Conservation Areas Namadgi National Park Namadgi National Park covers 105,900 ha, making up more than half of the ACT. Declared as a National Park in 1984 it is now a sanctuary protecting all animals, plants and cultural sites within its borders. To the south-east the park joins Kosciusko National Park and the Bimberi and Scabby Range s and on the north-east boarder joins Brindabella National Park. The park has a wide variety of conservation habitats that range from the broad grassy valleys to snow gum woodlands and subalpine wetlands and is zoned to accommodate recreational opportunities such as camping, recreational driving, cycling, horse riding, bushwalking, rock climbing and abseiling. Murrumbidgee River Corridor 20 From Angle Crossing in the south to Uriarra Crossing in the north, around 66 km of the Murrumbidgee River and a narrow strip of land either side of it has been identified as a single entity, the Murrumbidgee River Corridor (MRC). The MRC is a collection of nature reserves, recreation reserves, a European heritage conservation zone and rural leases. The Murrumbidgee is home to the Murray Crayfish which is now protected due to dwindling numbers from over fishing. Canberra Nature Parks Canberra Nature Park Reserves range from bushland hills to some of the best examples of lowland native grassland in south-east Australia. The reserves contain some of the best examples of Yellow Box-Red Gum Grassy Woodland left in Australia. This type of woodland is an endangered ecological community. It is home to a number of rare or threatened species such as the Hooded Robin, Striped Legless Lizard and the Button Wrinklewort. Nature Parks within the southern ACT Catchment area Cooleman Ridge Oakey Hill Farrer Ridge Red Hill Isaacs Ridge Rob Roy McArthur Hill Tuggeranong Hill McQuoids Hill Urambi Hills Mt Mugga Mugga Wanniassa Hills Mt Taylor Table 3 SOUTHERN ACT CATCHMENT GROUP INC
Brindabella National Park Legend Southern ACT Catchment Boundary urban NSW Reserves ACT Reserves Bimberi Nature Reserve Mt Franklin Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve Googong Foreshores 21 Mt Ginini Namadgi National Park Mt Bimberi Kosciuszko National Park Scabby Range Nature Reserve Contact Details Parks, Conservation & Lands Macarthur House 12 Wattle Street Lyneham ACT 2602 PO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2602 Southern ACT Catchment Group Boundary Telephone (02) 13 22 81 2 December 07 Disclaimer: Environment ACT does not warrant that the data is free from errors. Map 3 2007 2010 CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Rural Lands IIn 1909 New South Wales transferred land over to federal control for the establishment of the Australian Capital Territory. Subsequently an act of parliament created the legal framework for the ACT restricting landholders to leasehold rather than freehold to give the government more control over development within the region. As of 2006 all urban land in the ACT is held on 99 year crown leases. Rural lands are subject to leases, ranging up to 99 years, that may be transferred with agreement from the ACT Government or through sale or inheritance. There are over 79 rural leases in the southern ACT catchment area and the predominant land use is sheep and cattle grazing on improved pasture. Forestry 22 Plantation forestry in the southern catchment area began in 1915 near Mt. Stromlo in the Kambah and Coppins sub-catchments as an attempt to improve the degradation of soil from over-grazing by sheep, rabbits and kangaroos. By the 1930 s areas of Pinus radiata were also planted annually within the Lower Cotter, Uriarra and Paddy s River subcatchments. At the time, the benefits of pine plantations were seen to include erosion control and improved soil quality, therefore protecting the water quality within the lower cotter subcatchment for Canberra s water supply. The ACT pine forests have suffered damage from periodic bushfire events since their establishment. The Canberra bushfires of 2003 largely destroyed the Stromlo, Uriarra and Pierces Creek pine plantations and burnt a large proportion of natural forested areas within Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla. In 2006 the ACT Government committed against any further commercial pine plantations within the Lower Cotter, Paddy s River and Uriarra sub-catchments. It is proposed that these areas be rezoned within the Territory Plan. Remnant areas of pines that were either replanted or have survived since the 2003 bushfires will be managed on a non-commercial basis and liquidated when feasible to convert the areas back to their pre-pine native vegetation components. It is expected to take up to 30-35 years before native vegetation will be replanted into all the existing fire-affected pine plantation areas. Stromlo and the surrounding area will be converted to other landuses including residential and a modern outdoor recreational facility, Stromlo Park. The ACT Government is committed to not replanting pines for commercial use within this area. Any pines to be planted are for recreational and aesthetic values SOUTHERN ACT CATCHMENT GROUP INC
