BURDEKIN REGIONDon catchment water quality targets
Catchment profileUnder the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan, water quality targets have been set for each catchment that drains to the Great Barrier Reef. These targets (given over the page) consider land use and pollutant loads from each catchment.
The Don catchment covers 3736 km2 (3% of the Burdekin region). Rainfall averages 871 mm a year, which results in river discharges to the coast of about 735 GL each year.
The Don catchment is the southernmost catchment along the coastal edge of the Burdekin region. The Don is divided into three sub-catchments, Upstart Bay in the north, Abbot Bay in the middle and the Don River in the south. A number of small creeks drain the grazing lands in the north of the catchment directly to the coastal shores of Upstart Bay. Elliot River and Euri Creek flow to Abbot Bay in the central region, which is largely a grazing area with some horticulture and cropping. The Don River is the main waterway and captures the majority of the southern part of the catchment, including vast areas of grazing in the west. The township of Bowen is located just to the south of the mouth of the Don River, where horticulture and cropping are also prevalent.
20 40 60 80 100
Grazing WaterNature
conservationHorticulture
Irrigated croppingSugarcane
UrbanOther
Forestry
0%
Land uses in the Don catchmentThe main land uses are grazing (81%), water (7%), and nature conservation (7%).
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B o w e nB o g i e
S u b - c a t c h m e n t
E a s t B u r d e k i nS u b - c a t c h m e n t
L o w e r B u r d e k i nS u b - c a t c h m e n t
L o w e r B u r d e k i nS u b - c a t c h m e n t
StoneReef
Rita Island
Peters Island
GrassyIsland
GloucesterIsland
Stone Island
B u r d e k i n C a t c h m e n t
Haughton Catchment
O C o n n e l l C a t c h m e n t
P r o s e r p i n e C a t c h m e n t
Cape Gloucester
CapeEdgecumbe
Cape Upstart
A b b o t B a y
U p s t a r t B a y
E d g e c u m b e B a y
Double Bay
Curlewis Bay
Proserpine
Bowen
Ayr
Brandon
Home Hill
Collinsville
Merinda
Oco
nnell
R.
Burd ekin
Riv
er
Pelican Creek
SandyCreek
BurdekinRiver
Bowen River
Pros erpine River
DonRi
ver
D
on R iver
Bogie River
Bogie R.
D o n R i v e r C a t c h m e n t
0 6 12 18 24 30
Kilometres
S:\OGBR\d170612 GBR catchments map\GBR catchments map_A4P_v03.mxd31 July 2017
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LanduseNature conservationForestryGrazing
Irrigated croppingDryland croppingSugarcaneHorticultureBananaDairyUrban and other intensive usesMiningStream/water inc. damsOther
Legend!(T
MangroveSeagrass
Sewage treatment plant (STP)
CatchmentHighwaysSecondary roads
Modelled water quality pollutant loadsThe Don catchment has minimal anthropogenic dissolved inorganic nitrogen loads. The aim is to reduce loads of fine sediment, most of which come from gully erosion in grazing areas.
reefplan.qld.gov.au
2025 water quality targets and priorities
End-of-catchment anthropogenic load reductions required from 2013 baseline
Pesticides
Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN)
Fine sediment Particulate phosphorus (PP)
Particulate nitrogen (PN)
maintain current load
30% 55 kilotonnes
30% 43 tonnes
30% 75 tonnes
To protect at least
99% of aquatic species at the end of catchment
The 2025 targets aim to reduce the amounts of fine sediments, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and pesticides flowing to the reef. Where there are minimal anthropogenic pollutant loads, the aim is to maintain current water quality so there are no increases in loads. Each target for sediment and nutrients is expressed as: (a) the percentage load reduction required compared with the 2013 estimated load of each pollutant from the catchment; and (b) the load reductions required in tonnes. Progress made since 2013 will count towards these targets. Previously reported progress between 2009 and 2013 has already been accounted for when setting the targets. The pesticide target aims to ensure that concentrations of pesticides at the end of each catchment are low enough that 99% of aquatic species are protected. The targets are ecologically relevant for the Great Barrier Reef, and are necessary to ensure that broadscale land uses have no detrimental effect on the reef’s health and resilience.
A high percentage reduction target may not necessarily mean it is the highest priority. The priorities (ranked by colour) reflect the relative risk assessment priorities for water quality improvement, based on an independent report, the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement. The priorities reflect scientific assessment of the likely risks of pollutants damaging coastal and marine ecosystems.
Water quality relative priority
Very high
High
Moderate
Low
Minimal
Not assessed
Most anthropogenic fine sediment loads come from grazing and streambank erosion areas.
Fine sediment
Grazing Streambankerosion
Irrigatedcropping
Dryland croppingOther
Sugarcane
Most sediment erosion comes from gullies and hillslopes in the Don catchment.
Types of sediment erosion
Gully Hillslope Streambank
0% 100