caring for our australian alps catchments

8/3/2019 Caring for Our Australian Alps Catchments

1/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments

A climate change action strategy for the Australian Alpsto conserve the natural condition of the catchments and

to help minimise threats to high quality water yields

Summary Report for Policy Makers


2/77

This Report was prepared for the Australian Government by:Graeme L. Worboys and Roger B. Good

The documen t is a Summ ary For P olicy Makers of a 20 11 Technical Report pr epared for the Australian Alps Liaison

Committee and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efciency titled:

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments: A Climate Change Action Strategy for the Australian Alps to conservethe natural condition of the catchments and to help minimise threats to high quality water yields

The Summary Report is published by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efciency

www.climatechange.gov.au

This work is licensed u nd er th e Creative Commons Attribu tion 3 .0 Austr alia Licence. To view a copy of this license,

visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efciency asserts the right to be recognised as author of the originalmaterial in the following manner:

or

Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efciency) 2011

ISBN: 978-1-921299-60-5 (pdf)

978-1-921299-61-2 (paperback)

Citation: Worboys, G.L. and Good, R.B. (2011) Caring For Our Australian Alps Catchments: Summary Report ForPolicy Makers, Department of Climate Change and Energy Efciency, Canberra

Important Notice - Please Read

The Summar y Report is prod uced for general information only and does not r epresent a st atemen t of the policy of

the Common wealth of Austra lia. The Common wealth of Austra lia and all person s acting for the Common wealth

prepar ing this repor t accept no liability for the accuracy of or inferences from the m aterial contained in this

publication, or for any action as a result of any person s or groups interp retation s, deductions, conclusions or actions

relying on t his mat erial.

Cover photo collage (left to right): Main Range, Kosciuszko National Park, Winter 1980; Snowy River in spring thaw;Massed Silver Snow daisies and Billy Buttons, Club Lake Creek, Kosciuszko National Park.

Rear photo collage (left to right): Victorian Alps from Kosciuszko National Park; upper Club Lake Creek, a headwater

stream of the Snowy River; Snow-gum, Charlotte Pass.Facing page (left to right): Silver Snow Daisy; Club Lake Creek; Snow-gum at the treeline, Charlotte Pass

(Source: Graeme L. Worboys collection)


3/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers iii

Table of Contents

Contents iii

List of gures and tables iv

Preface v

Summary of key ndings vi

Executive summary vii

1. The Australian Alps catchments 1

2. Climate change threats to the Alps catchments 5

3. 2010 Catchment Condition status 18

4. Protecting catchment condition and delivering optimum yield of quality water 335. 2010 catchment management 39

6. The natural values of the Australian Alps catchments 42

7. Key messages and policy directions 53

8. Conclusion 58

References 59


4/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchmentsiv

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

1.1 The Murray Darling Basin and the Australian Alps catchments (inset) 2

1.2 Australian Alps nation al parks and protected areas 3

2.1 Natural condition and its link to water yield, water ow regime and water quality 5

2.2 Some impacts to natural condition and their effects on water yield, water ow regime and water quality 5

2.3 Climate change inuenced mean temperature increases for Australia for the past 40 years 6

2.4 Climate change inuenced mean total rainfall for Australia for the past 40 years showing a decline for

Southeastern Australia 6

3.1 The 235 Australian Alps sub-catchments assessed for their condition and trend in condition 18

3.2 Catchment condition assessment coding and trend in condition criteria 19

3.3 Catchm ent condition status depicted by colour 23

3.4 Catchment trend in condition status depicted by colour 23

3.5 Assessed natural condition of the Alps sub-catchments 24

3.6 Assessed trend in condition of Alps sub-catchments 24

3.7 Sub-catchments identied as having serious soil erosion problems in 2010 25

3.8 [Diagrams 1-5] The degradation ofSphagnum bog wetlands an d associated fringing wet

heath communities 26

3.9 Headward tunnelling erosion and owline incision above an Erosion-Pavement-Feldmark 27

3.10 Incised erosion of organic soils, Club Lake Creek, Kosciuszko National Park 273.11 Sub-catchments identied as declining in condition relative to their catchment yield status 28

