (areas of regulatory authority). For example, salinity
data collected from production bores to meet operational monitoring requirements are submitted to
the Department of Water (DoW) each year in April and comprise data collected over the ‘water
year’ (April to March, inclusive). Conversely, salinity profile data collected from monitoring bores
(not equipped with infrastructure) to meet the stygofauna-related environmental commitments are
submitted to the EPA Service Unit (EPASU) in August each year. The latter submission date
reflects the anniversary of when the Ministerial conditions statement was published.
The operational ground water monitoring program (as detailed in the Operational Strategy)
comprises monthly collection of water level, abstraction volumes, conductivity and temperature
data from all production bores, including an annual sample for laboratory analysis of major
components (pH, conductivity, turbidity, colour, FOC – filtered organic carbon, alkalinity,
chloride). Each year these data are presented with monthly rainfall records, groundwater levels,
abstraction volumes and licensed allocation limits, submitted in the form of a compliance report to
82
the DoW (an example of which is presented in Appendix 5). The environmental, stygofauna-
related salinity monitoring requirement within the Operational Strategy entails in-situ profiling of
groundwater salinity within selected monitoring bores which are not equipped for abstraction. No
clear objective is stated as to the purpose of collecting these data, although clear reference is made
to the requirement to meet the Ministerial [Proponent’s] commitments from which they were
derived. Each year, from 1999-2007, an ‘Exmouth Wellfield: Stygofauna Monitoring and Water
Column Profiling Report’ was commissioned externally by the Corporation and submitted as a
Performance and Compliance Report (PCR) to the requirements of the now EPASU and the DEC
(Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, 1999; Brown & Root, 2000, 2001; Haliburton KBR, 2002; KBR, 2003,
2004, 2005; Goater, 2007). In keeping with my approach to assess the adequacy of the regulatory
framework, as implemented, here with only those salinity data collected and submitted to meet the
objective of stygofauna protection are considered.
The approved stygofauna-related salinity monitoring program comprised profiling the water
column of six bores in total: 2 sets of nested Salt-water Interface Monitoring (SWIM) bores located
within the borefield; and 4 Designated Stygofauna Observation (DSO) bores adjacent to the south
end of the borefield limits (Figure 13). Following initial baseline investigations, these bores were
profiled three times per regulatory year (around July, December and April) from 1999-2007. The
objectives stated within the reports are not consistent with the Ministerial conditions statement but
instead refer to monitoring for stability of the thickness of the freshwater lens over time.
Presumably, this has been adopted from the alternate approach proposed by the Water Corporation
(1996) during EIA assessment which is not endorsed within the Ministerial condition statement. As
such, these data have been considered from two angles: that which is required by the Ministerial
conditions statement; and that which was presumably intended by the consultant. It is important to
distinguish the two as both required different monitoring protocols and methods of data treatment.
However, throughout, the Ministerial requirement takes precedent during discussion.
The Corporation is required to monitor for increases in groundwater salinity that presumably reflect
early signs of saline upwelling caused by abstraction from the Exmouth borefield, the
consequences of which are thought to pose a risk to stygofauna populations. There are two
underlying assumptions of this approach: 1) that a change within the aquifer resulting from
abstraction can be distinguished from natural variation; and 2) upwelling of saline waters might
lead to a decline in stygofauna species numbers. Here, I present climate, tidal and abstraction data
available for the sampling period to highlight potential patterns or cycles of change that might have
influenced the structure and function of the aquifer during this time. Next, I have collated and
presented salinity profile data collected from 1999-2007, together, for the first time since the
monitoring program commenced. Finally, I introduce preliminary results of new data collected
from Exmouth beyond the scope of the Corporation’s monitoring program.
83
Figure 13: Study sites location, Exmouth, Cape Range peninsula, Western Australia: a) Location of Perth and Exmouth within Western Australia; b) Location and longitudinal extent of salinity profiling sampling program proximal to Exmouth; c) Salinity profiling bore locations (DSO and nested SWIM bores) proximal to production bore within the Exmouth borefield (note: DSO2/96 & DSO6/96 lie beyond the southern extent of this map, inset b).
84
Note, I have not attempted to analyse available monitoring data at length to identify relationships
between changes in groundwater salinity and natural or induced influences on the system. Nor have
I tried to identify relationships between changes and groundwater salinity and stygofauna data
presented in Chapter 3. The principle objective of this Chapter is to investigate whether salinity
profile data, as collected and submitted to the regulators from 1999-2007, actually have the
capacity to inform the Corporation’s Ministerial requirement ‘to protect and maintain the quality of
the fresh water in the karst aquifer’ at Exmouth. Additional data are presented to trigger debate as
to the spatial and temporal capacity of the program to adequately capture changes occurring and
trigger management actions to reduce abstraction as an indirect mechanism of stygofauna
protection.
4.1. METHODS
Data were obtained from reports and corresponding raw datasets submitted to the regulators each
year to meet compliance requirements (Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, 1999; Brown & Root, 2000,
2001; Haliburton KBR, 2002; KBR, 2003, 2004, 2005; Goater, 2007; Water Corporation,
unpublished). Collection of salinity data occurred tri-annually (~July, ~December, ~April) by
profiling in-situ the water columns of designated monitoring bores that intersect the fresh, mixing
and marine zones of the aquifer. These bores are not equipped for production although they may be
located proximal to operational production bores. It is important to note that water quality data
each year were presented in isolation and not cumulatively across reporting years. My study period
encompasses all data collected from tri-annual sampling events between January 1999 and
December 2008.
All data analyses were standardized to calendar years as the driving factors of salinity changes and
stygofauna populations locally are unknown.
Monitoring Bores
Five bores from the complete sampling program provide information on relative depth of the
underlying saline environment from 1999-2008. These comprise one Salt Water Interface
Monitoring (SWIM) bore (a set of three nested bores: SWIM 10/96; SWIM 11/96; SWIM 12/96)
and four Designated Stygofauna Observation (DSO) bores (DSO1/96, DSO2/96, DSO4/96 and
DSO6/96). The SWIM bore lays adjacent to the Exmouth town-site, consisting of three bores of
unequal but increasing depths, designed to intersect progressively deeper fresh and saline
groundwater. Each SWIM bore is slotted over the bottom 3 m with water within the slotted area
interfacing with the surrounding aquifer. The four DSO bores are located adjacent to the southern
end of the borefield but proximal distances to the influence of abstraction vary. DSO bores intersect
fresh, mixing and marine ground waters and are slotted the entire length of the bore, thereby each
providing a complete column of water for profiling.
85Climate Data
Climate data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM, 2008) used here comprised: 1)
daily rainfall records from Exmouth (BOM site #005024); 2) daily evaporation records from
nearby Learmonth (BOM site #005007); and 3) the occurrence of tropical cyclones within a 400
km radius of Exmouth town-site. Oceanographic chart data from the Department of Planning and
Infrastructure (DPI) comprised daily sea level records from site DMH 52 (Exmouth town beach,
21° 57' 42" S,114° 08' 51" E; AHD 1.396 m above the zero tide reference point). Daily rainfall and
evaporation data were summed to obtain total monthly rainfall and total monthly evaporation
records across the sampling period, with mean and standard deviations for monthly data calculated
for each calendar year. Daily sea level data were treated by extracting monthly minimum and
maximum values with mean and standard deviation for monthly records calculated for each
calendar year.
Production data
Monthly production data for the study period comprised town consumption volumes and borefield
abstraction volumes as measured by the Water Corporation (Water Corporation, unpublished).
Monthly abstraction volumes from 1999-2007, were calculated from manual meter readings
recorded at the intake site to the town water supply storage tank. Note, abstraction readings prior to
Apr-08 were taken on average every four weeks to represent each month above. However, accuracy
of monthly readings is a function of when data are collected and may at any time reflect cumulative
volumes < or > 4 weeks. Exact reading dates were not available to extrapolate mean daily, and
subsequently monthly, volumes. After Apr-08 meter reading were taken once a week. Consumption
data reflects the outflow of water from the tank, corresponding directly to town demand.
Salinity Data – Monitoring Program
Salinity conditions (g/L) were recorded in-situ on each sampling occasion using a multi-parameter
probe lowered the length of the water column (Hydroab Datasonde 3; YSI 650XL). The probe was
immersed just below the surface of the groundwater table and rested until readings stabilised before
being lowered through the water column, set to record data every 2 seconds with the integrated
depth logging providing depth profiles. Data were downloaded in the field and exported to MS
Excel for further analyses. Accounting for bore design, complete data profiles from DSO bores
were analysed but salinity data from the SWIM bore were extracted from the slotted interface at a
constant point 1 m from the bottom of the water column. DSO profiles were analysed relative to the
water table providing information on the thickness of the freshwater lens overlying the saline
environment. However, no reference data were available (i.e. data on depth to the water table or
depth to the bottom of the bore as bores were deeper than the 100 m cable on the multi-probe
meter) to observe changes in water level relative to any changes in thickness observed.
Small-scale aquifer response to natural and induced factors - R&D initiatives
86
• Salinity Data
As part of the R&D initiatives conducted during the two year reprieve from monitoring
commitments the Corporation installed probes (CT-Diver) that measured water level (cm) and
specific conductivity (mS /cm) in each of the above monitoring bores in Dec-07. Each probe was
weighted and immersed to a fixed depth below the water table but above the fresh/saline interface
(as determined from salinity profiles the day before). The probes were programmed to capture data
every 30 minutes to provide information on changing water levels above the probe (auto-converted
from pressure data; accuracy to ±0.1 cm) and detect upward movement of the underlying saline
environment at a fixed point.
Opportunistically, salinity (g/L) profiles of the complete water columns of DSO bores (as per
established monitoring protocols) were collected before and after a significant rainfall (>300 mm)
event that occurred in Mar-08, capturing the progressive recovery of the aquifer during this time.
Data from both these initiatives were last downloaded/collected in Aug-08 and as far as data
permits I have summarised some key features worth including in this Chapter for discursive
purposes.
• Production data
Since 2007 abstraction volumes have been measured electronically via the Water Corporation’s
computer-operated monitoring system which controls production volumes to automatically meet
town demand. Data for Jan-08 were downloaded from the SCADA software system at 30 minute
intervals for analyses against in-situ specific conductivity and water level data.
87
4.2. RESULTS
Rainfall & Evaporation
Recharge and groundwater salinity in a semi-arid region are likely controlled by the balance
between rainfall and evaporation, particularly when the former exceeds the latter. Rainfall records
for Exmouth between Jan-99 and Dec-08, including the occurrence of nearby cyclonic activity, are
shown in Figure 14. Mean and standard deviations for monthly rainfall data (mm) and evaporation
(mm) each year are presented in Tables 7 and 8, respectively. The large ranges in standard
deviations reflect high, inter-monthly variability. Over the study period there were three occasions
only when the monthly average rainfall exceeded evaporation records: Mar-00 (315.2 mm); Jun-02
(321.8 mm), and; Mar-08 (479.8 mm). Figure 14 illustrates the extreme variability in rainfall.
Table 7: Mean and standard deviations for monthly rainfall data (mm)
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Mean 14.46 29.62 11.33 38.98 5.64 10.71 21.42 13.32 19.78 57.94
StDev ±31.32 ±90.60 ±19.00 ±96.48 ±10.33 ±17.36 ±26.83 ±18.28 ±34.53 ±141.2
Table 8: Mean and standard deviations for monthly evaporation data (mm)
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Mean 235.7 241.35 257.63 265.45 279.93 270.23 271.08 255.68 283.22 254.45
StDev ±90.46 ±87.53 ±79.06 ±96.16 ±97.35 ±98.26 ±118.4 ±84.62 ±106.93 ±95.25
Figure 14: Exmouth (WA) total monthly rainfall and evaporation data Jan-99 to Aug-08. Cyclone occurrences during the same period within 400 km radius of Exmouth are also shown, including date named by BOM (2008) - inset.
ExmouthExmouth
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Jan-
99
May
-99
Sep
-99
Jan-
00
May
-00
Sep
-00
Jan-
01
May
-01
Sep
-01
Jan-
02
May
-02
Sep
-02
Jan-
03
May
-03
Sep
-03
Jan-
04
May
-04
Sep
-04
Jan-
05
May
-05
Sep
-05
Jan-
06
May
-06
Sep
-06
Jan-
07
May
-07
Sep
-07
Jan-
08
May
-08
Sep
-08
Date
Rai
nfal
l (m
m)
Evaporation Rainfall
TC Steve(27/2/00)
TC Vance(17/2/99)
TC Nichalas(10/2/08)
TC Pancho(23/3/08)
TC Monty(27/2/04)
TC Clare(7/1/06)
TC Glenda(15/3/06)
TC Melanie(26/12/07)
TC Kara(23/3/07)
TC Jacob(5/3/07)
TC Ophelia(25/2/08)
88
Sea Level Data
Sea water intrusion into the local aquifer may change the salinity profile within bores. Figure 15
presents actual and mean sea levels at Exmouth between Jan-99 and Dec-08, with corresponding
cyclonic activity included. Mean and standard deviations for monthly sea level data are presented
in Table 9. High Water Spring (HWS) and Low Water Spring (LWS) tides are bi-annual
phenomena in October/November and March/April, respectively. While sea levels were slightly
higher under the impact of cyclonic activity, deviations around the monthly means for each year
were relatively constant across the 10 year period. An uncharacteristically high sea level peak in
Mar-99 was due to Tropical Cyclone Vance. Sea level changes resulting from the Dec-04 tsunami
off the south west coast of Sumatra resulted in <0.5 m increase in sea level.