Urban Development The small village of Tharwa is oldest urban development within the southern ACT catchment area, being established in 1862. It wasn t until 1928 that the urban growth of Canberra began to expand into the southern ACT catchment area. Over the next 50 years the satellite districts of Woden Valley (1963), Weston Creek (1968) and Tuggeranong (1974) would be established. These districts make up the majority of all urban landuse components within the catchment area. Urban Districts and their Suburbs South Canberra Woden Valley Weston Creek Tuggeranong Deakin Chifley Chapman Banks Curtin Duffy Bonython Farrer Fisher Calwell Garran Holder Chisholm Hughes Rivett Conder Isaacs Stirling Fadden Lyons Waramanga Gilmore Mawson Weston Gordon O Malley Gowrie Pearce Greenway Phillip Isabella Plains Torrens Kambah Macarthur Monash Oxley Richardson Theodore Wanniassa 23 Table 4 2007 2010 CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
k rve Legend YARRALUMLA ACTON CITY REID Southern ACT Catchment Boundary urban PARKES ACT Reserves CAMPBELL RUSSELL CAPITAL HILL BARTON CURTIN DEAKIN Red Hill FORREST GRIFFITH KINGSTON FYSHWIC 24 n e e ve DUFFY RIVETT CHAPMAN Cooleman Ridge HOLDER STIRLING McQuoids Hill Oakey WESTON Hill FISHER LYONS WARAMANGA CHIFLEY KAMBAH PEARCE Mount Taylor PHILLIP TORRENS HUGHES MAWSON FARRER GARRAN O'MALLEY ISAACS Farrer Ridge RED HILL Mt Mugga Mugga Isaacs Ridge NARRABUNDAH SYMONSTON HUME Urambi Hills WANNIASSA Wanniassa Hill FADDEN MACARTHUR OXLEY Bullen Range GREENWAY MONASH GOWRIE GILMORE Pine Island / Point Hut ISABELLA PLAINS RICHARDSON CHISHOLM BONYTHON Pine Island / Point Hut CALWELL GORDON CONDER THEODORE Tuggeranong Hill Nature Reserve BANKS Rob Roy Range Contact Details Parks, Conservation & Lands Macarthur House 12 Wattle Street Lyneham ACT 2602 PO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2602 Southern ACT Catchment Group Boundary - urban Canberra Telephone (02) 13 22 81 2 December 07 Disclaimer: Environment ACT does not warrant that the data is free from errors. Map 4 SOUTHERN ACT CATCHMENT GROUP INC
Infrastructure The southern ACT area is home to numerous highways and major roads, service and shopping centres, and various public utilities that aim to establish a framework for maintaining urban growth for the ACT. The Monaro Highway and the Tuggeranong Parkway are the two major roadways linking the southern ACT catchment with the rest of the ACT. They travel north to south and are linked from east to west by Hindmarsh Drive. Each suburb is bounded by at least one major road within the catchment area providing for quick access. Congestion is usually associated in times of peak traffic within areas close to local Service and Shopping Centres. Small shopping centres are generally located within most suburbs in the southern ACT catchment area, with larger service centres found at Greenway, Wanniassa, Phillip, Mawson and Weston. Highways and Major Roads Shopping Centres Adelaide Avenue Calwell Centre Hughes Shopping Centre Angle Crossing Road Chapman Shopping Centre Isaacs Shopping Centre Ashley Drive Chifley Shopping Centre Isabella Plains Shopping Centre Athllon Drive Chisholm Shopping Centre Kambah Shopping Centre Corin Road Cooleman Court Kambah Village Cotter Road Curtin Shopping Centre Lanyon Market Place Drakeford Drive Deakin Shopping Centre Monash Shopping Centre Erindale Drive Duffy Shopping Centre Richardson Shopping Centre Hindmarsh Drive Erindale Shopping Centre Rivett Shopping Centre Isabella Drive Fadden Shopping Centre Southlands Shopping Centre Johnson Drive Farrer Shopping Centre Tuggeranong Town Centre Monaro Highway Fisher Shopping Centre Wanniassa Shopping Centre Namatjira Drive Garran Shopping Centre Waramanga Shopping Centre Naas Road Gowrie Shopping Centre Woden Shopping Centre Paddys River Road Point Hut Road Sulwood Drive Tharwa Drive Tidbinbilla Road Tuggeranong Parkway Uriarra Road Yamba Drive Holder Shopping Centre 25 Table 5 2007 2010 CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Public Utilities Water Supply There are three reservoirs within the southern catchment area, Corin Dam, Bendora Dam and Cotter Dam. These dams are situated along the Cotter River and constitute the main water supply for the ACT. Cotter Dam is a concrete gravity dam built in 1912 when the city of Canberra was established. The height of the