3.12 Sub-catchments with feral horse problems 29

3.13 Sub-catchments with introduced deer populations 31

3.14 Sub-catchments with major weed management issues 32

6.1 Southeastern Australia Bioregions identied by the Interim Biographic Regionalisation (IBRA 6.1)

including the Australian Alps 43

6.2 Physiography of the Australian Alps 46

6.3 Mean annual precipitation for the Australian Alps showing the highest catchment yields

coinciding with the highest relief 47

Tables

2.1 Climate change predictions 14

2.2 Measured climate change trends (1900-2009) 16

3.1 Criteria used to guide interviewee assessment of catchment condition 21

4.1 Management responses needed for the Alps sub-catchments 34

4.2 Climate change management issues requiring additional responses 36

6.1 The Australian Alps national parks and other protected areas 42

6.2 Area of bioregions conserved as protected areas in the Alps 44

6.3 Annual average water volumes in gigalitres (GL) owing from the Australian Alps protected areacatchments (sourced from the literature) 48


5/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers v

Preface

This is a Summary for Policy Makers of a

technical assessment report of climate chan ge

adaptat ion responses needed for th e Australian

Alps catchmen ts titled Caring for our Australian

Alps Catchments.

The full Technical Report was commissioned by

the Australian Alps Liaison Committee (AALC)

and the Departm ent of Climate Change and

Energy Efciency (DCCEE) and was completed by

Dr Graem e Worboys, Roger Good and Andy Spate

in close co-operation with the Alps protected

area Agencies. It was subm itted t o th e AALC and

DCCEE in June 2010 (Worboys et al, 2011). Its

purp ose was to evaluate the n atural condition

of Austr alias high moun tain catchm ents within

the Australian Alps nat ional parks and protected

areas in 2010; to identify signicant current and

future thr eats to those catchments associated with

climate chan ge and to assess priority adaptation

responses.

This was the second catchment condition

assessment completed for the Australian Alps.

The rst was published by the Australian

Academy of Science in 1957 (AAS 1957) and led to

major catchment conservation works for the Alps.

The 20 11 Technical Report was prepared based

on guidance from a multi-organisation Steering

Committee; the generous input of experts from

many organisations; expert condition assessment

advice from experienced protected area rangers

and managers; and, the latest research data and

ana lysed inform ation p rovided by the AALC and

State, Territory and Comm onwealth Governm ent

organisations including CSIRO, and, catchment

research scientists.

The following Summary for Policy Makers

does not n ecessarily repr esent the views of the

governments of the ACT, NSW and Victoria or the

Australian Government. It does however provide

valuable guidance for responding to issues which

may impact one of Australias most important

economic resources, the high quality water

owing from the Australian Alps which provides

on average, around 29% of the total annual owsof the Murr ay Darling Basin.


6/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchmentsvi

Summary of Key Findings

The provision of an annual average of 9600

gigalitres of high quality water from the

Australian Alps to the Murray-Darling Basin is

an ecosystem service of nat ional economic, social

and environm ental importan ce. This water could

be worth as much as $9.6 billion per year to the

Australian economy th rough its contributions t o

agricultural production and oth er industries in the

Basin; through electricity generation and through

recreation and tourism to the Alps region.

The pure, potable water helps support ma ny of

the 2.1 million people living in the Basin as well as

people in Adelaide and man y towns an d regional

areas of South Australia. Waters owing east from

the Alps are also of great econom ic impor tan ce.

The Australian Alps n ational parks an d other

protected areas which protect th ese water

catchments are extremely signicant for their

outstanding biodiversity, landscape and scenic

values. They have been ofcially listed as part of

Australias National Heritage.

In 20 10, a second catchmen t condition assessmen t

of the Australian Alps was undertaken. The rst

was completed b y the Austr alian Academ y of

Science in 1957.