Table 9: Mean and standard deviations for monthly sea level data (m)
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Mean 1.58 1.58 1.53 1.42 1.41 1.42 1.44 1.47 1.48 1.57
StDev ±0.53 ±0.53 ±0.52 ±0.52 ±0.52 ±0.52 ±0.53 ±0.53 ±0.52 ±0.52
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Jan-
99
Jul-
99
Jan-
00
Jul-
00
Jan-
01
Jul-
01
Jan-
02
Jul-
02
Jan-
03
Jul-
03
Jan-
04
Jul-
04
Jan-
05
Jul-
05
Jan-
06
Jul-
06
Jan-
07
Jul-
07
Jan-
08
Jul-
08
Date
Sea
Lev
els
(cm
)
Actual Sea Level Mean Sea Level
tsunami(Dec-04)
TC Vance(Feb-99)
Figure 15: Sea level data for Exmouth (WA) between Jan-1999 to Dec-2008. Data are based on sea level records from DPI buoy/site DMH 52 located at Exmouth town beach (21° 57' 42" S;114° 08' 51" E). Sea level data collected from this site is 139.6 cm below AHD.
89
Production Data
Abstracting fresh water from the Corporation’s borefield may cause saline upwelling from the
underlying marine environment and a subsequent change in the salinity profile. Figure 16 presents
monthly total volumes for town consumption and borefield abstraction recorded between Jan-99
and Dec-08. Mean monthly abstraction volumes (KL ± SD) for each year are presented in Table 10.
Peak abstraction volumes occurred around November and April each year, with low abstraction
volumes around July and September. Gaps in these data reflect an absence of data recorded for that
month due to physical constraints preventing meter readings i.e. Cyclone Vance (Mar-99) or
simply reflect sampling periods >4 weeks (Feb-04; Feb-05); the 2 anomalies in Sept-04 and Jan-05
are attributed to delayed meter readings reflecting cumulative volumes collected over a period >4
weeks.
Table 10: Mean monthly abstraction volumes (KL ± SD) for each year
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Mean 53,662 60,505 65,129 67,902 71,873 74,183 67,662 67,767 67,139 63,042
StDev ±13,661 ±17,574 ± ,417 ±10,107 ±6,875 ±18506 ± 0,823 ±21,207 ±18,908 ±10,802
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
200000
220000
240000
Jan-
99
Jul-
99
Jan-
00
Jul-
00
Jan-
01
Jul-
01
Jan-
02
Jul-
02
Jan-
03
Jul-
03
Jan-
04
Jul-
04
Jan-
05
Jul-
05
Jan-
06
Jul-
06
Jan-
07
Jul-
07
Jan-
08
Jul-
08
Date
Pro
duct
ion
volu
me
(kL
)
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
220,000
240,000
Con
sum
ptio
n vo
lum
e (k
L)
abstraction consumption
Figure 16: Monthly total production data of the Exmouth Borefield Jan-99 to Dec-08. Town consumption and borefield abstraction volumes as measured by the Water Corporation (Water Corporation, unpublished). Note abstraction readings prior to Apr-08 were taken on average every four weeks to represent each month above. However, accuracy of monthly readings is a function of when data are collected and may, at any time, reflect cumulative volumes < or >4 weeks. After Apr-08, readings were taken once a week.
90
Salinity Data
SWIM bores
The average minima and maxima salinity data recorded during tri-annual sampling events from
SWIM bores 10/96-12/96 (that intersect increasing depths within the aquifer) are presented in
Figure 17a-c as departures from the long-term mean between Jan-99 to Dec-08. Average salinity
+SD per month sampled within the shallowest of the nested bores, bore 11/96 (x̄ = 1.95 m water
column depth), ranged from 1.17 (May-06) to 2.42 g/L (Aug-2002) with a mean value 1.76 ±0.44.
Bore 12/96 (x̄ = 8.77 m) ranged from 1.43 (Mar-08) to 2.42 g/L (Aug-2002), x̄ = 1.44 ±0.46 g/L.
Salinity values from the deepest of the three bores, bore 10/96 (x̄ =17.64 m), ranged between 3.63-
6.08 g/L in Apr-02 and Sep-07, respectively, x̄ = 5.2 ± 1.11 g/L. The salinity of bore 12/96
increased substantially (>0.25 g/L) in Jan-99, Aug-02 and Dec-02 with bore 11/96 higher in Jan-99.
Salinity in bore 10/96 was highly variable with three notable instances of freshening conditions
(>0.5 g/L) in Apr-01, Apr-02 and Aug-02.
DSO bores
Spatial and temporal (Jan-99 to Aug-08) salinity (g/L) profile data of three DSO bores are
presented in Figure 18a-c. A distinct freshwater zone (<3 g/L) of water overlying saline waters (>3
g/L) between ~11 m (x̄ = 1.76 ±0.6), ~20 m (x̄ = 0.71 ±0.44) and ~17 m (x̄ = 1.68 ±0.15) thickness,
respectively, is evident in bores DSO1/96, DSO4/96 and DSO 6/96. The salinity profile of
DSO2/96 was >3 g/L throughout, therefore does not exhibit an overlying freshwater lens. Thus,
DSO2/96 is not considered in subsequent analyses. Average depth of water <3 g/L at bores
DSO1/96, DSO4/96 and DSO6/96 ranges 10-20 m (Figure 19a-c). The thickness of the freshwater
zone of DSO1/96 is relatively consistent over time, but notably increased in thickness (>1 m) in
Jun-00, Jul-01, Jul-02, Dec-06 and Apr/May-08. Decreases in freshwater volume of similar scale
are evident in Dec-05, Jun-07 and Mar-08. DSO4/96 is more variable, with instances of freshwater
increases in May-00, Dec-00, Apr-02, Apr-03, Apr-04 and Oct-08; and reduced fresh water in Jun-
99, Dec-05, Apr-06, Dec-06, Oct-07 and Aug-08. At DSO6/96, the freshwater zone shows
instances of increased volume (>1 m) in Jul-00, July-01, July-03 and Apr-08, with reduced,
freshwater volumes of similar scale in Jul-05, Dec-05 and May-06.
91
a)
b)
c)
Figure 17: Average salinity records per sampling month between 99-08: a) shallow bore 11/96; b) medium depth bore 12/96; c) deep bore 10/96. Values are plotted around the means for the Jan-99 to Dec-08 sampling period.
y = -0.0002x + 9.3027R² = 0.2415
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
2.00
2.25
2.50
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
ay-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Aug
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
May
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
ug-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
ay-0
6A
ug-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Aug
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
ay-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Salin
ity (g
/L)
Date
y = -0.0002x + 8.8016R² = 0.2167
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
2.00
2.25
2.50
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
ay-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Aug
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
May
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
ug-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
ay-0
6A
ug-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Aug
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
ay-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Salin
ity (g
/L)
Date
y = 0.0004x - 10.518R² = 0.2844
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
5.50
6.00
6.50
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
ay-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Aug
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
May
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
ug-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
ay-0
6A
ug-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Aug
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
ay-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Salin
ity (g
/L)
Date
93
a)
y = -0.0003x + 24.072R² = 0.0446
3.00
5.00
7.00
9.00
11.00
13.00
15.00
May
-99
Aug
-99
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
a y-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Au g
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
Ma y
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
u g-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
a y-0
6A
ug-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Au g
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
ay-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Dep
t h (m
)
Date
b)
y = -0.0002x + 28.278R² = 0.0537
16.00
18.00
20.00
22.00
24.00
May
-99
Aug
-99
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
a y-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Au g
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
Ma y
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
u g-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
May
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
a y-0
6A
ug-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Au g
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
ay-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Dep
th (m
)
Date
c)
y = -0.0001x + 21.827R² = 0.0459
15.00
15.50
16.00
16.50
17.00
17.50
18.00
18.50
19.00
May
-99
Aug
-99
Nov
-99
Feb-
00M
a y-0
0A
ug-0
0N
ov-0
0Fe
b-01
May
-01
Au g
-01
Nov
-01
Feb-
02M
ay-0
2A
ug-0
2N
ov-0
2Fe
b-03
Ma y
-03
Aug
-03
Nov
-03
Feb-
04M
ay-0
4A
ug-0
4N
ov-0
4Fe
b-05
Ma y
-05
Aug
-05
Nov
-05
Feb-
06M
ay-0
6A
u g-0
6N
ov-0
6Fe
b-07
May
-07
Aug
-07
Nov
-07
Feb-
08M
a y-0
8A
ug-0
8N
ov-0
8
Dep
th (m
)
Date
Figure 19: Depth of fresh water (<3g/L) lens per sampling occasion between 99-08: a) DSO1/96; b) DSO4/96; and c) DSO6/96. Values are plotted around the means calculated across the sampling period.
94
Aquifer response to natural and induced factors – R&D initiatives
Additional water level and specific conductivity data (note not salinity) were recorded in-situ at
half-hourly intervals from Dec-07 to Aug-08 at selected sites within and external to the borefield.
Salinity profiles were also opportunistically collected following the Mar-08 rainfall event to
capture changes occurring with depth. Results illustrating the key features of these data are
presented to trigger debate as to the spatial and temporal capacity of the existing program to
capture adequately changes occurring within the system (Figures 20-22).
• Within borefield – SWIM 10/96 (deepest nested bore)
At SWIM 10/96 (Figure 20), monthly mean and standard deviation of specific conductivity
(mS/cm) were recorded at the slotted interface of the bore within the freshwater lens as follows:
Dec-07 (4.48 ±0.02); Jan-08 (4.49 ±0.02); Feb-08 (4.48 ±0.02); Mar-08 (4.35 ±0.28); Apr-08 (3.73
±0.01); May-08 (3.54 ±0.11); Jun-08 (3.54 ±0.02); Jul-08 (3.58 ±0.01). A change in these data is
evident in Mar-08 concurrent with increasing water levels. In the three months prior to Mar-08,
specific conductivity ranged from 4.45-4.54 mS/cm, with water levels varying 41.7 cm. In Mar-08,
specific conductivity decreased from 4.55-3.63 mS/cm, concomitant with an increase in water
levels of 206.7 cm. Two peaks in the water level are evident, on 26-Mar (1939.50 cm) and 28-Mar
(2035.50 cm), ranging 96 cm in 55 hours. Freshening occurred at the fixed probe depth during this
water level change, with specific conductivity decreasing 0.62 mS/cm in 25.5 hours (27 to 28-Mar)
and a further 0.23 mS/cm 49.5 hrs after the second peak in water level. From Apr-08 to Aug-08,
monthly mean specific conductivity gradually decreased from 3.68-3.58 mS/cm, with a small
change in the profile evident in May-08. Water levels dropped over this same period.
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
2050
2100
Dec
-08
Jan-
08
Feb-
08
Mar
-08
Apr
-08
May
-08
Jun-
08
Jul-0
8
Aug
-08
Spec
ond
(m/cm
)
Wate
r Lev
el (c
m)
Date
g/water level Spec Cond
Figure 20: Groundwater levels (water table) and specific conductivity recorded at SWIM 10/96 Dec-07 to Aug-08. Data were collected in-situ at a fixed point within the slotted interface at the base of the bore. The probe was programmed to record at 30 minutes intervals and captures response to rainfall event of Mar-08.
95
• DSO bore – Outside borefield data - Rainfall Event >300 mm
Further south of the borefield, DSO6/96 (Figure 21) experienced monthly mean and standard
deviation of specific conductivity (mS/cm) as follows: Dec-07 (3.26 ±0.01); Jan-08 (3.27 ±0.00);
Feb-08 (3.28 ±0.08); Mar-08 (3.38 ±0.20); Apr-08 (3.70 ±0.06); May-08 (3.86 ±0.18); Jun-08 (4.26
±0.08); Jul-08 (4.33 ±0.08). Similar to SWIM bores, a change in these data is evident on Mar-2008
concurrent with increasing water levels. In the three months prior to Mar-08, specific conductivity
ranged from 3.23-3.57 mS/cm with water levels varying 128.4 cm. In Mar-08, specific conductivity
increased from 3.27-4.16 mS/cm, concomitant with an increase in water levels by 114.5 cm. Two
peaks in the water level are evident, on 26-Mar (2547.50 cm) and 31-Mar (2626.10 cm), ranging
80.70 cm in 105 hours. The system became more saline during this water level change with specific
conductivity increasing 0.45 mS/cm in 30 hours (26 to 27-Mar) reaching 4.016 mS/cm 30.5 hours
after the second peak in water level. From Apr-08 to Aug-08, monthly mean specific conductivity
gradually increased from 3.60-4.45 mS/cm, with a steady increase in salinity commencing in May-
08 despite continued falling ground water levels.
3.00
3.20
3.40
3.60
3.80
4.00
4.20
4.40
4.60
2400
2450
2500
2550
2600
2650
2700
2750
2800
Dec
-07
Jan-
08
Feb-
08
Mar
-08
Apr
-08
May
-08
Jun-
08
Jul-0
8
Aug
-08
Spec
Con
d (m
S/cm
)
Wat
er L
evel
(cm
)
Date
g/water level Spec Cond
Figure 21: Groundwater levels (water table) and specific conductivity recorded at DSO6/96 Dec-07 to Aug-08. Data were collected in-situ at a fixed point within the water column where the fresh water lens interfaces with the more saline mixing zone. The probe was programmed to record at 30 minutes intervals and captures response to rainfall event of Mar-08.
• Vertical Profiles before and after rainfall
Vertical profiles of salinity concentrations (g/L) through the fresh, mixing and marine groundwater
environments for DSO1/96, DSO2/96 and DSO6/96, prior to and following the Mar-08 rainfall
event, are presented in Figure 22. Each series of graphs illustrate variable responses to the rainfall
event within each bore, although all show an increase in thickness of the freshwater lens. DSO1/96
was the most responsive and DSO6/96 the least. More frequent data profiles of the aquifer recovery
at each bore are provided in Appendix 6.
96
a)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Salinity (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Saliniy (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Salinity (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
b)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Salinity (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Salinity (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
Salinity (g/L)
Dep
th (m
)
c)
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0
Sa l i n i t y ( g / L )
Dep
th (
m)
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0
Sa l i n i t y ( g / L )
Dep
th (
m)
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0
Sa l i n i t y ( g / L )
Dep
th (
m)
Figure 22: Salinity profile response to Mar-08 rainfall at: a) DSO1/96, b) DSO2/96, c) DSO6/96 Each series of graphs illustrate salinity profiles 1 month prior to and 7 months post the Mar-08 rainfall event. Shading indicates salinity profile taken 2-4 days after the Mar-08 rainfall event.