dam wall was raised in 1951 to increase capacity. The top water level of the dam is 500.69 metres above sea level. The dam has a capacity of 3,856 million litres fed from a 482 square kilometre catchment area including both Bendora and Corin Dams. 26 Bendora Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam that was completed in 1961. Bendora has a capacity of 11,540 million litres being fed from a 290 square kilometre catchment and is located 778.2 m above sea level. The capacity of the Bendora Dam is controlled by releasing water from the higher Corin Dam into the Cotter River. Water from Bendora Dam is gravity fed to the Stromlo Water treatment plant through 1500 mm diameter steel main. The Bendora gravity main, constructed in 1967, is 20 kilometres long and has a capacity to carry 310 million litres of water per day. Corin Dam was completed in 1967 as an earth and rock-fill embankment dam with side channel spillway. It has a capacity of 70,900 million litres being fed from a 197 square kilometre catchment area and is the highest dam on the Cotter River at 955.54 metres above sea level. On Tuesday 23 October 2007, the ACT Government s suite of initiatives in response to ACTEW s recommendations for securing the ACT s water supply was announced. The range of water security measures that will be implemented include: enlarging the Cotter Dam from 4 gigalitres (GL) to 78 GL, with planning and design work to commence immediately and work expected to be completed within three to five years; the installation of infrastructure to increase the volume of water transferred from the Murrumbidgee River to the Googong Dam; pursuing the possibility of purchasing water from Tantangara Dam; designing a demonstration Water Purification Plant, with the water produced by the plant to be used for purposes other than drinking; increasing funding for demand reduction measures; investigating the extension of Permanent Water Conservation Measures; implementing a pilot Smart Metering program; and voluntarily off-setting the additional greenhouse gases generated by these projects. SOUTHERN ACT CATCHMENT GROUP INC
27 Murrumbidgee River (2004) The region s water supply has historically been dependent on rainfall, and as the drought continues and for future dry periods, it is essential that a greater range of water security measures are put in place - incorporating both supply and demand. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT The social environment must be taken into account when developing a catchment management strategy because environmental management and social capital development go hand-in-hand. Population Based on the current trends of population growth in Canberra the Populations Projections for Canberra Suburbs and Districts 2004 to 2014 predicts that the population of Canberra would grow to approximately 389,000 by 2032 with and estimated median age of 43.3 years. These figures are based on the continuing low levels of fertility and net migration to Canberra of about 500 people per year. 2007 2010 CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Data from the 2006 Census recorded the Canberra Population at 323,056 people, with 141,238 people living in the southern ACT catchment area. Of these people 50.98% were male and 49.02% were female. 28 Age Structure Chart 1 The 2006 census shows that the number of people aged 0 to 15 has continued to fall over the last 10 years. Young adults 25 to 39 has also fallen noticeably, while the 45+ age group has risen. This is particularly evident in the 55 to 69 range. Chart 2 SOUTHERN ACT CATCHMENT GROUP INC
Employment According to the 2006 Census (QuickStats : Australian Capital Territory Released 25/10/2007), 18.0% of employed persons aged 15 years and over were employed in Central Government. This demonstrates that the public sector continues to be the cornerstone of the ACT economy. This was followed by Defence 5.4%, followed by School Education 4.0%, Tertiary Education 3.7% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services at 3.5%. Following expected strong employment growth of around 3 per cent in 2006-07, on the back of intense recruiting activity by the Australian Government and to a lesser extent the private sector, employment growth for 2007-08 is forecast to moderate to the long term average growth rate of 1½ per cent. The ACT labour market is expected to remain strong over 2007-08, despite some sectors being constrained by skills shortages. (ACT Treasury budget_2007) 29 Break up of SACTCG employment by occupation shows that 34% of the catchments workers aged 15 and over, are employed in Administration and related services (see Chart 3) Chart 3 2007 2010 CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY