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Bremer River Catchment and Estuary
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Catchment Facts |
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- Total area: 2,031km2
- Stream network length: 4,425km
- Local Councils: Boonah (pop. 8,642), Ipswich (pop. 140,181)
- Dominant land uses: grazing, native bush, intensive agriculture, urban
- Lower catchment mostly urbanised, rest of the catchment rural, with the majority of the catchment cleared for cattle grazing
- Some areas of natural bush remaining in upper catchment
- Widespread channel and gully erosion in the river and its tributaries
- Riparian vegetation significantly modified; little native vegetation remaining
- Four WWTPs and other point sources discharging into the catchment’s waterways, contributing to sediment and nutrient loads
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Freshwater results |
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Bremer Catchment |
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- Streams generally in poor condition
- Annual scores for all indicators were low, although the nutrient cycling returned its highest score for several years
- Nutrient cycling indicator consistently better in autumn than spring
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Estuarine results |
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Bremer Estuary |
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- Dissolved oxygen levels and turbidity have improved considerably throughout the estuary when compared with 2006 and previous years
- Lower freshwater inputs from the catchment resulting in higher salinity levels throughout the estuary compared with 2006
- The increase in the Report Card grade also relates to the changes to the water quality guidelines
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