97
• Snap shot of aquifer variation without influence of rainfall
A snap shot of changes in specific conductivity and ground water level data recorded in-situ from
SWIM10/96, DSO1/96, DSO4/96 and DSO6/96 was extracted between Jan-24 and Jan 26, 2009 to
elucidate any diurnal variation occurring within the aquifer at a time when no rainfall occurred. The
influence of abstraction and sea level could not be removed from these data and as such are
presented against in-situ measurements for each bore in Figures 23-26. Over the two day period
abstraction volumes show diurnal variation peaking during the day with low volumes recorded over
night, presumably triggered by consumer demands as seen earlier in Figure 16. For the same
period, sea levels show diurnal variation, reflecting changes between high and low tide cycles.
Looking at each bore in isolation, within the borefield, data collected from SWIM 10/96 (Figure
23) shows some instances where changes in specific conductivity and water levels correspond with
abstraction volumes but the relationship is not clear. Moving southward, at DSO1/96 (Figure 24) a
visual pattern is evident between changes in specific conductivity with sea level records although
slightly out of phase. At DSO2/96 (Figure 25), ground water levels appear visually to change in-
phase with tidal cycles and at DSO6/96 (Figure 26), furthest from the borefield, changes in ground
water level appear to visually occur in-phase with production volumes.
Visually, there appears to be some synchronising between these factors although direct
relationships cannot be detected from the limited data available. Future work might involve time-
series analyses to search for trends with natural factors (within and between rainfall and tidal
effects, and tourism seasons) when a more extensive dataset becomes available. See
recommendations for future work on page 108.
98
98
Figure 23: Smaller-scale changes in water level and salinity of the aquifer at SWIM 10/96. Graphs illustrate: a) salinity (red) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; b) groundwater level (blue) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; c) salinity (red) vs sea level (grey) changes; and d) groundwater levels (blue) vs sea level (grey) changes. Inset map shows bore location. Visual relationships are with red solid line.
SWIM10/96
1810
1815
1820
1825
1830
1835
1840
25/0
1/08
26/0
1/08
27/0
1/08
Wat
er le
vel (
cm)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Abs
trac
tion
(M
L)
out of phase
4.30
4.35
4.40
4.45
4.50
4.55
4.60
4.65
25/0
1/08
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1/08
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1/08
Sp.
Con
duct
ivity
(m
s/cm
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Abs
trac
tion
(ML
)
out of phase
in-phase
4.40
4.43
4.45
4.48
4.50
4.53
4.55
25/0
1/08
26/0
1/08
27/0
1/08
Sp C
ondu
ctiv
ity
(ms/
cm)
0
50
100
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300
Sea
Lev
el (
cm)
out of phase
1810
1815
1820
1825
1830
1835
1840
25/0
1/08
26/0
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1/08
Wat
er L
evel
(cm
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
sea
leve
l (cm
)
out of phase
a) b)
c) d)
99
99
Figure 24: Smaller-scale changes in water level and salinity of the aquifer at DSO1/96. Graphs illustrate: a) salinity (red) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; b) groundwater level (blue) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; c) salinity (red) vs sea level (grey) changes; and d) groundwater levels (blue) vs sea level (grey) changes. Inset map shows bore location. Visual relationships are with red solid line.
DSO1/96
2.90
2.95
3.00
3.05
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.25
25/0
1/08
26/0
1/08
27/0
1/08
Sp.
Con
duct
ivity
(m
s/cm
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
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180
Abs
trac
tion
(ML
)out of phase
1555
1560
1565
1570
1575
1580
1585
1590
25/0
1/08
26/0
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27/0
1/08
Wat
er le
vel (
cm)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Abs
trac
tion
(ML
)
out of phase
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2.90
2.95
3.00
3.05
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.252
5/0
1/0
8
26
/01
/08
27
/01
/08
Sea
Lev
el (
cm)
Sp
Co
nd
uct
ivit
y (
ms/
cm)
out of phase
1555
1560
1565
1570
1575
1580
1585
1590
25/0
1/08
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1/08
Wat
er L
evel
(cm
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
sea
leve
l (cm
)
out of phase
a) b)
c) d)
100
100
Figure 25: Smaller-scale changes in water level and salinity of the aquifer at DSO2/96. Graphs illustrate: a) salinity (red) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; b) groundwater level (blue) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; c) salinity (red) vs sea level (grey) changes; and d) groundwater levels (blue) vs sea level (grey) changes. Inset map shows bore location. Visual relationships are with red solid line.
12.00
12.50
13.00
13.50
14.00
14.50
15.00
25/0
1/08
26/0
1/08
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1/08
Sp.C
ondu
ctiv
ity
(ms/
cm)
0
20
40
60
80
100
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180
Abs
trac
tion
(ML
)
2660
2663
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2668
2670
2673
2675
2678
25/0
1/08
26/0
1/08
27/0
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Wat
er le
vel (
cm)
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20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Abs
trac
tion
(M
L)
out of phase
12.00
12.50
13.00
13.50
14.00
14.50
15.00
25/0
1/08
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1/08
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Sp
Con
duct
ivit
y (m
s/cm
)
0
50
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Sea
Lev
el (
cm)
2660
2663
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25/0
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Wat
er L
evel
(cm
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
sea
leve
l (cm
)
in-phase
a) b)
c) d)
Figure 26: Smaller-scale changes in water level and salinity of the aquifer at DSO6/96. Graphs illustrate: a) salinity (red) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; b) groundwater level (blue) vs abstraction (grey) volumes; c) salinity (red) vs sea level (grey) changes; and d) groundwater levels (blue) vs sea level (grey) changes. Inset map shows bore location. Visual relationships are with red solid line.
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.25
3.30
3.35
3.40
3.45
25/0
1/08
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1/08
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Con
duct
ivit
y (m
s/cm
)
0
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180
Abs
trac
tion
(ML
)
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2530
25/0
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er le
vel (
cm)
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180
Abs
trac
tion
(M
L)
in-phase
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.25
3.30
3.35
3.40
3.4525
/01/
08
26/0
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Sp
Con
duct
ivit
y (m
s/cm
)
0
50
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Sea
Lev
el (
cm)
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er L
evel
(cm
)
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sea
leve
l (cm
)
out of phase
a) b)
c) d)
101
102
4.3. DISCUSSION
My overarching objective in this Chapter is to investigate whether salinity data, as collected and
submitted to the regulators each reporting year, are inherently useful to meet the Corporations’
Ministerial objective to ‘protect and maintain the quality of the fresh water in the karst aquifer’ at
Exmouth – as an indirect mechanism of stygofauna protection. The Corporation’s commitments, as
published in the Ministerial condition statement, stipulate that if groundwater salinity increases, the
Corporation must reduce or cease abstraction from the affected bore(s) or the local area.
Accordingly, my results and discussion are limited to relevant salinity profile data submitted to the
regulators from 1999-2007 within the Stygofauna and Water Column Profiling reports. Since 1999,
the Corporation (via external consultation) has been monitoring groundwater salinity profiles of the
aquifer at Exmouth for signs of saline upwelling caused by abstraction from the Exmouth borefield;
the consequences of which are thought to pose a risk to stygofauna populations. However, two
assumptions underlie this approach: 1) that a change within the aquifer resulting from abstraction
can be distinguished from natural variation; and 2) upwelling of saline waters might lead to a
decline in stygofauna species numbers.
To date, salinity profile data collected from 1999-2007 have been presented to the regulator in
isolation of the preceding year’s groundwater results. Here, these data have been collated and
presented together for the first time since the monitoring program commenced. However, it is
immediately apparent that 3 key factors diminish the capacity of these data, as collected and
submitted to the regulator each year, to be used as an indirect mechanism of stygofauna protection:
1) no clear objectives or reporting thresholds were established to trigger management actions to
reduce abstraction if required; 2) current knowledge on the natural processes driving changes in
groundwater salinity are still largely unknown; and 3) questions over stygofauna tolerances to short
and long-term fluctuations in groundwater salinity remain unanswered. The limitations of the
monitoring program, as implemented, are now discussed in light of the dataset collected and its
practical application to inform management decisions at Exmouth. Where appropriate, new
smaller-scale data have been utilised for further discussion and propose future monitoring options.
The approved stygofauna-related salinity monitoring program comprised profiling the water
column of two different types of bores: nested Salt-water Interface Monitoring (SWIM) bores and
Designated Stygofauna Observation (DSO) bores. The structure and function of these bores,
combined with the frequency of sampling events, dictates their capacity to be used to meet the
Ministerial commitments in place. The SWIM bores comprise, together, three bores of unequal but
increasing depths designed to intersect progressively deeper fresh and saline waters within the
aquifer. Each bore is slotted over the bottom 3 m and as such represents conditions of the
surrounding aquifer at the interface of the slotted area only. Consequently, only those data profiled
from the bottom 3 m of each bore can be used to detect an increase in groundwater salinity (at a
given depth) over time. Importantly, where the data are collected relative to the fresh/saline
interface, and what constitutes an ‘increase’ in salinity sufficient to trigger management actions,
103
becomes crucial for monitoring purposes. Considering the complete salinity data-set, from 1999-
2007 (Figure 17), it might be argued that the shallower SWIM bores (12/96 & 11/96) show signs of
freshening conditions within the aquifer. Conversely, a trend of increasing salinity evident in the
deeper bore might suggest the freshwater lens is either thinning or more consistently mixed with
the underlying saline environment. Unfortunately, the relative position of the deepest bore to the
underlying marine waters is unknown, preventing distinction between these two potential drivers of
change. Further, not knowing whether smaller-scale variation is occurring between sampling
occasions prevents conclusive statements of the apparent increase being caused by factors other
than natural variation.
In contrast to the SWIM bores, the DSO bores intersect fresh, mixing and marine ground waters
and are slotted the entire length of the bore, thereby each providing a complete column of water for
profiling groundwater salinity. The focal point for these data is the vertical movement of the
fresh/saline interface relative to the depth of water table as measured on each sampling occasion.
The vertical structure of the aquifer at Exmouth can be seen from these DSO salinity profiles
(Figure 18) - illustrating varying thickness of the freshwater lens (<3 g/L), when present, and
subsequent layering atop a large mixing zone that interfaces with the underlying marine
environment. Variation in the profiles collected from 1999-2007 indicates temporal changes in the
position of the interface between fresh and mixing zones. Unfortunately, no reference data were
collected on depth to the water table or depth to the bottom of the bore (as >100 m length of multi-
probe cable) for each sampling occasion to allow simulation of vertical movement of saline water
over time. Further, the geographic isolation of these bores from nearby production sites precludes
the use of surrogate water table data to reconstruct such a simulation. Thus, the detection of vertical
upwelling of underlying saline waters from these bores, whether by influence of abstraction or not,
cannot be determined from these data.
Some analyses of the variation in thickness of freshest zone of water (<3 g/L salinity), relative to
the water table for each sampling occasion, can be plotted (where depth of water table equals
zero)(Figure 19). All three DSO bores analysed show the thickness of the freshwater zone to be
highly variable between sampling occasions and calendar years with frequent changes of greater
than ±1 m. Three sampling events yielded variation in the thickness of freshwater >1.5 m (Jun-99,
May-06 and Mar-08), although the driving factors of this change remain unknown. By presenting
the cumulative salinity profiles collected over the complete sampling period (Figure 18), much of
the variation apparently occurs within the profiles as shown within the thick mixing zone between
fresh and marine waters. Profiles that show evidence of increased salinity within this zone also
illustrate that the mixing zone results in proportionate thinning in available freshwater. However,
again, whether this change is occurring due to vertical movement of water within the bore casing
cannot be determined without essential water level information.
A key assumption of the Corporation’s environmental commitments is that a change within the
aquifer, resulting from abstraction from the Corporation’s borefield, can be distinguished from
104
natural variation. Additionally, it is expected that an increase in salinity caused by abstraction will
be detected from the current monitoring program in a timeframe suitable to implement
management actions to reduce or cease abstraction if required. The structure and function of the
Exmouth aquifer is likely to be affected by a range of factors subject to short-term (10 year)
variation, including rainfall, sea level changes and storm events (Chapter 1). Over the 1999-2007
monitoring period ten cyclones came within a 400 km radius of Exmouth (Figure 14), although
their occurrence did not always generate rainfall. Three major rain events (Mar-00; Jun-02; Mar-
08)(Figure 14) are likely to have resulted in recharge of fresh water into the aquifer, i.e. when
rainfall exceeded evaporation. There were 10 High Water Spring (HWS) tide cycles leading to sea
level changes of around 2.85 m between March and October each year calendar year that may also
have influenced the groundwater profile data collected. Storm surge from Tropical Cyclone Vance
in Mar-99 amplified this change to twice annual variation, again likely to have invoked a response
in groundwater conditions. Finally, peak abstraction volumes occurred annually around November
and April, correlating with the commencement of the hot summer and peak tourism periods,
respectively.
Finer-scale data presented in Figures 23-26 show the sampling intervals of this monitoring program
(3 times per year) to be too broad to identify smaller-scale variation occurring in the aquifer and to
be able to distinguish patterns of change caused by abstraction from that of natural variation.
