Hunter Local Land Services

Congewai and Quorrobolong Catchment Improvement Program Hunter Water is investing $400,000 in a Catchment Improvement Program in partnership with Hunter Local Land Services, to improve water quality in Congewai and Quorrobolong Creeks. The program will be implemented over four years from 2016/17 (with potential to continue for additional two years) and will involve works such as erosion control, revegetation and urban storm-water management, to improve water quality by reducing the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients entering the creeks.

Hunter Local Land Services, working with Hunter Water, will support landholders in the catchment area, providing technical and property management advice, coordinate and deliver incentive funding, provide support to applicants, and support to landholders with funded activities, and provide ongoing support to projects.

Annual incentives are released to landholders in the program area, and landholders are encouraged to actively seek advice and support from Local Land Services staff, in the lead up to incentive programs, to develop and design project activities. It is proposed that incentives will be released annually, between May-June each year, with the final round proposed for 2019/20 May-June period. All incentives are provided on a competitive basis by an assessment panel.

Since the partnership commenced in 2016/17, 10 landholders have been supported to deliver activities on their properties through two incentive programs, within the priority catchment area. Hunter Local Land Services has delivered multiple workshop events, supporting incentive recipients, water-watch activities, cultural heritage assessments and biosecurity and weed information.

See page three for more details.

Figure 1: Riparian Fencing on Congewai Creek

Incentives - what will the program fund?

Activities that will be funded under this project include: native revegetation, regenerating or enhancing native vegetation through weed control, and fencing stock from riparian native vegetation (minimum 10m width) and off watering such as troughs, soil erosion control works. The program will not fund soil testing and nutrient budgeting, planting, fencing or weed management that does not reduce nutrient runoff, or changes to grazing practices that do not reduce nutrient runoff.

Congewai and Quorrobolong Catchment Improvement Program

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Contact Local Land Services for more information Landholders in the Catchment area interested in joining the program and developing proposals, can contact Hunter Local Land Services staff through a Request For Assistance form, by emailing or calling Rob Henderson on rob.henderson@lls.nsw.gov.au or 6551 8994, to arrange a property inspection and discuss project development and goals and learn more about the program.

Landholders who are successful with incentive proposals will be contracted for on ground projects, will be required to conduct standard monitoring, including photo monitoring, tree survival rates, and provide a report on project completion.

More information on Hunter Local Land Services incentive programs and the next available funding round for this program is available at https://hunter.lls.nsw.gov.au/our-region/grants-funding-scholarships

Hunter Water’s Catchment Improvement Program Hunter Water is one of many organisations interested in maintaining and improving the health of these waterways as the Paxton Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) releases treated effluent into Congewai Creek.

In 2013 Hunter Water developed a sustainable management strategy for the sewered areas of Paxton, Millfield and Ellalong. Part of the management strategy included monitoring and improving creek water quality as Congewai Creek received treated water from these communities.

Over the past few years Hunter Water has completed numerous local environmental studies. The studies found that when compared to Australian and New Zealand fresh and marine water quality guidelines; the Congewai and Quorrobolong Creek environment has elevated levels of nutrients both upstream and downstream of the Paxton WWTW. There are many factors affecting water quality including vegetation clearing, agriculture, urban stormwater, general erosion and the Paxton WWTW.

The project will aim to address these issues through this multi-year program, and improve the water quality of this catchment.

More information on the Hunter Water program can be found here https://www.hunterwater.com.au/Major-Projects/Project-Pages/Congewai-and-Quorrobolong-Catchment-Improvement-Program.aspx

Figure 2 and 3: Riparian fencing, Solar powered Well at Congewoi and riparian fencing at Quorrobolong, allowing for natural regeneration of She-oak seedlings

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What has been achieved since the Project commenced? Since 2016-17, 10 landholders have been funded to implement a range of activities on their riverbanks and adjoining farm lands, including:

• Installation of 23 watering points (including troughs and pumps) • Installation of 6.7km of new fencing- adjacent to riverbanks, preventing stock access and allowing native

tree establishment • Protection of 26.3 Ha of riparian vegetation and soils, including 10km of riverbank • Planting of 12050 trees and shrubs on the river banks • Improved management of stock through sustainable grazing, adjoining river areas, across 55Ha

For this project, the aim is to protect and enhance at least 10m buffer riverbank through fencing, stock exclusion, and revegetation. To date landholders have on average protected buffers 17m wide, along 10km of riverbank.

Landholders have also been supported with property advice from LLS staff, and provided access to a number of workshops and capacity building activities, including:

Landholder Application Information Congewai 2016

Successful Incentive Recipient Workshop Tocal 2016

Congewai Landcare Waterwatch Congewai On-going

Successful Incentive Recipient Workshop Tocal 2017

Whole Farm Planning Workshop Tocal 2017

Cultural Heritage Walk Over Congewai 2018

Biosecurity & Weed Workshop Pokolbin 2018

Project Development Workshop Wollombi 2018

Dung Beetle Workshop* Wollombi 2018

Property Condition Assessment Workshop Wollombi 2018

Several of these events have been delivered in partnership with local Landcare groups.

Hunter Water and Hunter Local Land Services will continue to support this program for several more years, to work with landholders to maintain and improve management of lands that connect with the Congewoi Quorrobolong Catchment.

*Pictured: Dung Beetle Workshop with Bernard Doube.

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Map 1: Congewai Quorrobolong Catchment Improvement Program area.