The assessment identied that the existing effects

of climat e chan ge as well as soil erosion, pest

animals and weeds were impacting the natural

condition of the catchment s and th us on water

quality, water yield and water ow regimes.

The catchments were found to be highly vulnerableto projected climate change impacts and the

poten tial for futur e severe erosion was of special

concern. The assessment identied that 60% of

235 sub-catchments across 1.64 million hectares

of Alps parks were in a poor or moderate (natural)

condition and 76% were in a declining or no-

trend-change condition. There were very serious

whole-of-Alps catchment threats including soil

erosion, feral horse impacts an d weed invasions.

Projected climate changes for 2050 identify

harsher conditions for the catchmen ts. This

includes up to 24% reduction in precipitation;

an a verage tem peratur e rise of potentially up to

2.90C; a substantial reduction in snow covered

area; more droughts; more frequent severe re

events and more severe storms.

Climate change for the greater south-eastern

Australia is also predicted to be drier in 2050. The

Alps water is valuable in 20 10, b ut every gigalitre

owing from the Alps catchments to the Murray-

Darling Basin will become m ore import ant in the

future.

This high quality water yield is directly linked to

good, natur al catchment condition. The water is a

signicant ecosystem service of benet to people,

and t he catchment s will need active man agement

to maintain their nat ural condition and to be

resilient to projected climate change effects.

The 2010 catchm ent condition assessment

found th at without substantial mana gement

interventions to deal with these threat s, the

delivery of high quality water was likely to be

impacted, with the Alps catchments providing

water of poorer quality and often in large sudden

ows rather than gradual releases. The catchments

would be less able to deal with severe stor m

events, resulting in extreme water runoff and ash

oods. Degradation of the natural condition of the

catchments would have major national economic

impacts as well as imp lications for th e safety of

people.

Six whole-of-Alps catchment priority management

actions are p roposed. These climate change

adaptation responses target key threats; build

climate change resilience; optimise water yields;and extend over 15 years to be effective. These

Priority Actions were costed at about $7 million

per an num which is small relative to the estimat ed

annu al economic value of the water generated

from th e Alps.

New and impr oved man agement responses are

considered urgent to optimise high quality water

yields, in the face of the identied immediate

threats and the increasing effects of predicted

hotter an d dr ier conditions resulting from

climate change. Investment in th ese adaptation

man agement actions are in the nat ional economic

interest and would generate major long term social

and environmental benets.


7/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers vii

Executive Summary

The high quality and reliable waters from the

Austr alian Alps are of nationa l econom ic, social

and environmental importance. In 2005, 3980

gigalitres (GL) of Victorian Alps waters owing

annually to the Murray-Darling Basin were

conservatively estima ted to be worth

$4 billion to Australias economy. On this basis

then, the average annual 9600GL generated by

the Australian Alps catchments could, in 2005

terms, be worth as much as $9.6 billion a year to

the n ational econom y.

These Alps waters represent around 29% of the

annual average inows of the Murray-Darling

Basin. They are very reliable and help genera te

$15 billion worth of Australias agricultural

produce annually including 45% of Australias

irrigated production ($5.5 billion); 56% of its

grape crop; 42% of fruit and nuts and 32% of its

total dairy production. The water helps support

many of the 2 .1 million Austr alians living in

the Basin, Adelaide and many towns of SouthAustr alia. The Alps catchm ents also deliver water

to easterly (coastal) owing streams and maintain

a $ 300 million per annum environmentally

sustainable hydroelectric power generation. The

high quality waters also contribute to a vibrant

$280 million per annum snow and mountain

based tourism industr y supported by snow

making and potable water supplies.

The Alps waters bring man y environmen tal

benets. They contribute to the well-being

of natural ecosystems of the h igh m ountain

catchments; they provide environmental ows

for downstream r ivers and they help to dilute the

effects of salt and silt laden waters sour ced from

the greater Murray-Darling Basin catchments.

The integrity of this high quality Alps water

however is vulner able. It is highly reliant on the

high moun tain catchments of the Alps parks

being in good, natu ral condition. Any redu ction

in condition, could seriously impact water quality,

water yield and natural ow regimes.The Australian Alps are extremely important for

their out standing biodiversity, their r emarkable

geodiversity and lan dscape an d scenic values.

They are an iconic par t of Austr alia and are

National Heritage listed. The Alps help conserve

one of the richest biodiversity areas on th e

mainland. Many birds and an imals are found

nowhere else in Australia or t he world, and

man y are thr eatened or endan gered, including

the Mount ain Pygmy Possum an d th e strikingly

coloured Corroboree Frog. The Alps ora include

the massed summer wildower areas of the alpine

herbelds; the ancient gnarled Snow-gums at

the snowline; tall wet eucalypt and rainforest

communities; and dry native pine woodlands in

the r ainshadow areas of the m ountains. Glacial

landscapes; limestone cave systems; deep gorges;

plunging waterfalls; broad river valleys and the

highest an d very rugged winter sn ow covered

moun tains of the Australian mainland ad d to

diversity, scenic appeal and importance of

this area.

The effects of climate chan ge are pr edicted toadversely impact these natural values of the

Alps and this would th reaten th e delivery of high

quality water yields. In 2010, an assessment of

the n atural condition of the Alps pr otected area

catchm ents was completed. It was presented

in a Technical Report titled -Caring for our

Australian Alps Catchments- (Worboys et al,

2011). The report assessed the natural condition

of 235 sub-catchments; identied signicant

current an d predicted climate change threats and

identied management adaptation investments(Priority Actions) needed to respond to the most

serious threats. This Summary Report presents

aspects of the full Technical Report, and its

contents are briey presented here.

1. The Australian Alps catchments

The Australian Alps encompass the upper

catchm ents of the Snowy, Murray an d

Murru mbidgee Rivers th at deliver water directly

and indirectly (through th e Snowy Mountains

Scheme) to the Murray-Darling Basin and easterly

owing streams. These high Alps catchments fall


8/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchmentsviii

within the Australian Alps national par ks and

other protected areas (Alps parks) which span

1.64 million hectares and include the nationallyrecognised Namadgi National Park (Australian

Capital Territory), Kosciuszko National Park

(New South Wales) and the Alpine National

Park (Victoria). The protected areas are actively

man aged for th eir natu ral condition. The Alps

parks are National Heritage listed, they are

recognised as a National Landscape an d two sites

within the Alps ar e recognised as inter national

Ramsar wetlands. They help protect 70% of the

Austr alian Alps Bioregion. The Alps are a n iconic

destination for Austr alians, they have a rich

cultural heritage of great antiquity and they are

managed for conservation as a single landscape by

three protected area management organisations

under the guidance of an Alps co-operative

management agreement.

2. Climate change threats

The effects of clima te change are pred icted to be

the single greatest thr eat to th e natu ral condition

values of the Austr alian Alps catchmen ts.

Projected climate change for the Alps for the year

2050 includes:

increases in mean temperatures of 0.6

to 2.9C;

a predicted decrease in overall precipitation by

up to 24% by 2050;

lower humidity;

less snow cover;

changed river ow regimes with the absence of

the annual spring snow-thaw run-off;

more frequent and hotter res;

more droughts;

more severe storms; and

higher total ultraviolet r adiation due to less

cloud and m ore sunlight in the m ountains.

Changes to the Australian Alps catchments are

predicted as a result of these inuences and

include a number of direct effects such as:

dieback and exposure to soil erosion andneedle-ice activity in alpine plant communities,

such as the Tall Alpine Herbelds;

a reduction in the extent of plant communities,

such as the Short Alpine Herbeld, which

depend on semi-permanent snow patches; the dr ying out of import ant Sphagnum bogs

and wetlands;

changes in the distribution and abund ance of

plant species, such as the expansion of the Tall

Alpine Herbeld community into Short Alpine

Herbeld areas; the expansion of shrubland

(heaths) into areas which have become drier;

an expansion of feldmark communities into

new erosion areas and an overall up-mountain

movement of vegetation commun ities. Some

plant communities may no longer exist;

degradation of mou ntain forests such as Alpine

Ash communities which will be subject to

increased frequency and severity of res; and

changes to the habitats of fauna species

dependen t on snow cover such as the

Mountain Pygmy Possum.

Such changes are pr edicted t o directly threaten

the n atural condition of the Alps catchm ents an d

this would impact water quality, water yield and

water ow regimes through:

more frequent and severe wildre events that

rem ove protective catchment vegetation cover

and lead to soil erosion, water quality and

water ow regime impacts;

post wildre regeneration of forests within

the catchments which retains water within-

catchm ent for forest types such as Mountain

Ash, and t he resu lting impacts on water yield

delivered by the catchments;

the cover of the alpine vegetation reduced by

increased UV, resulting in soil erosion of the

altitudinally highest catchmen ts which are t he

highest water yielding areas;

altitudinal (up-mountain) plant distribution

shifts leading to disturbed an d changing

environmental settings, soil exposure and

erosion;

reduced vegetation cover and exposed soil

areas caused by disturbance from res, feral

horses, wild pigs, other feral animals and areas

affected by hu man s that will be impacted b y

more frequent severe storm events and intense


9/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers ix

rain fall. This will result in mor e severe soil

erosion and catastrophic ood run-off.

The issue of soil cover protection on catchm entsis complex. For the forested Alps catchments

mainta ining soil stability is dependen t on there

being 70 to 100 percent vegetation cover and

greater than 10 t onnes per h ectare of ground

litter. This level of cover will be difcult to achieve

and m aintain un der predicted temperature

increases, reduced total precipitation an d m ore

frequent high intensity res. Smaller levels of

fuel load cover (such as 10 tonnes per hectare)

may reduce the capacity of forest ecosystems to

facilitate rainfall inltration. This could result

in higher soil surface water ows. Such high

discharge rates could result in ooding with

downstream d am storages not being able to

store, regulate and release environmental ows

efciently.

Other in direct clima te change effects may imp act

the Alps catchments. These could include:

reduced water yield caused by frequent res

killing subalpine Snow-gum communities

(which otherwise help enh ance water yield

from ra in, clouds, fog, hoar frosts and

improved snow deposition); and

reduced water yield thr ough enhan ced

evaporation (warmer tem peratur es and less

snow covered area), and use by willows and

other weeds.

The Alps catchmen ts need to be resilient as

possible to these predicted thr eats. Understanding

the condition of the catchments and t he natur e of

any threats is an importan t start to m anaging forresilience.

3. Catchment threats, conditionand trend in condition

In 20 10 the n atural condition of the Australian

Alps catchmen ts was assessed for the second

time in history and the rst time in 50 years. A

total of 235 sub-catchments in the Australian

Alps protected areas were assessed using three

categories of condition (good, moderate or poor).The trend in condition was also identied as

either declining, no-trend-change or improving.

This assessment provides an essential baseline

from which to m onitor climate change impacts.

The assessment identied 60% of the 235 sub-catchm ents were in a poor or moderate natur al

condition. The trend in their condition identied

that 76% were in a declining or no-trend-

change cond ition. The Austr alian Alps protected

area Agencies have undertaken considerable

conservation work for up to 66 years, but it takes

man y years to restore lands d isturbed by prior

landuse. In addition new threats and pr essures

were impacting the natur al condition of the

moun tains and m ost of the restored areas were

still vulner able to clima te change.