Fortuitously, salinity and water level data were captured before and after a significant rainfall event
(>300 mm) in Mar-08 providing a window into more extreme changes experienced within the
ground waters of each monitoring bore and associated recovery rates. The salinity profiles collected
from DSO1/96, DSO2/96 and DSO6/96 provide supplementary information on variation occurring
with increasing depth through the fresh, mixing and marine environments (Figure 18). In SWIM
10/96, specific conductivity and ground water level (water table) data recorded from a fixed
position changed in <12 h following the deluge, with specific conductivity reducing concomitant to
a notable >1.7 m increase in groundwater levels (Figure 20). However specific conductivity and
water levels recovered partially within 21-50 h after the end of the rainfall deluge. In SWIM 10/96,
full recovery of water levels took little over four months, although during the same period salinity
had not recovered to pre-rain conditions. A similar response in water levels occurred at DSO6/96
(Figure 8), yet salt concentrations increased despite a higher water level. In both SWIM and DSO
bores a second change in water level followed rainfall <50 mm in May-08, which in DSO6/96
again triggered a further increase in salt concentrations. Contrary to expectation, increased mixing
within the freshwater lens as seen in the vertical profiles suggests that the impact of recharge
resulting from rainfall on groundwater salinities is not a simple matter of fresh water stratifying
atop existing groundwater, but that more complex phenomena are occurring over time-scales not
adequately captured by the current monitoring program. Mixing between fresh and saline water
bodies may suggest that kinetic energy generated along hydraulic gradients following rainfall
events modifies salinity profiles near monitoring bores. Further, varying responses within the
profile and between monitoring bores may also suggest the level of energy generated is being
105
controlled locally by the strata intersected by each bore. The processes inducing this mixing of
water masses within the Cape Range Group aquifer need to be elucidated.
The fresh ground water in this system overlies marine-derived water; therefore, sea level changes
may be an important factor causing change in ground water levels and/or the relative position of the
saltwater interface within the salinity profiles. Discussion of longer-term changes in sea level is
beyond the scope of this study, however smaller-scale variations in tidal cycles may be reflected in
the aquifer. Graphical presentation (Figures 23-26) of the new finer-scale dataset over a period
least likely to be influenced by rainfall (24-26 Jan-08), illustrate patterns between tidal cycles,
ground water levels and groundwater salinity, yet this response is not uniform across monitoring
bores. DSO2/96 appears the most responsive to tidal cycles, with a near-immediate correlation (or
consistent lag periods) in changing groundwater levels. However, no corresponding changes in
specific conductivity were evident. Some patterns can be observed in DSO1/96 and SWIM bores,
however, the relationships are not as clear as those from DSO2/96. No response to tidal cycles is
apparent in DSO6/96. Differences in variance in tidal response at each bore may reflect variation in
karst structure controlling linkages between marine and freshwater in the aquifer. Thus, the
response of DSO2/96 may be explained by a direct link with marine waters whereby pulses of sea
water advects into the groundwater via open karst conduits, allowing near real-time response of
groundwater levels. The absence of an observable pattern between tidal and groundwater salinity
data at this bore is not unexpected considering the positioning of the probe well within the mixing
zone of the salinity profile (due to an absence of freshwater at this site). Similarly, a slower, more
obscure response from the other bores may be evidence of less connectivity and/or increased length
in hydraulic pathways, dampening the tidal signal. Alternatively, the cryptic patterns within the
data collected may reflect relative influences of the borefield and response to abstraction volumes.
The full range of tidal cycles and potential upwelling of saline water resulting from abstraction is
presumably mediated by patterns in town consumption and abstraction, increasing or decreasing on
demand. Peak abstraction volumes occur annually around November and April, correlating with the
commencement of the hot summer and peak tourism periods, respectively. Alternatively, low
abstraction volumes correlate with the commencement of cooler weather in July and the end of the
tourism period around September. Abstraction volumes >100 000 kL may also be attributed to
incident response to cyclones, with the Corporation required to fill the town storage tank allowing
gravity-fed supply of water for human consumption should power to the borefield fail. The scale of
sampling of monitoring data submitted to the regulators combined with the fact that volumes
recorded are a function of when the readings were taken (at any time reflecting < or > 4 weekly
intervals) prevents meaningful comparison with salinity and/or groundwater level data to identify
clear relationships. Since 2007 abstraction volumes have been measured electronically via
computer-operated monitoring equipment to control production volumes to meet town demand
automatically with the capacity to measure smaller-scale variation recorded at 30 minute intervals.
Thus, potential now exists for analyses with in-situ groundwater level and salinity data providing
106
an excellent opportunity for determining future criteria for monitoring purposes.
At the time of assessment by the EPA, it was thought that select stygofauna species, including one
Isopoda sp. and one Amphipoda sp., were restricted to the fresh water lens (<3 g/L) and that
upwelling of saline waters from abstraction posed a localised threat, albeit minimal, to these
species (EPA, 1997). In the absence of knowledge of the biology of species present in the
Corporation’s borefield, a monitoring program was established to collect species population data
congruent with salinity profiles from DSO bores but not from bores located within the borefield.
Should a change in population numbers beyond that of natural variation be detected in either
dataset, the Corporation would be required to, in sequence: reduce abstraction from the affected
bore/s; reduce abstraction from surrounding bores; or cease abstraction from the area in question.
Of 21 bores sampled for stygofauna during the 8 year stygofauna monitoring program, only four
DSO bores were monitored for changes in the salinity profile congruent with fauna sampling of
which DSO4/96 contains fresh water <3 g/L. All four DSO bores have yielded the same
Amphipoda species suggesting likely occurrence across the aquifer within salinities >3 g/L
(Humphreys, 1994). Alternatively, only DSO4/96 has yielded an Isopoda species which may be
restricted to fresher groundwater conditions although identifying where in the salinity profile the
specimen was collected is not possible given netting techniques used.
At present, the regulatory requirement to detect an increase in salinity concentrations assumes
deleterious effects on species population numbers and abundance from an increase in salinity,
whereby species naturally occurring in fresh water might be subject to upwelling of saline water.
However, this stance inadvertently dismisses the possibility that a decrease in salinity may cause a
similar response, whereby species adapted to saline waters are subject to freshening conditions
such as large rainfall events or reduced sea levels. Ten years on, scientific evidence of species’
tolerances to changes in salinity concentrations remains extremely limited and precludes
interpretation of faunal movements within and between fresh and saline waters. Animals with the
physiological capacity may, for example, move beyond their preferred microhabitat to feed or
avoid predation but are unlikely to breed in a microhabitat for which they have little physiological
tolerance. Whilst breeding generally is a short process time spent in an unfavoured microhabitat
may be an important factor to consider in the context of ensuring continued species population
existence.
In Australia, the physiological tolerance and reproductive biology of stygofauna has yet to be
addressed in detail, with Australian researchers and regulatory authorities often drawing upon data
obtained in very different environmental conditions overseas and based on different lower taxa.
Currently, upper limits of known ecological occurrence of stygofauna at varying salinities are at
best anecdotal and do little to inform management actions/options for the Corporation and
regulatory authorities responsible for protecting the groundwater resource. The impact of episodic
increases and/or decreases in groundwater salinity (i.e. resulting from rainfall events) on
stygofauna populations is not known with specimens collected at any one time, potentially
reflecting: 1) localised extinctions of freshwater dependent species after each rainfall event; 2)
107
movement of freshwater-dependent species to more favourable conditions until the aquifer returns
to previous conditions; or 3) representative presence and abundance data if resident fauna are pre-
adapted to tolerating increased salinities for short-term (weeks to months) periods. Considering
these constraints against those limitations already presented in Chapter 3, it is clearly not possible
to distinguish the influence of increased groundwater salinity, whether caused by abstraction or
natural variation, on stygofauna population numbers and abundance.
The Ministerial commitments are focused on detecting an increase in groundwater salinity to
trigger management actions to reduce abstraction as an indirect mechanism to provide for
protection of freshwater dependent stygofauna. Yet, the objective of salinity profiling program, as
implemented and submitted each year to the regulators, was to detect instability in the thickness of
the freshwater lens. It is possible that inconsistencies between the Ministerial commitments and the
objectives of the monitoring program implemented reflect agreements reached between the
Corporation and the regulators, informally. For example, detection of an increase in salinity might
have been thought to be adequately captured through existing monitoring practices in relation to
drinking water quality (NHMRC & ARMCANZ, 1996). However, any alternate approach agreed to
by both parties should have been clearly captured in subsequent compliance reports and the
Ministerial condition statement altered accordingly. As it stands, the authority of the Ministerial
commitment to detect and increase in groundwater salinity at Exmouth prevails over the
monitoring objective implemented to detect instability in the fresh water lens. Conversely, it is
possible that the monitoring objective to detect instability in the fresh water lens may have been
developed under the Ministerial commitment to “implement actions to protect stygofauna
populations and habitat to the requirements of the EPA and advice of CALM” (Table 2 (2, iii)). If
this is the case, then again, clear documentation of the purpose of these data and how they meet the
Ministerial commitments need to be captured in both regulatory compliance reports and the
Ministerial condition statement. Instead, a break-down in intent between the Ministerial
commitments in place and how they were implemented through the operational phase of this
approved project has occurred. The fact that this break-down has not been identified or rectified
through the compliance reporting process is a failure of the regulatory administrative framework to
provide adequately for stygofauna protection at Exmouth.
For the full powers of protection afforded to stygofauna under the EP Act to be realised, evidence
of material or serious environmental harm (Chapter 2) must be demonstrable and clearly linked to
the Corporation’s borefield operations. Results and discussion presented here show that monitoring
groundwater salinity profiles, as collected and submitted to the regulator from 1999-2007, are
inadequate to inform this regulatory decision making process due to the limitations of the
monitoring data collected confounded by a lack of knowledge of natural variation occurring within
the groundwater system. Further, a clear link cannot be made between changes in groundwater
salinity and stygofauna species population response to conclude abstraction from the Corporation’s
borefield might be causing indirect environmental harm by affecting available freshwater habitat.
108
Indeed, even if sufficient knowledge of natural variation occurring within the groundwater system
existed to demonstrate observed changes were due to the Corporation’s actions, the Corporation
could validly argue a case for defence by demonstrating compliance with commitments and
subsequent monitoring program established through the EIA (s.74A(a)). Consequently, in this
instance, it is the monitoring program established through the EIA that has proven inadequate to
achieve the overarching objective of stygofauna protection at Exmouth, as it does not meet the
(amended) purpose of the EP Act - e.g. to provide for stygofauna protection by way of preventing
environmental harm. Further discussion over the implications of my findings is presented in
Chapter 5.
4.4. RECOMMENDATIONS
Before an alternate program can be devised for regulatory purposes, substantive research is
required to understand better: 1) short-term variation in aquifer response to natural and induced
events; and 2) biological and physiological drivers of stygofauna tolerance to local changes in
groundwater salinity. It is of little doubt that stygofauna community assemblages are linked
intimately through a series of flows and feedback mechanisms operating/functioning through biotic
and abiotic components. The difficulty is, unlike surface aquatic systems, the linkages and
interactions occurring within the groundwater ecosystem at Exmouth largely remain unknown and
may remain a mystery for some time yet. It is likely the use of small-scale monitoring devices, such
as in-situ loggers, may prove a more informative approach to monitoring groundwater conditions
than the broader-scale techniques previously in place. At a minimum these data loggers could help
establish large and small scale patterns in groundwater response to cyclic and episodic events such
as tidal fluctuations and rainfall, respectively. However, a robust time-series regression analysis on
these data, from sites within and external to the borefield, would be required to distinguish natural
variation from induced influences on the system. Profiling the structure of the aquifer should
remain a key consideration to ensure the volume of available freshwater habitat is not reduced to
the detriment of freshwater dependent species. It is imperative, however, that salinity profiles are
collected at time-scales adequate to capture both natural and induced influences on the system, and
depth to the water table is recorded to enable simulation of vertical movement of the fresh/saline
interface over time. Application of digital imaging techniques currently being developed (Appendix
2) to capture in-situ data on species presence and/or population numbers may prove beneficial
towards improving knowledge on the stygofauna biology while, at the same time, minimising
negative impacts of sampling effect on the stygofauna populations (Chapter 3).
CHAPTER 5
Discussion
Are Stygofauna Really Protected
in Western Australia?
A question of value
PERCIFORMES
DECAPODA
BATHYNELLACEA
THERMOSBAENACEA
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5. INTRODUCTION
In my thesis I have examined whether the current regulatory framework in place in Western
Australia (WA) to protect stygofauna and the groundwater resources on which they depend is
adequate - as defined by and according to the requirements of statutory law - to provide for their
protection.
To begin with, I reviewed the relevant legal framework in place to protect stygofauna at both
Commonwealth and State levels, and showed that progressive changes to legislation and
administrative bodies has created overlaps in jurisdictional boundaries and misalignment of related
statutory objectives (not to be confused with policy objectives), which have enabled scenarios to
arise where stygofauna are not adequately protected in WA. The Commonwealth’s powers under
the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC Act, 1999) are severely limited by
existing triggers for referral and assessment of actions that might impact on groundwater dependent
ecosystems, restricted to those stygofauna species selectively listed under the Act. Further, the
regulatory provisions of the EPBC Act to protect listed species from being captured or killed
without a license is undermined by the statutory authority of the Act being restricted to
Commonwealth lands. Thus, in WA, protection of stygofauna not listed under the EPBC Act and
residing outside Commonwealth lands is dependent on the powers and administration of State
legislation to do so, either by direct or indirect means.
The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WLC Act) is one of the principle statutory tools currently
used to protect other native fauna in WA. However, it does not protect invertebrate species of
stygofauna unless individual species are listed specifically as in need of special protection. This
avenue of protection has not been used post 2002, incidentally coinciding with amendments of the
EP Act (1986) in 2003 that extended the State’s legislative protection to all stygofauna,
collectively, by introducing the concept of ‘environmental harm’. While statutory tools do exist
under the WLC Act to protect potentially all forms of stygofauna directly, they currently are not
used to full effect. Effective use of the WLC Act (1950) to protect stygofauna would require
declaration by the Minister of Environment via Government Gazette for ‘stygofauna’ in its
collective form to be listed under s.14(2ba) of the Act. However, protection via declaration would
be afforded only by the requirement to obtain a licence to ‘take’ stygofauna, which assumes general
awareness throughout WA of current listed species and/or potential actions that constitutes their
taking, to be effective. Given the limited capacity of the WLC Act to provide protection in these
instances, I argue the Act should be amended to provide better protection for community habitats
(as opposed to select species) aligning objectives with other State legislation and policy in place for
groundwater dependent ecosystems (e.g. RWI Act; 1914; EP Act 1986; WRC, 1999). Also, the
appropriateness of existing jurisdictional boundaries to provide protection for aquatic fauna
(including subterranean forms) warrants careful consideration. For example, ‘WA Water’ as
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currently defined under the Fish Resources Management Act, 1996 (FRM Act, 1996) has broader,
more relevant jurisdictional boundaries than the WLC Act (1950) for the collective management of
subterranean aquatic ecosystems in WA.
