Gosford City Council Historical Water Quality Review & Analysis

Gosford City Council Historical Water Quality Review & Analysis Gosford City Council Historical Water Quality Review & Analysis

gosford.nsw.gov.au
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01.01.2014 Views

FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR WATER QUALITY / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH MONITORING 4-12 4.4 Outcomes from Community Workshops A series of workshops were held (on 23 June 2003) with the Gosford community to discuss the future directions for Council-operated water quality monitoring of Brisbane Water and the coastal lagoons. Presented below is a summary of the key issues raised by community members during these workshops. 4.4.1 General Comments The following general comments were made by the community: • Want water to be safe to swim in and safe for aquatic life, including coastal lagoons • Better integration of monitoring by CCCEN, Waterwatch and oyster farms, as well as Council monitoring, is required • Need to use the data once it is collected • Is there a need for more extensive biomonitoring, including pests? • Water quality in coastal lagoons needs to be considered in light of their hydrologic cycles • Water quality of coastal lagoons is different from Brisbane Waters • Need to monitor for environmental health • Can’t rely on tidal flushing to keep water quality good, therefore need to focus on remediation of catchment activities • Hawkesbury catchment has generally been overlooked in the past 4.4.2 Possible Sites for Future Monitoring The following locations were suggested by the community members, as possible sites for future monitoring; • Green Point Creek, Pearl Beach • Siltation at Killcare and Hardys Bay • More offshore sites needed to provide picture of broader waterway • Erina Creek, particularly given all the development • GPTs • Target worst sites from past data, including industrial areas • Top of the catchment • Wamberal Lagoon – housing development upstream • Stormwater outfall and at marinas • Areas of landfill D:\R.N0754.002.01.DOC 7/11/03 16:11

FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR WATER QUALITY / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH MONITORING 4-13 4.4.3 Possible Parameters for Future Monitoring The following comments regarding what to monitor, were made by community members: • More public health parameters • Turbidity, particularly in the Hawkesbury catchment • Different sites may require different tests • Biological parameters, eg plankton • Chemical parameters • Physical parameters • Bacterial parameters, eg E. coli in areas of septic tank usage • Flow, eg in Erina Creek • Urban contaminants, as measured in GPTs 4.4.4 Possible Frequency of Monitoring The community provided the following comments regarding when to monitor in the future: • Monitor storm events, using automatic samplers • Pre-development to get baseline conditions 4.4.5 Possible Ways of Reporting the Data The community expressed a number of concerns regarding dissemination of the data collected. The following are comments provided by the community in this regard: • Information needs to be reported back to people doing the monitoring (Waterwatch specifically) and a formal network is needed • Need a common database for all water quality data and a website to access the data • Establish an e-mail forum • State of Environment reports, with specific community profiles and feedback on success of what has been done • Once a year formally, with quarterly updates on website and in local paper, and possibly rates notices • Star rating is a concern as it is subjective • Need to see actual data on website if want to • Differentiate community feedback based on regional locality and relevance to waterways (eg. Woy Woy residents not interested in coastal lagoons data) • Use the media wherever possible and maximise education opportunities D:\R.N0754.002.01.DOC 7/11/03 16:11

FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR WATER QUALITY / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH MONITORING 4-12<br />

4.4 Outcomes from Community Workshops<br />

A series of workshops were held (on 23 June 2003) with the <strong>Gosford</strong> community to discuss the future<br />

directions for <strong>Council</strong>-operated water quality monitoring of Brisbane <strong>Water</strong> and the coastal lagoons.<br />

Presented below is a summary of the key issues raised by community members during these<br />

workshops.<br />

4.4.1 General Comments<br />

The following general comments were made by the community:<br />

• Want water to be safe to swim in and safe for aquatic life, including coastal lagoons<br />

• Better integration of monitoring by CCCEN, <strong>Water</strong>watch and oyster farms, as well as <strong>Council</strong><br />

monitoring, is required<br />

• Need to use the data once it is collected<br />

• Is there a need for more extensive biomonitoring, including pests?<br />

• <strong>Water</strong> quality in coastal lagoons needs to be considered in light of their hydrologic cycles<br />

• <strong>Water</strong> quality of coastal lagoons is different from Brisbane <strong>Water</strong>s<br />

• Need to monitor for environmental health<br />

• Can’t rely on tidal flushing to keep water quality good, therefore need to focus on remediation of<br />

catchment activities<br />

• Hawkesbury catchment has generally been overlooked in the past<br />

4.4.2 Possible Sites for Future Monitoring<br />

The following locations were suggested by the community members, as possible sites for future<br />

monitoring;<br />

• Green Point Creek, Pearl Beach<br />

• Siltation at Killcare and Hardys Bay<br />

• More offshore sites needed to provide picture of broader waterway<br />

• Erina Creek, particularly given all the development<br />

• GPTs<br />

• Target worst sites from past data, including industrial areas<br />

• Top of the catchment<br />

• Wamberal Lagoon – housing development upstream<br />

• Stormwater outfall and at marinas<br />

• Areas of landfill<br />

D:\R.N0754.002.01.DOC 7/11/03 16:11

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