The 2010 assessment found serious threats

that included active soil erosion and increasing

num bers of feral horses and d eer which contribute

to soil erosion. Feral horses num bers were

reported as having increased by 300% from 2003

to 2009 and are predicted to achieve a further

55% increase by 2012. Control action was needed

given that feral horses contr ibute to er osion

and pollution of the very highest catchment s

by grazing, trampling and by causing incisionto moun tain wetlands and streams. Through

such action, they directly impact endan gered

Sphagnum bog ecological commu nities an d

their r ich d iversity of vertebrat e and invertebrat e

species. Addition al serious thr eats included

frequent severe res and the presence of four

weed species with great poten tial to spread

(blackberry, broom, hawkweed and willow). In

their 20 10 condition, th e Alps catchm ents were

considered to be vulnerable to p redicted climate

change effects.

4. Protecting catchment conditionand delivering optimum yieldsof high quality water

In r esponse to the catchm ent condition

assessment the Technical Report recommen ded

six Priority Actions to guide the Australian Alps

Liaison Comm ittee in prepar ing an adap tive

man agement response for the catchm ents.The Actions focused on h alting catchmen t

degradation, improving water quality, improving


10/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchmentsx

catchm ent resilience and optimising water

ow regime and water yield. Improvements

in the capacity to man age in a climate changeenvironment were also identied and included

introducing adaptive management techniques,

using new and improved man agement tools,

monitoring th e change in condition of the

catchm ents, identifying threats an d un dertaking

research into complex catchment management

issues. The Actions also identied targets that

directly involved the p eople of the Alps with th e

implementation of adaptive management in t he

catchments.

5. 2010 catchment management

The 11 Alps nat ional par k and ot her p rotected

areas were r eserved at different times between

1944 and 1996 and are managed by ACT

Parks, Conservation and Lands, the NSW

Nationa l Parks and Wildlife Service and Pa rks

Victoria. An integrated, cooperative and

transboundary management approach for the

Alps parks is achieved th rough a Memorand um of

Understanding (MOU) which includes the threeAgencies and the Comm onwealth Governm ent.

The MOU is managed by the Australian Alps

Liaison Committee (AALC). The combined annual

investment by the three Agencies in 2009-10 for

all aspects of managem ent of the Alps parks was

$52.69 million.

The process of forma l reservation of the protected

areas does not mean that th ese lands always

possess a near-pristine condition status; rather,

much of the land had a previous land use historyand requires some form of rehabilitation and

continued active man agement to r estore its

full suite of conservation values. This prior

landuse of parks and new threats in a d ynamic

environm ent are the main determ inants of a

catchm ents nat ural condition statu s. Constant

threat management (and often restoration work)

is needed for all catchment s, with som e areas

needing considerably more (long-term) work

than others.

6. The Natural Values of the AlpsCatchments

The signicant natural, cultural and social values

of the National Heritage listed Australian Alps

parks help maintain the n atural condition of the

catchments. These include their an cient geological

heritage and glacial landforms; the rich deep

alpine humu s soils and their import ance as a

temporary reservoir for in-catchment waters;

the absolute pur ity of the Alps waters and the

diversity of water yield for sub-catchments that

is dependent on their altitude and location. The

Alps are important for their diversity of ora; thespecial role of wetland ecosystems in catchments;

the special native Australian fauna found in the

high country;. and the Alps natural scenery,

recreation opportun ities and opp ortun ities for

scientic discovery for Australians.

7. Key messages and policyrecommendations

The Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments

Technical Report provides key messages and

policy recommendations which are:

Water from t he Alps catchments is of national

economic importance;

The natural (good) condition of the catchments

helps deliver high quality and reliable water

yield;

Climate change is impacting the n atural

condition of the Alps catchments;

The 2010 catchm ent condition assessment

found the Alps catchmen ts to be especially

vulnerab le to the pr edicted effects of clima te

change and there was an urgency for

adequately resourced management responses

to be implemented;

Management inter ventions (Priority

Actions) are needed to respond to severe and

immediate thr eats, to restore and maintain

natu ral condition and to optimise water yield,

maximise water quality and maintain natural

ow regimes in a climate change environment;


11/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers xi

Whole-of-Alps large-scale adaptative

man agement respon ses to climate change

would signicantly benet the nationaleconomy.

8. Conclusion

New and improved policy responses are n eeded

to deal with climate change and other threats

to th e nat ural condition of the Australian Alps

catchments, the high quality waters they yield

and their natural water ow regimes. On-ground

responses are needed at a whole-of-Alps scale,

with additional resources and imp lemented over

a sufcient time frame (15 years) to be effective.

These interventions include the protection

and enhan cement of water yield th roughweed removal and Snow-gum restoration; the

protection of water quality by removing threat

vectors and minimising soil erosion; and, the

protection of water ow regimes by conserving

natu ral vegetation cover. Investment in climate

change adaptation responses will directly benet

the n ationa l econom y and will help conser ve

Australias outstanding National Heritage listed

alpine areas.

Alpine Groundsel (Senecio pectinatus) massed display, Club Lake Creek, Kosciuszko National Park, January 2011.



12/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchmentsxii

Lake Cootapatamba, a glacial moraine dammed lake near Mount Kosciuszko, Kosciuszko National Park



13/77

Summary Report for Policy Makers 1

1. The Australian Alps Catchments

1.1 Introduction

This is a summ ary report of a Technical Report

titled Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments.

The full Technical Report provides an assessment

of the condition of the Alps catchments in 2010;

the identication of serious and worsening

threats; the likely impacts of predicted climate

and suggested m anagement responses. Business

as usual management responses were consideredinadequate to deal with the severe threats and

climate change trends and th e Technical Report

advises major remedial on-ground and systems

management responses. Six Priority Actions

and 30 Targets were presen ted in det ail. The

Technical Report was submitted to the Australian

Alps Liaison Committee in J une 20 10 and

published in J une 2011.

This Summary Report is an overview of the

Technical Report. It presents t he results of a

catchment condition assessment of the Australian

Alps and identies key messages and policy

directions arising from the evaluation. It describes

why water generated from the Alps catchment s is

of critical imp ortance for the economic future of

the Murray-Darling Basin and Australia and the

impacts of projected climate change on the Alps

catchments values.

1.2 Economic importance of the Alps

catchmentsWater from th e Alps catchment s is important for

the Austr alian economy and especially for the 2.1

million Australians living in the Murray-Darling

Basin, the people of Adelaide and for man y towns

of South Australia. It was estimated in 2005 that

the value of the 3980GL of water owing from

the Victorian Alps catchments, when all social

and production benets were considered, was

worth at least $4 billion annually (PV 2009c). The

Alps, on average, yield around 9600GL of waterper annum for the Murray-Darling Basin. Based

on the Victorian gures of 1000GL being worth

approximately $1 billion, this Alps water could,

indicatively, be worth in the order of $9.6 billion

to th e Australian economy.

The 9600GL represents around 29% of the

average 32,800GL yearly inow yield of the

Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) and is generated

from just 1% of the 1000000 Km2 Basin (MDBA

2010) (Figure 1.1). These waters contribute

signicantly to the agricultural production of

the MDB and Austr alias econom y. The Basin

generates $15 billion worth of Australias

agricultural produce annually including 45% of

Australias irrigated production; 56% of its grape

crop; 42% of fruit and nuts and 32% of its total

dairy production. It includes 40% of Australias

farms an d su pports 2.1 million Australians

(MDBA 2010 p21).