As it stands, the current overlap between the administrative boundaries of the WLC Act (1950) and
the FRM Act (1996) does little to utilise existing statutory powers to protect subterranean aquatic
fauna - rendering the majority of stygofauna species populations and communities unprotected by
direct means. Direct statutory protection of stygofauna throughout WA could be vastly improved if
the full powers of the FRM Act were utilised, e.g. to declare stygofauna as ‘totally’ protected under
the Act across all inland and marine WA waters. However, in Chapter 2 I argue four key factors
might prevent the adoption of such an approach, including: 1) the current perception that the FRM
Act and the expertise of its administrators is primarily focused on the protection of fish that are of
commercial or recreational benefit to humans and/or inhabit marine waters only; 2) the potential for
regulatory confusion or misalignment due to jurisdictional overlaps with the administrative
boundaries of WLC Act (1950) which is currently used as the principle statutory tool for
conservation of WA fauna; 3) the potential for inconsistencies to arise with other ‘indirect’
mechanisms of species protection such as protection of the groundwater ecosystems on which they
depend (e.g. RWI Act, 1914; EP Act 1986; WRC, 2000), and; 4) a question over the value of
selectively protecting stygofauna and not other subterranean and terrestrial invertebrate forms.
Provisions do exist for indirect protection of stygofauna populations and community assemblages
by protecting the groundwater resources on which they are dependent under the Environmental
Protection Act 1986 (EP Act, 1986) and the Rights in Waters and Irrigation Act 1914 (RWI Act,
1914). Yet, administrative focus to date has centred on potential impacts of large-scale projects
without considering local, regional and state-wide cumulative impacts on stygofauna populations
from smaller-scale operations, including residential and commercial use. Amendments to the RWI
Act in 2000 (RWI, 1914), combined with those to Part IV of the EP Act in 2003 (EP Act, 1986),
provide the necessary authority and mechanisms to establish environmental commitments to
prevent deleterious changes to stygofauna species populations during assessment of large-scale
projects. However, it was the inclusion of sections 50A-B into the Environmental Protection Act in
2003 (EP Act, 1986) that makes the EP Act by far the most powerful legislative tool in place to
provide for stygofauna protection in WA. These provisions make all persons in WA accountable
for their actions should they cause serious or material environmental harm to stygofauna
communities. Yet, whether these powers are adequate or not is entirely subject both to the
regulatory framework in place to administer them and also the available knowledge on stygofauna
biology. Arguably, the regulatory flaws could be fixed if scientific research were focused at
gathering baseline information on community interactions and their vulnerability to natural and
human induced changes – allowing ecological criteria for the purpose of improving current water
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resource management practices to be established.
As with all ecosystems, stygofauna community assemblages are linked intimately through a series
of flows and feedback mechanisms operating/functioning through biotic and abiotic components
(Danielopol & Griebler, 2008). Yet, the linkages and interactions occurring within groundwater
ecosystems remain largely unknown, leaving a huge gap in functional understanding, thereby
furthering the potential for conflict in management priorities where groundwater resource
development is planned for human use. While the legal framework imposes a top-down control
over environmental protection, effective application of on-going administrative regulation devolves
to interaction between various State administrators working in collaboration with proponents who
propose developmental projects. At this administrative level, regulatory decisions over stygofauna
protection are currently guided by a suite of policy and guidance statements that are either not
transparently linked back to the purpose of the overarching legislation, not in alignment with other
related regulatory processes and functions, or confuse the reader over legal and policy obligations.
My case study investigation highlights the reality and consequences of not developing clear,
strategic objectives on why, and how, effective protection of stygofauna is going to be achieved
through all phases of a proposed project, from scoping a proposed development through to on-
going, long-term operation or short-term decommissioning requirements.
The Corporation’s environmental commitments require monitoring of stygofauna species
population numbers and abundance (to detect evidence of loss caused by abstraction) and evidence
of an increase in groundwater salinity (to detect saline upwelling or mixing due to heavy
abstraction). These commitments are underlain by four major assumptions: 1) that monitoring
objectives and commitments in place accurately reflect historical and present-day statutory
obligations; 2) that stygofauna and salinity monitoring data can be used to identify changes within
the aquifer should any occur; 3) that any changes detected within the aquifer can be distinguished
from those of natural variation and attributed directly to the Corporation’s activities; and 4) that
monitoring as implemented will be inherently informative to trigger management actions to
‘protect and maintain’ the fauna and the aquifer on which the stygofauna are dependent. In
contradiction to the overall impression of data presented in Chapters 2-4, I have revealed that the
monitoring program in place cannot trigger required management actions or the regulatory
mechanisms in place to protect stygofauna within the Exmouth borefield. Given the Exmouth
borefield has been operating for >10 years post assessment and approval, this is a somewhat
disturbing conclusion to draw. The sampling design and techniques are insufficient to distinguish
changes caused by the Corporation’s abstraction from that of natural variation. The statistical
power of the sampling program is not robust enough to ensure that changes identified in the data
accurately reflect those occurring within the aquifer. The statutory obligations are not reflected
accurately in the objectives of the environmental commitments, leading to over a decade of data
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collection that does little to meet the EPA’s recommendations for a scientifically robust approach
to stygofauna conservation at Exmouth.
In this final summary chapter I discuss the importance of effective integration of science and
management principles into an adaptive management framework as drawn from case-study
examples at Exmouth. I critique the methodologies used and strengths and weaknesses of my
approach, drawing attention to proposed options for future management in this area. My multi-
discipline approach to the Water Corporation’s legal and environmental monitoring obligations at
Exmouth has highlighted several gaps in the administrative regulation of the proponent’s
commitments established through the State’s EIA process which hinder effective conservation of
stygofauna communities locally. Further, I raise discussion over the appropriate use of the
precautionary approach to regulatory approvals in the absence of scientific knowledge on
stygofauna communities and their tolerance to changing habitat conditions. While throughout my
thesis I draw on case-study examples, the principles behind my findings are broadly applicable
within regional and national context; therein lies the contribution of my thesis.
5.1. INTEGRATION OF CASE-STUDY FINDINGS
To illustrate effectively the findings of my case-study approach, I have chosen to present my
discussion based upon 3 key questions that I believe best develop my recommendations for an
alternative management approach as detailed in Section 5.4 of this chapter. These questions are:
1) Why do the environmental commitments established through the EIA process not meet
statutory obligations established under associated legislation?
2) Why does the monitoring program not meet the environmental commitments in place?
3) Why did it take so long to recognise the need for improvement and challenge the
environmental commitments in place?
Why do the environmental commitments established through the EIA process not meet
statutory obligations established under associated legislation?
The Corporation’s environmental commitments were established through the EIA process over a
decade ago (MoE, 1997), in a very different socio-political environmental climate to that of today.
Little was known of the presence and distribution of stygofauna in WA, with the Cape Range fauna
a new and exciting focal point of research which was gaining recognition at State, National and
International levels. Around the same time, the Corporation’s proposal to extend the Exmouth
borefield to meet increasing demand for water underwent assessment by the EPA (in accordance
with the EP Act, 1986) and was subsequently approved by the Minister of Environment. During
assessment, risks to local stygofauna populations were introduced as a key environmental
consideration for development and ongoing management of extensions to the Exmouth borefield.
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The primary driver for considering stygofauna was the presence of four stygal species listed under
section 2(ba) of the WLC Act (1950), previously collected from within the Corporation’s existing
and proposed borefield extensions. However, the provisions of the WLC Act to protect stygofauna
populations at Exmouth (and elsewhere in WA) were limited – and remain so today. Either a
decision is made to prohibit the taking of listed species via abstraction by denying proposed
resource development, or approval is granted on the proviso that the taking of listed species is
managed under licensed conditions. To deny the Corporation’s proposed borefield extensions at
Exmouth would not only restrict future town expansion but also challenge existing water supply to
the town which contained listed species. Alternatively, approval of the proposed extensions would
require the Corporation to obtain a license to ‘take’ listed species via abstraction without an
appropriate licensing system to do so, or a mechanism by which to monitor numbers and types of
animals taken.
Seemingly in recognition of these limitations, the EPA introduced two additional objectives, not
generated from relevant legislation but from national policy objectives, to consider during
assessment of the Corporation’s Exmouth borefield extensions. Namely, whether the Corporation
could manage its borefield extensions and future operations to: 1) maintain the abundance,
diversity and geographical distribution of stygofauna (within the Cape Range Group aquifer); and
2) improve knowledge of stygofauna through documentation of research comprising sampling and
identification. Predicated on a precautionary approach, the EPA decided its objectives could be met
through the development of a scientifically sound monitoring program that: 1) implemented
research and development initiatives to improve knowledge on stygofauna presence; and 2)
established measures for maintaining stygofauna species population and habitat conditions.
However, these recommendations were transcribed into the Proponent’s commitments as: ii)
submit data on stygofauna species composition and numbers; and iii) implement actions to protect
stygofauna populations and habitat to the requirements of the EPA and advice of CALM (now
DEC). The consequence of this transcription, I believe, has altered the regulatory dynamic from a
pro-active research-driven approach to resource development to a compliance-orientated
monitoring program that no longer resembles the intent behind the EPA’s original objectives.
Regardless, approval of the Corporation’s proposal to extend the Exmouth borefield resulted in
legally binding environmental commitments to protect local stygofauna populations as transcribed.
It appears the EIA assessment by the EPA and the Minister of Environment (EPA, 1997), based on
information provided by the Proponent, did not consider all legislative tools that provided
protection for stygofauna in this instance. For example, the FRM Act (1994) could have been
utilised strategically to add another level of regulatory protection, one covering all stygofauna
species and not just those listed under the WLC Act (1950). Further, the Proponent’s commitments
developed through the EIA process do not reflect transparently other statutory licensing or
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reporting requirements at State and Commonwealth levels designed to ensure effective regulation
across administrative boundaries. For example, approval to extend the borefield did not
automatically approve the ‘taking’ (via abstraction or monitoring) of stygofauna listed under
s.14(2ba) of the WLC Act (1950) without a licence. It might be argued the overriding authority of
the EP Act (1986) over the WLC Act (1950) negates the requirement to license abstraction of an
estimated 240 000 stygofauna specimens each year. Or perhaps the Corporation was exempt from
obtaining a license because there is no appropriate licensing system to do so? Ironically, regardless
of approval to take several hundreds of thousands of individuals each year via abstraction (which
could not be validated or reported on), the Corporation was still required to obtain a license and
collect <300 individuals each year from the monitoring program that eventuated.
Since the Corporation’s Ministerial environmental management commitments for Exmouth were
published in 1996 (Appendix 5), there have been several changes to State and Commonwealth
legislation that have strengthened protection of WA’s groundwater resources and their dependent
stygofauna. Yet, these changes are not reflected in the Corporation’s environmental commitments
for the Exmouth borefield extensions and subsequent monitoring programs. Most notably, the EP
Act (1986) was amended in 2003 to include the concept of ‘environmental harm’, providing a
trigger to refer projects or plans to develop groundwater resources which may affect stygofauna by
direct or indirect means. Further, amendments to the EP Act Regulations now provide an
overarching mechanism for protecting stygofauna in WA from any actions that may cause
‘material’ or ‘serious’ environmental harm. These amendments might be argued to broaden the
focus of regulatory attention at Exmouth from those species listed as in need of special protection
under the WLC Act (1950), to all stygofauna within the Exmouth groundwater aquifer. However,
at the same time the regulations of the EP Act were amended in 2003 the defences to these
regulations were also redefined - with EIA approvals assessed prior to 2003 having potential now
to operate as a defence to environmental harm (s.74A(a)). For example, if the Corporation can
illustrate that extensions to the Exmouth borefield were implemented in accordance with agreed
commitments resulting from the EIA process, then this may provide a defence to any future claims
of causing environmental harm.
Regardless of an existing legal defence under s.74A(a) of the EP Act, it could be argued that the
Corporation’s ‘issues’ and ‘objectives’ within the environmental management commitments
capture the concept of preventing environmental harm, i.e. by monitoring the influence of borefield
operations via direct (stygofauna) and indirect (groundwater habitat) means. However, the ‘direct’
means of protection reflect the species population focus of the WLC Act (1950), not the all
encompassing protection of ‘aquatic fauna’ provided by the EP Act (1986) amendments. Further,
the ‘indirect’ means of protecting stygofauna are focused on salinity as an indicator of groundwater
quality (presumed to be a driver of stygal species populations), without encompassing broader-
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scale approach of the amended EP Act (1986) to protect preferred habitat conditions to maintain
viable breeding populations. Of relevance, the bulk of the groundwater salinity monitoring
undertaken by the Corporation (in isolation of the stygofauna monitoring program) and interpreted
and managed within a drinking water quality and water licensing framework. Nor were these data
analysed or presented to the regulator in a manner that might be used for ecological interpretation,
e.g. to supplement the limited data collected on vertical salinity structure of the aquifer.
Why does the monitoring program not meet the environmental commitments in place?
The intent of the precautionary principle is to take preventative action in the face of scientific
uncertainty to prevent environmental harm, whereby the focus ought not to be on measuring and
managing harm but preventing harm from occurring in the first place (Anonymous, 2004). The use
of the precautionary principle as a rule for decision making for stygofauna conservation in the EIA
framework is largely based on scant, qualitative information which is used to rank relative
likelihood or plausibility of a given outcome (i.e. causing environmental harm). The Corporation’s
borefield extensions were assessed and approved under this precautionary regime with the EPA
recommending the Corporation commit to developing a scientifically sound approach to stygofauna
management by improving knowledge on stygofauna presence and establishing measures to protect
species populations and their habitat. In the absence of comprehensive knowledge of existing
stygofauna community assemblages, or their tolerance to increased groundwater salinity that might
be caused by abstraction, a challenge was set to derive an innovative way to achieve the overall
management objective to protect and maintain local stygofauna populations at Exmouth. However,
the EPA’s recommendations were then subject to input from relevant decision-making authorities,
negotiations with the Corporation, and the Minister of Environment prior to approval. The result
appears to be a miss-match in competing environmental, management and operational objectives.
