MANAGEMENT
ALGAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY - DELIVERING THE VISION T J Verhoeven * Michael Flynn Award This paper won the Award for the best p/,a,tform presentation at the 16th. Federal Convention. This award is in m emory of Dr Flynn, a foundation member of A WWA.
to meet economic, social and environmental needs. The vision was clearly stated by the Premier of NSW on 28 September 1994 when he launched Rivercare 2000; a Vision of Clean, Healthy, Productive Rivers by the year 2000.
Algal Management Strategy Abstract The New South Wales Algal Management Strategy was developed to minimise the impact of toxic and nontoxic blue-green algal blooms. It integrates five key areas of contingency planning, improving water management, reducing nutrients in waterways, education and awareness raising, and research. Achievements after two years of implementation, and future targets are described. Its successful implementation will result in other improvements in land and water.
Keywords Water management, water supply, blue-green algae, toxins, contingency plans, nutrients, phosphorus, awareness raising, total catchment management.
Introduction The occurrence of major toxic bluegreen algae blooms in 1991, including the notorious 1000km long bloom in the Darling-Barwon River, created immediate water supply, social and environmental problems. These blooms also signalled to concerned governments and communities other water quality, flow management and land management problems in Australia's catchments. The NSW Blue-Green Algae Task Force was established as a direct response to these problems. The Task Force (1992) made 30 recommendations which represent the NSW Algal Management Strategy to minimise the occurrence and impact of algal blooms. Having successfully completed its objectives, the Task Force was replaced by the State Algal Coordinating Committee (SACC) in September 1992. SACC's role is to coordinate implementation of the Strategy; its annual reports (SACC, 1993; SACC, 1994b) highlight progress and achievements. The NSW Algal Management Strategy embodies the vision of water for the next century; sustainable management of the State's water resources WATER JULY/AUGUST 1995
The strategy. The Strategy's many measures can be grouped into five key areas as shown in Figure 1. It includes a State Algae Contingency Plan to minimise the effects of blue-green algal blooms, improved water management and other measures to control the factors affecting bloom development, short to longer term nutrient management measures targeting the causes of blooms, education and raising community awareness, and research . As discussed, AWWA and its members have an important role to play in many of these areas. Principles. As described by Verhoeven (1994), the Task Force developed the Strategy on five principles: (i) This is not a single issue water quality problem with a simple quick-fix solution. Blue-green algal blooms have a consid.erable complexity in their cause and effect; their growth is determined by many environmental factors, and they have a wide range of social, economic and environmental impacts (Figure 2). Water authorities both contribute to the causes, and are affected by the occurrence of algal blooms. (ii) The Strategy is statewide in coverage because the occurrence of bluegreen algae and their impacts are statewide. For example, in 1993-94 SACC reported 115 waterways throughout the State having major algal blooms, with 54 at high alert level. Blooms occurred in coastal and inland streams, in large and small storages. Farm dams were not included in the above statistics. Blooms also occurred in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and South-west Western Australia. (iii) Everyone contributes to the problem, and all have a role to play in its solution. Implementation of the Strategy is by everyone in NSW, under the Total Catchment Management (TCM) umbrella; state government agencies working with catchment management committees, local government, communities, industries including AWWA, researchers and individuals.
(iv) Management measures must be implemented as part of an integrated catchment management approach which cuts across established agency and political boundaries. (v) Management measures should be implemented where the benefits (social, economic and environmental) of minimising blooms and their impacts outweigh or equal the costs of control works or activities. At times it may thus be appropriate to "live with the problem".
Minimising the Effects Contingency plan. As the Strategy is implemented and the vision of clean, healthy, productive rivers becomes reality, blue-green algae blooms should decrease in their impact and occurrence. However, because nutrients in waterway sediments will maintain algal blooms for many years, and because blooms will not disappear completely, the State Algae Contingency Plan was developed to minimise bloom impacts. The Plan is implemented by nine Regional Algal Coordinating Committees (RACCs), based on the State's major surface water catchment divisions. Each RACC is responsible for monitoring; field identification coupled with laboratory analyses; provision of rapid, accurate, concise information to communities and to the weekly State Algal Report; response plans for the provision of safe domestic water supplies. As with other water users, water supply operators should make themselves familiar with the operation of their RACC, and with the local algae contingency plan (the nearest office of the Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC) can assist). Councils and other members of AWWA can assist the operation of these plans by reporting their field identification of blue-green algae. These simple measures help the successful local management of algal bloom effects. Monitoring and testing algal blooms. All States in the Murray Darling Basin - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia - use the 1same water quality alert levels for blue-green algae, based on a model developed by Burch in South Australia. SACC (1993) has developed * Department of Land and Water Conservation, PO Box 3720, Parramatta 2124
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