The transcribed environmental commitments published in the Ministerial statement differ only
slightly from the EPA’s recommendations – yet a shift in the regulatory intention behind those
recommendations transpired. The original precautionary research approach to managing stygofauna
populations within the Corporation’s borefield expansions instead became a search for evidence of
impacts to stygofauna populations that might be attributed to the Corporation’s borefield within a
compliance reporting framework. Without sufficient knowledge on species biology, population
dynamics and natural variation occurring within the aquifer, a monitoring program was established
to detect detrimental impacts caused by the Corporation’s borefield operations. At the end of the
first monitoring year it was evident that the sampling design of the monitoring program was not
robust enough to detect a change is stygofaunal species assemblage within the aquifer, rendering
the Corporation incapable of meeting environmental commitments to ‘protect and maintain’ local
stygofauna populations directly. What in hindsight was an astounding lost opportunity, a strategic
research and development approach to improve knowledge on how best to achieve the overarching
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objective of stygofauna protection, was again overlooked in favour of a modified monitoring
approach. Certainly, I argue this would have been the perfect opportunity to replace the existing
monitoring program with a strategic approach to establishing ecological tolerances of stygofauna
communities at Exmouth, and inform the development of more appropriate monitoring criteria and
management actions that both reflect and protect groundwater habitat conditions in a timely
manner. Instead, a monitoring program without structure, intent and any semblance of scientific
rigour to meet environmental commitments was put in place.
Ten years on, the original intensions of the EPA’s recommendations have all but been forgotten
amidst a confusing paper trail of altered sampling regimes and poorly constructed compliance
reports. Whilst the Corporation has fulfilled its monitoring commitments each year to the
requirements of the regulators, alterations to the program (in isolation of the environmental
commitments) has prevented critical consideration of the adequacy of the program to achieve the
overarching objective of the environmental commitments. As it stands, a continued absence of
knowledge on the ecological and biological drivers of stygofauna populations means the overall
objective of stygofauna protection within the Corporation’s borefield cannot be demonstrated.
Discrepancies between the environmental commitments and the monitoring program establish for
the Corporation’s borefield provide evidence that the regulatory framework in place to provide for
stygofauna conservation in WA is inadequate to do so. Here, the regulatory failure is two-fold: 1)
due process required to document and assess alterations to the environmental commitments (s.46 of
the EP Act) was not followed; and 2) adequate consideration was not given to the ecological
suitability of the iteration in those commitments. The presumption that sufficient knowledge and
expertise exists within key administrative or consulting agencies to develop effective monitoring
programs and management actions to protect species populations within a compliance framework
seriously needs to be addressed. Despite the obvious impediment of limited knowledge of natural
variation occurring within the Exmouth aquifer, the cumulative impacts of established sampling
protocols or operational procedures on population numbers also likely confound effective
interpretation of monitoring data collected.
Why did it take so long to recognise need for improvement and challenge the environmental
commitments in place?
Given current legal, scientific and social support for the environment, one might ask either why the
Corporation and regulators agreed to these commitments, or why they have not addressed the
issues underlying my findings earlier. The answers must perforce reflect my personal assessment
but it appears the answer is simply a reflection of good intent, whereby, the joint objective to
conserve stygofauna was clear but perhaps flawed by a lack of understanding of how this could be
achieved. The Corporation is a service delivery operator supplying the majority of humans in
Western Australia living in cities and sometimes remote settlements with potable water, wastewater
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and drainage services. As such, the expertise within the Corporation is oriented towards achieving
and improving water industry standards and meeting consumer demand in a manner that complies
best with an established range of statutory obligations. The Corporation, therefore, like many other
proponents, relies heavily on the State’s EIA process to draw on relevant expertise (often beyond
those available to the general proponent) to assess and approve conditions that comply with
established statutory obligations. Once a project is approved, the proponent is then reliant on the
expertise of consultants hired to undertake and report on environmental monitoring requirements
established through the EIA process. Whilst a proponent endeavours to hire the consultant with the
skills and expertise most suited for the task, currently there are no industry standards enforced on
consultants offering specialist subterranean fauna services. Thus, there is no guarantee that services
offered will be designed, implemented and reported on by persons with sufficient skills in this area.
Given a lack of internal expertise and prioritisation against service delivery obligations, it becomes
understandable that consultant reports might not be reviewed for content other than to ensure that
compliance requirements appear to have been met before submitting them to the regulator.
Likewise, one might argue that the regulators charged with administering the compliance of
environmental commitments established through the EIA process also ought to have identified and
addressed these issues earlier. However, to make such an argument one assumes that the
Corporation’s stygofauna compliance reports, amongst the multitude of compliance reports
submitted each year by proponents state-wide, were read and reviewed by regulatory staff who
have sufficient training and knowledge to interpret and challenge the outcomes, if required. In
reality, the disruption of government restructures and continually diminishing resources has
resulted in a ‘check the box’ approach to compliance reporting, with the focus on the number of
reports submitted, not on the data and findings within them. This approach has placed the onus on
proponents to alert the regulator if an impact has occurred. However, a program devised either
without clear reporting criteria or that yields data subject to Type II errors cannot do so, creating a
substantial gap in the regulatory framework in place to protect stygofauna in WA and placing both
proponent and regulator alike at risk of causing environmental harm.
Debate over the scientific and statistical rigour of monitoring programs designed to meet
environmental commitment established through the EIA process is not restricted to stygofauna
management. Fairweather (1991) has argued (somewhat facetiously) that consultants working for
developers subject to the EIA process might be tempted to design programs of low statistical
power; e.g., if the sample size is small enough results will always yield a result of no change. If this
were the case, an argument might then be made that developers unconsciously (or consciously)
encourage this behaviour if the outcome means a project will be approved within a given time
frame using a lesser monitoring program and at a competitively lower cost to the proponent.
Conversely, by not adequately reviewing compliance reports submitted each year in favour of an
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administratively-easier ‘check the box’ approach, the regulator, too, might be viewed as re-
enforcing the adoption of lesser monitoring programs to meet environmental commitments in
place. However, by personifying proponents and regulators in this manner there is a real risk of
falsely accusing one or the other with intent to cause environmental harm. I do not believe this to
be the case at Exmouth but that events reflect the challenge of trying to manage the conservation of
stygofauna populations, by direct or indirect means, without a baseline understanding of natural
variation from which to establish change caused by abstraction from the Corporation’s borefield.
It remains important to identify examples where discrepancies between proponent’s objective and
achievements exist and one is left wondering how widespread the problem is? In this instance, the
Corporation and administrative authorities alike are incredibly fortunate that none of the animals
listed under the WLC Act (1950), likely abstracted or collected via sampling during the 8 year
program, are restricted to the Exmouth borefield. Further, monitoring data indicate that the same
species are present within the borefield now compared to when the program commenced. Should
these circumstances have been to the contrary, this break-down of administration of the legal
obligations to protect listed species might otherwise have triggered legal ramifications escalating
from fines to restriction of the license to operate the borefield to meet town demand. A question of
whether the regulation of stygofauna conservation is appropriate within a compliance-oriented
framework remains unanswered, especially when projects are being approved through the EIA
process under the regulatory proviso that management plans and/or monitoring programs are put in
place to detect harm to stygofauna populations and/or assemblages over time. A seemingly direct
contradiction to the intent behind the precautionary principle, i.e. the absence of scientific
knowledge (e.g. on stygofauna biology and tolerance to change), should not be used as an excuse to
allow harm to occur (e.g. by approving large-scale projects that might impact upon the groundwater
on which stygofauna are dependent).
Recommendations for Exmouth
Findings and discussion presented here provide adequate scope for the Water Corporation to
review current environmental commitments in favour of an alternate research approach to achieve
the overall objective of stygofauna species protection. So the question remains: ‘Where to from
here?’
At present we do not have knowledge of, or control over, the natural changes occurring within the
groundwater system at Exmouth. Nor do we know how these changes influence local stygofauna
community assemblages and their component species populations. Further, technological and
logistical challenges have yet to be overcome to enable the capture of stygofauna species
population data that accurately reflect community dynamics occurring within the aquifer. Without a
baseline understanding of natural variation from which to establish change, impacts to stygofauna
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caused by abstracting from the Corporation’s borefield cannot be demonstrated. Yet, this does not
negate the legal obligation to ensure the protection and survival of existing, and future, stygofauna
communities, either by direct or indirect means. At this point it becomes understandable that the
Corporation, and other proponents alike, might be in a state of confusion over their responsibility
towards stygofauna conservation. However, history dictates that if we put a groundwater system
under extreme stress it will no longer be able to carrying out its ecosystem function to sustain the
biota that depend on it for survival. A sense of logic might then follow that if we don’t put the
system under stress then it might maintain itself under homeostasis. The question is, ‘Where is the
line between sustainable and unsustainable groundwater use at Exmouth?’
Currently, 100% of the estimated freshwater recharge volume entering the Exmouth aquifer each
year is allocated. This ‘sustainable’ volume is based on the average yearly rainfall recorded in the
region and recharges the aquifer, but seemingly does not vary in years of low or high rainfall. The
Exmouth town-site has undergone considerable expansion over the past 10 years, and will continue
to do so for some years yet, to meet the infrastructure needs of a growing tourism and commercial
industry. Thus, it would seem inevitable that demand will exceed the current benchmark volume of
freshwater recharge into the aquifer in the not too distant future. In the absence of scientific
certainty that increased abstraction is not going to cause environmental harm to local stygofauna
populations, an obvious solution would be to cap supply to the town at its present allocation and
leave the remaining unallocated resource to cycle under natural conditions. In the meantime, a
precautionary approach to developing the resource further could be adopted, shifting the focus
away from the traditional compliance framework in favour of research. The challenge would be
then be to come up with innovative ways to improve knowledge on the natural variability of
stygofauna habitat conditions (e.g. cyclic and episodic patterns of change and likely environmental
drivers), stygofauna biology (e.g. in-situ digital imaging and laboratory breeding programs), their
tolerances to changing groundwater conditions (e.g. ecotoxicity testing under laboratory and field
conditions), and reproductive viability under conditions of stress (e.g. testing under laboratory and
field conditions). The management goal might be to establish scientifically a safe percentage or
volume of water that can be utilised for human consumption without causing the subterranean
ecosystem to become stressed. If this could be achieved, it may be possible to justify an increase in
groundwater allocation volumes beyond the current benchmark. Conversely, comprehensive
information on stygofauna biology and tolerances to natural changes might equally be used to
argue a case that natural variability occurring within the aquifer far surpasses the potential impact
of those induced by human use - and negate future regulatory research and/or monitoring
requirements.
Once a decision is made to protect the groundwater system at Exmouth, the argument is not so
much a regulatory one but rather an economic or a social one. The Corporation is the service
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provider of drinking water for Exmouth, yet ultimately it is the end users that drive demand for
increased water allocations which, in turn, increases pressure on the groundwater resource and its
dependent ecosystems. Therefore, should it not be argued that a catchment-scale approach to
groundwater allocations and an alternate pricing strategy be adopted to account for the costs of: a)
undertaking research to meet the regulatory obligations to protect local stygofauna communities;
and, b) sourcing alternative supplies to meet demand of an expanding town? WA State
environmental water provisions policy (WRC, 1999) advocates integration between the RWI Act
(1914) and the EP Act (1986) to protect groundwater dependent ecosystems. National policy in
place for the protection of biodiversity (COABD, 1992) and groundwater resources (ARMCANZ
& ANZECC, 1996; NWI, 2001) advocate research and management across administrative
jurisdictions to capture risks and/or changes occurring at the catchment scale. I believe these same
sentiments should be adopted to develop a research program at Exmouth - beyond the narrow
regulatory focus of individual proponent’s commitments - to the collective impacts of residential,
tourism and commercial users of the aquifer. Post amendments to the EP Act (1986), in 2003, the
onus of protecting stygofauna within the aquifer at Exmouth no longer rests solely upon the
Corporation as the major ‘user’ but extends to all users whose actions may cause material or
serious harm to the fauna, by direct or indirect means. Indeed, the prior approval defence towards
criminal charges under the EP Act (1986) does not extend to the remaining licensed abstractors
and/or developers at Exmouth currently managed by the DoW in accordance with the RWI Act
(1914). Thus, it would seem logical to me that DoW be principally responsible for leading an
alternate research initiative in close collaboration with DEC, EPA, universities and local Exmouth
users. Conversely, are local government planners and councils willing to postpone proposed future
developments until a viable water source has been secured? This was seemingly the intention of the
EPA’s position statement on the Cape Range province by recommending that the town should not
be developed beyond the natural capacity of the aquifer to support the population (EPA, 1999).
5.2. METHODS USED: WEAKNESS AND STRENGTHS
Much of my work is based on data collected from a range of sources of variable quality and
reliability. Consequently, I acknowledge my methods of analyses are subject to associated
limitations predicated upon the origin and time-scales by which these data were collected.
However, the purpose of my thesis was not to criticise these sources but to critique objectively the
effective application of these data to meet regulatory and management objectives in place at
Exmouth. Distinguishing one from the other proved challenging at times, especially when the
foundations of my training in recognising scientific uncertainty did not directly align with my own
practical experience working with environmental regulation as applied to a government enterprise.
Similarly, piecing together relevant amendments to legislative tools and the administrative
decisions made was not easy. Indeed, my findings are limited to publically available material and
123
correspondence between the Corporation and relevant administrative authorities supplemented by
the transfer of knowledge within respective agencies. However, having debated exhaustively the
principles behind my analyses and subsequent findings with participating agencies and other
industry representatives subject to similar assessment and management objectives, I am confident
that my case-study approach provides strength to the basis of my findings, and while my examples
are specific to Exmouth, the principles of the issues addressed undoubtedly span across
disciplinary, industry and State administrative boundaries.
5.3. FUTURE DIRECTION – A NEW ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Based on my findings I propose 4 essential components for a new, proactive, adaptive management
system to evaluate and protect stygofauna diversity in WA:
1) Reform of the current regulatory framework in place to protect stygofauna by establishing
clear, achievable, management objectives that are transparently linked to, and transcend
across, legislative and administrative boundaries;
2) Categorise and priorities environmental, social and economic values attributed to
stygofauna to steer strategic multi-discipline research efforts to improve knowledge on
stygofauna biology and ecosystem stressors caused by groundwater resource development;
3) Develop new and innovative environmental commitments through State and
Commonwealth impact assessments that are achievable within a given close-out period (3-
5 years) and inform an adaptive management approach to 1&2; and
4) Create a multi-disciplinary panel with collective experience in environmental law,
groundwater hydrology, subterranean aquatic ecology, government and industry practice to
review and coordinate university, government and industry collaboration to meet the needs
of 1, 2 & 3.
The need to protect stygofauna reflects a prevailing social conscience of the time that the laws and
subsequent management objectives were written. Although environmental laws in place wield hefty
ramifications for those who contravene their boundaries, these laws are seldom enforced. Without
clear, achievable management objectives that are transparently linked back to their parent
legislation, it appears difficult to trigger regulatory mechanisms in place to protect stygofauna
species or the habitat upon which they are dependent. However, limited resources should not be
used as an excuse for opting for the administratively-easier compliance approach to legislative
regulation if it generates substantial gaps in the framework and undermines the ubiquitous nature of
the principles upon which these laws are. Funding the training and placement of people to alleviate
the administrative burden and reforming the current regulatory framework in place to protect
stygofauna would go a long way to providing for their conservation in WA.
124
Concurrently, those driven by restricted research and consultative interests should acknowledge
that selective protection of single species is largely a reactive response to a much bigger issue and
ultimately delays the protection of the ecosystem upon which they are dependent. Some might
argue that to protect a single species paves a rational argument to protect community assemblages
in the long run because they have similar habitat requirements. However, a counter argument might
be that a more effective approach would be to prevent single species or communities from being
listed in the first place - by protecting the system on which they depend. The former approach
simply places pressure on resource managers and proponents alike to ensure species survival
without understanding their basic biological and ecological requirements. The evolution of
regulatory protection of stygofauna in WA is a perfect case in point. Public, scientific and
regulatory perceptions might regard monitoring as a justifiable strategy in its own right to support
management outcomes – but I support this notion only if those data collected do, in fact, inform
focused management objectives. I argue here that monitoring places a large financial burden on the
taxpayer and/or proponent; I also argue the act of sampling may in fact counter the conservation
objectives for implementing the program in the first place. Hence, I believe these potential
problems should be acknowledged and addressed transparently across legal, government, industry
and public sectors. Although the task of legislative reform is daunting, and quite possibly may not
yield a satisfactory outcome, potential does exist within current legislative tools to implement
alternative strategies and initiatives to reduce the lack of scientific certainty that prevails on the
biology and physiology of stygofauna species to withstand deleterious impacts of groundwater
resource development. However, before such initiatives can be implemented, a question of value,
reflecting present-day social views as to why stygofauna should be protected, needs to be clarified.
A scientific value has long been associated with stygofauna distributions globally based on the
supportive evidence they provide to theories of continental drift and sea level changes associated
with periods of interglacial climate change (Humphreys, 1993; Knott, 1993). National and
international biodiversity and groundwater policy objectives attribute differing values to stygofauna
collectively (or in isolation) as: biodiversity reserves, ecosystem service providers, or as biological
sentinels of environmental change. Further, national and WA State legislation principally used for
their protection focus directly on the importance of species and/or communities deemed to be of
environmental ‘value’ or in need of special protection. Yet, two major factors remain that threaten
the continued existence of stygofauna populations:
1) Stygofauna are not readily visible, charismatic or quantifiable to the general public to
attribute a social, cultural, historical or ethical value to their existence; and,
125
2) A general lack of knowledge of the ecological importance of these animals to global
systems functions prevents attributing a value for their existence against competing
economic and political agendas (MacKay, 2006).
While their future survival is inextricably linked to ground water presence, the biotic potential of
stygofauna communities, or their component species, has yet to be linked to water in a way to
which society can relate (Susac, 2007). It has been suggested, although not stringently tested, that
stygofauna may provide an essential ecosystem service by contributing to groundwater quality via
nutrient cycling or bioremediation (Danielopol et al., 2003; Hancock et al., 2005). If research were
focused on investigating the use of stygofauna species as biological indicators of deleterious
changes in groundwater resources used for potable water supply, then a social or economic value
might be attributed for their protection. Similarly, if species assemblages were found to correlate
either with mineral deposits of interest to multi-national corporate entities or the age of ground
water that contain them, then collaborative research initiatives might entice the financial leverage
required to assess the impacts of mining beneath the water table on national and international
scales. By categorising and prioritising environmental, social and economic values attributed to
stygofauna we can then steer strategic multi-discipline research efforts to improve knowledge on
stygofauna biology and ecosystem stressors caused by groundwater resource development.
Of course, there are significant philosophical differences between protecting stygofauna for their
own sake versus attribution of values based upon how stygofauna might benefit either ecosystems,
and/or human activities directly. The former approach originates from a moral or ethical debate
over the ‘right’ of all living organisms to exist – unreservedly advocating the absolute protection of
stygofauna at both individual and community levels (Singer, 1989). This is somewhat analogous to
the ‘light green’ category of environmentalism, adopted by those members of society who feel a
strong sense of personal responsibility towards protecting the environment and change their
lifestyle, behaviour or pattern of consumerism (e.g. using water wisely). Alternatively, the
‘beneficial use’ (or ‘deep green’) approach builds on this concept but encompasses a much broader
perspective of environmental protection, recognising that humans are an integral part of the
environment and in some instances places greater value on non-human species, natural processes
and ecosystem functions. Those who support this view believe that political change at the
community level and a vision of collective action are both required to protect environmental values
of interest. However, the latter argument that stygofauna may play a ‘beneficial role’ to humans
directly, brings with it an additional level of complexity requiring aspects of moral and cultural
beliefs to be balanced against available technologies, cultural demography, and competing
economic interests.
I endorse a ‘bright green’ approach to developing improvements to the regulatory protection of
stygofauna in Australia, i.e. embracing and advancing a ‘deep green’ approach to stygofauna
126
through the development and use of new technologies. It is inevitable that scientific evidence of
long-term impacts or ‘sustainability’ of ground water use based on reproductive viability of
stygofauna will be slow and require an innovative approach to develop new monitoring techniques
that can inform interim management options without jeopardising the very species they are trying
to protect. The use of digital imaging and modelling is now well established in other research fields
and already proving successful for measuring and projecting impacts on population assemblages
and ecosystem response. The principles underlying existing research can readily be adapted to
subterranean groundwater ecosystems given the appropriate resourcing and refined research focus
to achieve management objectives. Digital imaging provides opportunities to improve the statistical
rigour of stygofauna monitoring whilst simultaneously improving knowledge on biology and
reproductive viability of stygofauna to changing environmental conditions. The compilation of
digital imaging data gathered from intensive, short-term projects throughout a variety of geological
environments could, no doubt, provide a basis for data modelling to project long-term effects of
groundwater resource development. As with all scientific programs, the outcomes will be highly
dependent on the quality of data collected but assumptions and limitations can be factored in and
modified as new data become available. The combined benefits of this alternative approach provide
an excellent opportunity to shorten time-fames upon which to base management decisions.
Policy lies at the interface of law and science, intended as a tool to integrate and translate legal
obligations alongside issues of technical feasibility, scientific knowledge and socio economic
aspects for management purposes. Yet, conflicts can emerge where the intentions of scientifically
desirable management outcomes differ from the reality of legal and regulatory frameworks in place
to deliver these (Quevauviller, 2008). Effective protection will require collaborative efforts
between legal, scientific, government and industry contributions co-ordinated by a central objective
to improve knowledge to inform better longer-term regulatory driven management outcomes of
stygofauna protection. However, as highlighted throughout my thesis, collaboration across
jurisdictional and disciplinary boundaries is often difficult to achieve when decisions are subject to
competing legislative, administrative, political and resourcing issues. Thus, I propose the
establishment of a panel of members representing collective experience in environmental law,
subterranean aquatic ecology and industry partnerships to: co-ordinate a united approach to this
issue; develop a network of research projects that leverage off government and industry funding;
and establish a ‘Centre of Excellence’ to develop world-leading digital imaging and modelling
initiatives, alongside reproductive and ecological tolerance research, to achieve the overall
objective of stygofauna protection. The outcomes from this Centre should continually inform an
adaptive management approach to regulatory compliance requirements set on large-scale
groundwater development projects. The panel appointed to the Centre should collaborate with, but
remain independent of, government regulatory bodies for the performance of its functions - to
127
ensure autonomy from existing political, scientific or stakeholder interest groups whose objectives
might conflict with the panel’s combined professional judgements.
My thesis shows the value of having extended times for reflection and analysis beyond the normal
hustle and bustle of everyday work pressures to achieve insights and identify gaps in existing
regulatory frameworks in place to protect stygofauna. My overarching hypothesis is that ‘the
current regulatory framework in place in WA to protect stygofauna and the groundwater resources
on which they depend – as defined by national and WA State legislation - is not adequate to
provide for their protection’. Although my hypothesis is supported, I admit my findings are the
opposite of expectations. While legislative tools are in place to meet the overall objective of
stygofauna protection, the cumulative consequences of the regulatory framework, subsequent
administrative protocols and decisions presented, and a continuing dearth of science on the biology
and ecological tolerances of stygofauna, provide evidence to the contrary. I have identified a way
forward that, if implemented, would overcome the gaps identified here and look forward to seeing
in the near future vast improvements towards overcoming these existing challenges.
129
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1
APPENDICES
SWIM BORES
EPHEMERAL DRAINAGE
SEASONAL FLOODING
PRODUCTION BORE
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143
APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF EXMOUTH CASE-STUDY STYGOFAUNA DATA (1999-2007)
a) Total abundance data for the 12 higher taxa recorded from the Corporation’s Exmouth stygofauna monitoring program (1999-2007). Data are summed across 21 monitoring bores sampled to represent the ‘aquifer’ on 24 sampling occasions. Total abundance records for depletion sampling in Mar-99 are also presented.
Date Nematoda Sabellida Oligochaeta Bathynellacea Decapoda Thermosbaenacean Isopoda Amphipoda Copepoda Ostracoda Acarina PerciformesMar-1999 0 4 0 0 63 2 2 220 2 0 0 0Jun-1999 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 25 0 0 0 0Dec-1999 0 0 0 0 11 17 0 37 0 0 0 0Apr-2000 0 0 0 0 19 61 0 28 7 0 0 0Jul-2000 0 0 0 0 25 43 0 30 0 0 0 1Dec-2000 0 0 0 0 37 26 0 14 2 0 0 0Apr-2001 0 0 0 0 51 38 0 23 99 0 0 0Jul-2001 0 0 0 0 28 71 2 12 16 0 0 0Nov-2001 0 0 0 0 28 82 0 8 74 0 0 0Apr-2002 0 0 0 0 31 118 0 18 111 0 0 0Aug-2002 0 0 0 0 34 131 1 15 27 3 0 1Dec-2002 0 0 0 0 54 64 0 39 44 0 0 0Apr-2003 0 0 0 0 58 33 0 17 34 0 0 0Jul-2003 0 1 7 0 27 98 8 14 75 7 0 0Dec-2003 0 2 4 0 33 77 3 6 65 3 4 1Apr-2004 0 4 0 0 34 129 1 10 70 10 3 1Jul-2004 0 0 0 0 20 101 0 14 106 4 1 0Dec-2004 0 0 0 0 11 46 0 3 81 4 0 0Apr-2005 0 0 0 2 30 163 0 14 68 0 0 0Jul-2005 0 0 0 0 40 140 0 3 206 0 0 0Dec-2005 0 0 0 0 7 10 0 0 12 0 0 0Apr-2006 0 0 0 0 12 3 0 1 4 0 0 0Jul-2006 5 0 1 0 44 99 0 9 360 9 14 0Dec-2006 5 0 9 0 65 99 0 21 543 11 49 0Apr-2007 5 0 0 0 50 30 0 13 462 2 10 0
128
144
APPENDIX 1 cont’d
b) Presence data for the 12 taxa recorded from the Corporation’s Exmouth stygofauna monitoring program (1999-2007). Higher taxa are recorded for 21 monitoring bores reported from 24 sampling occasions plus depletion sampling in Mar-99.
Bore Nematoda Sabellida Oligochaeta Bathynellacea Decapoda Thermosbaenacean Isopoda Amphipoda Copepoda Ostracoda Acarina Perciformes
DSO1/96 0 0 0 2 9 11 0 5 10 0 0 0
DSO2/96 4 0 9 0 77 2 0 22 10 0 1 0
DSO4/96 0 0 2 0 12 29 0 1 50 0 13 3
DSO6/96 0 0 0 0 32 40 0 5 10 0 2 0
MB1 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0
MB10 0 0 0 0 5 18 0 7 65 0 0 0
MB12 0 0 1 0 5 15 1 0 0 0 1 0
MB14 0 0 0 0 35 343 1 12 68 1 0 0
MB17 0 0 0 0 91 10 0 36 132 1 0 0
MB18 2 0 0 0 20 177 0 3 354 0 1 0
MB24 0 0 0 0 31 1 0 23 0 1 0 0
MB26 0 0 0 0 11 19 0 19 148 0 0 0
MB29 0 0 0 0 17 568 1 30 476 3 4 0
MB30 0 0 0 0 145 10 0 96 406 53 4 0
MB31 0 0 3 0 61 46 0 18 282 0 40 0
MB34 1 3 0 0 22 0 0 2 36 0 0 0
MB35 4 0 0 0 14 16 2 8 10 5 4 0
MB37 2 0 0 0 12 22 8 20 40 1 1 0
MB38 0 1 0 0 24 30 0 16 148 0 6 0
MB39 2 3 0 0 60 92 0 19 9 0 4 0
MB40 2 0 0 0 48 232 0 37 228 0 1 0
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APPENDIX 2: DIGITAL IMAGING
Background information:
The following image sequences were captured during equipment trials at Exmouth of a new digital
camera developed during my PhD canditure in collaboration with the technical support team listed
on p. xi. The overarching objective was to create an imaging device that could capture stygofauna
presence and species assemblages data in-situ within a bore hole. The long-term objective is to
develop imaging as an alternative, non-lethal, sampling technique to netting and pumping currently
employed to collect surveilence data.
Previous attempts to capture in-situ images of stygofauna from Exmouth (Humphreys, 1996) and
the wider Pilbara region (DEC, 2006) provided new insights into stygofauna assemblages within
bore holes, however practical application of footage collected from these devices is hindered by
poor image quality, restricted field of view, insufficient data storage capacity and were labour
intensive to operate. This new camera overcomes many of these obstacles with initial image
sequences generating numerous opportunities for research into facets of stygofauna biology.
Technical information:
The image sequences from the new camera comprise strings of 8 digital frames captured per
second (viewed as continuous footage) - but these images can be segregated into individual files.
The camera lens is water-corrected so objects in view are real-size although depth of field varies
with the size of target object in focus. The camera is equipt with LED lights (no heat source),
remotely-operated focus and iris control, a depth sensor to record distance below the water table
and 2 x strobe capacitors (i.e. flash to take image stills) - all contained within a pressure-
proof/water-proof housing. The camera housing connects to a cable which is lowered on a winch
system to a maximum depth of 100 m. The digital image sequences are sent real-time to the surface
and recorded to an external hard drive via a laptop inteface.
Two image sequences are presented here (recorded in October 2008), illustrating:
• Both types of monitoring bores sampled during the Exmouth stygofauna program to meet EIA
derived monitoring commitments; and
• Two of the larger stygofauna taxa previously reported as collected from the stygofauna
monitroing program 1999-2008
146
Milyeringa veritas
Subphylum VERTEBRATA
Class OSTEICHTHYES
Subclass ACTINOPTERYGII
Order PERCIFORMES:ELEOTRIDAE
Milyeringa veritas Whitley, 1945
The attached.avi sequence was recorded from DSO15/08, a bore recently drilled adjacent to the
approved southern extensions of the Exmouth borefield, ~1 km inland from the gulf coastline and
~9 km south of the town centre. A downward-looking perspective of the water column shows the
internal structural characteristics of a DSO bore, i.e. 145 mm diameter pvc casing with 25 x 290
mm vertical slotting offset in layers along the entire bore casing. The surrounding limestone
substrate can be seen through these slots and the ground water column extends through fresh (<3
g/L salinity), mixing and marine waters – likely reflecting aquifer conditions immediatly
surrounding the bore. Footage was captured 5 m below the water table, within groundwater of 3
g/L salinity (just above the more saline mixing zone).
Observations:
• In the 2 mins 30 secs of footage provided, 3 individual fish can be seen in the central,
upper-right and central-left portions of the screen. The distinctive morphological features that
characterise stygofauna, collectively, can be seen clearly on the gudgeon that appears in the top
right hand side of screen approximately 30 seconds in to the footage, i.e. a lack of pigmentation
with a transluscent appearance, an absense of visual apparatus (eyes) and relatively small body
size (note: bore slots provide scale for fish).
• The blind gudgeon, presumed to be Milyering veritas, is a stygofaunal fish listed as in need
of special protection under the EPBC Act, 1999 (Cth) and the WLC Act, 1950 (WA). The
footage shows the image quality of the camera is already sufficient to observe presence and
abundance of fish in-situ within a DSO bore. However, at present we do not have knowledge
of, or have control over, the spatial and temporal scales of natural changes occurring within the
groundwater system at Exmouth. Nor do we know how these changes influence local
stygofauna community assemblages and their component species populations.
• Slow swimming behaviour observed reflects the common name given to the family
Eleotridae (‘night sleepers’) and supports the notion that relatively constant groundwater
conditions require less energy to maintain core body functionas thus lowering the requirement
for a reliable food supply. However, image sequences collected from a range of DSO bores
DSO15082gudgeonsshort.avi
147
suggest variable levels of swimming activity over similar periods of time - including vertical
movement through the water column.
• In October 2008, image sequences of blind fish were captured in 5 of 8 DSO bores located
adjacent to southern extensions of borefield (including DSO4/96 and DSO1/96 of the existing
monitoring program). During the Corporation’s 8 year stygofauna monitoring program (24
sampling occasions), only three fish specimens have been collected in net samples from one
bore (DSO4/96) giving the impression that the fish are rare with restricted distribution. This
new data suggests net sampling technique may not be adequately capturing species presence
within selected DSO monitoring bores, hindering attemps to ascertain broader-scale aquifer
diversity of relevence for managing the influence of borefield abstraction of local species
populations.
• Presence of fish within DSO bores several km inland from the coast provides supporting
evidence that extensive channels exist within the local subterranean strata. These channels may
potentially provide networks for strong-swimming stygofauna (such as the fish) to move
throughout the aquifer in search of food or preferred habitat conditions. It is also possible that
these same channels may provide opportunity for changes in spatial distributions of smaller
fauna possibly carried via groundwater flows during episodic rainfall events or sea water
intrusion caused by severe storm events.
• Relevent to management, influences of adjacent land use practices are likely to affect
stygofauna diversity within the aquifer well beyond the boundaries of the borefield –
implicating the Exmouth waste disposal site, dewatering from the marina development, private
bore abstraction etc. This also raises issues over established management objectives for the
Cameran’s Cave Threatened Ecological community which is located adjacent to the borefield
and within existing and planned residential zoning.
148
APPENDIX 2 cont’d
Subphylum CRUSTACEA
Class MALACOSTRACA Latreille, 1802
Order DECAPODA: ATYIDAE
Stygiocaris stylifera Holthuis, 1960
Background information:
The above .avi sequence was recorded from MB29, a bore situated adjacent to an operational
production bore within the Exmouth borefild: ~3.5 km inland from the gulf coastline and ~ 3 km
south of the Exmouth town centre. A downward-looking perspective of the water column shows
the internal structural characteristics of a MB bore, i.e. 80 mm diameter pvc casing with 2 mm
horizontal slotting over the bottom 3 m of bore. Access to the surrounding limestone substrate is
restricted via these slots which intersect the fresh (<1 g/L salinity) ground water lens only. Aquifer
conditions are reflected only at the slotted interface and not in the ‘dead’ zone of the water column
above the slotting interface. Footage attached was captured at the bottom of the bore, ~8 m below
the water table, within groundwater of <1g/L salinity (depth to the more saline mixing zone is
unknown).
Observations and potential for future research:
• In the 1 min 10 secs of footage provided, numerous Atyid shrimp (>30) can be seen across the
screen, moving in front and behind the camera field of view. The size and morphological
features of the shrimp can be seen most clearly when they are resting on the bore casing or
substrate protruding through the 2 mm slots. A large portion of such substrate fell to the
bottom of the bore prior to this image sequence being recorded – reducing the number of
shrimp initially present and triggering some activity in the intial stages of the sequence, i.e. the
shrimp were disturbed by falling debris. The strobe (flash) is also operating in this sequnce
with the shutter open to capture image stills – thus some individuals appeared blurred when
they swim across the water column because they are swimming faster than the shutter speed.
• The atyid shrimps recorded in the attached footage are presumed to be Stygiocaris stylifera,
based on previous monitoring records at this bore and published geographic distributions of the
similar looking Stygiocaris lancifera. Unlike the fish, accurate identification of stygal crustacea
to lower taxonomic levels using digital imagery, in-situ of a bore, will require some innovative
problem solving (i.e. dyes for genetic markers, spatial recognition software etc.). Similarly,
identifying and tracking an individual’s movement over temporal and spatial scales will require
careful consideration. However, given rapid advancements in genetic and information
MB29_stygiocaris.avi
149
technologies in recent years, I believe, successfully overcoming such hurdles is no longer
inconceivable – it is inevitable - given appropriate resourcing.
• A major focal point of the footage attached is that the atyid shrimps are concentrated within the
bore in large numbers and feeding upon a dead lizard carcass lying at the bottom of the bore -
moving freely in and out of the bore casing via the slots. Image sequences obtained from other
MB sites during the camera trials had far fewer atyid shrimp (<5) and no dead lizards. The
footage provides support for current hypotheses that bores become nutrients sinks resulting in
higher abundance / diversity of stygofauna inside a bore compared to the surrounding aquifer.
• Issues of sampling effect to consider: a) at any one time species numbers may reflect food
source in bore or carcass in nearby cave, not signs of stress driven by surrounding aquifer
conditions; b) additional food sources in bores may provide desirable habitat conditions for
some species to breed - resulting in boom and bust changes to population numbers not reflected
in surrounding aquifer; c) if bores become desirable breeding grounds due to the presence of a
reliable (relatively speaking – until detritus decomposes or is eaten) food source, then net
sampling for monitoring purposes may be impacting on surrounding aquifer populations by
removing dominant species in community assemblage; d) bores may become a breeding
ground for microbial / bacterial colonies within aquifer which is used as a drinking water
resource for humans - stygofauna may act as vectors of dispersion; and e) the opposite effect
may apply in all above scenarios for those species less tolerant to contaminated ground water
conditions.
• The size, length and placement of the slotting within MBs preclude larger forms of stygofauna
(i.e. the fish) from entering the bore – most likely hindering accurate representation of species
diversity within the surrounding aquifer. In comparison to the DSO bores, the slotted interface
of each MB intersects 3 m only of the fresh ground water lens, although movement of fauna
from the surrounding aquifer is likely controlled by the structure of adjacent substrata. For
example, the absence of stygofauna within a bore that intersects through (or nearby to) an
aquatard, may reflect an inability for fauna to access the bore not surrounding ground water
quality conditions. Alternatively, a MB may intersect a cavity (or cave system) which allows
for species to migrate vertically and/or longitudinally through the aquifer to enter the bore.
However, in this instance the groundwater conditions from which they originate may vary
considerably from the surrounding aquifer intersected by the bore.
150
151
APPENDIX 3: PROPOSED COMMITMENTS (MUIR ENVIRONMENTAL, 1995)
The follow excerpts have been taken directly from the Extensions to Exmouth Water Supply Borefield: Consultative Environmental Review (Muir Environmental, 1995). The ‘Proponent’s Commitments’ are as proposed by the Corporation to the EPA for monitoring and management of extension to the Exmouth water supply borefield for assessment under Part IV of the EP Act (1986).
152
APPENDIX 3 cont’d
153
APPENDIX 3 cont’d
154
APPENDIX 3 cont’d
155
APPENDIX 4: PROPOSED COMMITMENTS (WATER CORPORATION, 1996)
The follow excerpts have been taken directly from the Supplementary Investigations of the Effects of Public Water Supply Abstraction on the Stygofauna and Aquifer of the Cape Range (Water Corporation, 1996). The ‘Monitoring, Reporting and Management’ section details new proposed new commitments proposed by the Corporation to the EPA for monitoring and management of extension to the Exmouth water supply borefield – as an addendum for assessment under Part IV of the EP Act (1986).
156
APPENDIX 4 cont’d
157
157
APPENDIX 5: PROPONENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS (MoE, 1996)
The follow excerpts have been taken directly from the Proponent’s Environmental Management Commitments, published in the Ministerial Statement for the Extensions to Exmouth Water Supply Borefield: Town of Exmouth (Assessment 921: Statement 459) (MoE, 1996).
159
APPENDIX 6: YEAR 7 PCR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (KBR, 2005)
The follow excerpts have been taken directly from the Executive Summary of the Exmouth Wellfield: Stygofauna Monitoring and Water Column Profiling: Year 7 Report July 2004-April 2005 (KBR, 2005).
160
APPENDIX 6 cont’d
161
APPENDIX 6 cont’d
162
APPENDIX 6 cont’d
163
APPENDIX 7: 2008 EXMOUTH WATER ALLOCATION LICENSE REPORT
The follow excerpts have been taken directly from the Annual Statement to Water and Rivers
Commission for the period April 2007- March 2008 (Water Corporation, unpublished). These
excerpts are examples of annual compliance data submitted by the Corporation to the Department
of Water in order to meet license conditions set under the RWI Act (1914) and Part IV of the EP
Act (1986) and subsequently supply Exmouth with drinking water.
164
164
APPENDIX 7 cont’d
165
APPENDIX 7 cont’d
An example of production bore data reporting – pp 3
166
APPENDIX 7 cont’d
An example of monitoring observation bore data reporting – pp 6
167
127 167
APPENDIX 8: SALINITY PROFILES POST EPISODIC RAINFALL EVENT
a) Salinity profiles through fresh, mixing and marine zones of the aquifer/s recorded prior to and following Mar-08 rainfall event (highlighted in green) at DSO1/96.
28/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 22/04/2008 04/05/2008 06/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 4028/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 22/04/2008 04/05/2008 06/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
168
168 APPENDIX 8 cont’d
b) Salinity profiles through fresh, mixing and marine zones of the aquifer/s recorded prior to and following Mar-08 rainfall event (highlighted in green) at DSO 2/96
20/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 04/05/2008 20/05/2008 11/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
20/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 04/05/2008 20/05/2008 11/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
169
127 169
APPENDIX 8 cont’d
c) Salinity profiles through fresh, mixing and marine zones of the aquifer/s recorded prior to and following Mar-08 rainfall event (highlighted in green) at DSO 6/96
20/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 04/05/2008 20/05/2008 08/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
NO DATA
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
NO DATA
20/02/2008 07/03/2008 30/03/2008 31/03/2008 01/04/2008 02/04/2008
14/04/2008 04/05/2008 20/05/2008 08/08/2008 14/10/2008
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
NO DATA
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 400
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40
NO DATA