The natu ral condition of the Austr alian Alps

catchments helps deliver high quality (pure),sediment free mount ain water to the river

systems. The impound men ts and tur bines of

the hydroelectric power stations of the Snowy

and Kiewa hydroelectric schemes benet

from th e essentially sedimen t free water, with

hydroelectric power generated by these schemes

worth approximately $300 million annually

(Young 2004 p229). Additional benets of $45

million per an num are achieved from th is green

power for reduced carbon offsets (Young 2004

p229). The pure water helps reduce snow making

and delivery of potable water costs for the $280

million per annu m Alps ski industr y. Natural

condition in th e moun tains also helps to maintain

natural water ow regimes in the catchments. The

natural vegetation, litter cover and consequent

water inltration tempers rapid run-off in the

steep mou ntains. This provides some slope

stability; it tempers downslope water ow and

is of particular im port ance for peop les safety in

the m ountains d uring prolonged severe weathersystems with heavy rain and ooding. The cost


14/77

Caring for our Australian Alps Catchments2

of providing alternative precautionary slope

stabilisation would be very high.

For downstream t owns and water users, the highquality of the water also means less potable water

supply treatment costs. For the health of the

greater r iver system, th e Alps provides water for

environmental ows and it helps dilute the effects

of the salt and silt laden river waters of the greater

Murray-Darling Basin.

The natural (good) condition of the Alps

catchments and the high quality water generated

is of national economic import ance. But these

catchm ents are dynamic and need constant

man agement responses for threats to their natural

condition . This is especially impor tan t in the

context of climate change.

1.3 Geography

The Austr alian Alps with their h ighest peak,

Mount Kosciuszko (2228 metres) are the highest

lands of the Austr alian continen t. They are located

in the south-eastern corner of mainland Australia

and extend over 500 kilometres north to south

from the New South Wales (NSW) Brindabella

Ranges, thr ough Namadgi National Park in the

Australian Capital Territory (ACT), to the Snowy

Mountains (NSW) and then to the Victorian Alps

(Anderson and Atkins 2010) (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.1 The Murray-Darling Basin and the Australian Alps catchments (inset)(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)


15/77


Figure 1.2 The Australian Alps national parks and protected areas(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)

1.4 Signicance of the AustralianAlps catchments

The Australian Alps n ational parks an d oth er

protected areas (Alps parks) and their catchments

are a special place. They extend across 1.64

million h ectares and ar e famous for their wintersnowelds; summer alpine wildowers and

rugged mou ntain scenic beauty. Their rich

her itage includes Aboriginal tr aditional use of

great antiquity and recent histories including

exploration; scientic discovery; the Man from

Snowy River mountain folklore; grazing; mining;

forestry; hydroelectric development; tourism

and conservation. The Australian Alps have been

recognised nationa lly for their special values

with National Heritage Listing and recognition

as a National Landscape. Specic features such

as the Ginini Wetlands (Namad gi National Park,

ACT) and Blue Lake (Kosciuszko National Park,

NSW) are recognised internationally as Ramsar

Wetlands. Kosciuszko National Park in the heart

of the Alps pa rks is a UNESCO World Man and

the Biosphere Reserve.

The natural values of the Austr alian Alps are

outstand ing. This is a special high moun tain

Bioregion in a cont inent which averages 330

met res in a ltitude. The Australian Alps Bioregion

includes evidences of past glacial and periglacial

activity including glacial lakes; diverse granitic,

sedimentary an d volcanic landscapes and

special geological featur es such a s limeston e

caves and outcrops of serpentinite. It has r ich,

deep alpine hum us soils and their associated

rolling Tall Alpine Herbeld landscapes; clear

cascading streams an d rivers and dynam icmoun tain weather. The Alps support a diverse

ora with more than 850 vascular plants, a


16/77


nationally threatened ecological community

(Alpine Sphagnum Bogs) and rare and endemic

alpine plant species such as th e Anemon eButtercup (Ranunculus anemoneus). The

moun tain habitats support un usual and colourful

invertebrates including the brightly coloured

red and blue striped Mountain Grasshopper

(Acripeza reticulata). They also support over

300 vertebrat e species such as t he Alpine Water

Skink (Eulamprus kosciuskoi), Flame Robin

(Petroica phoenicea) and black and yellow striped

Corr oboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree).

Seventeen m amm als are either rare, vulnerable

or threaten ed such as the endan gered Mountain

Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus). The Alps

are importan t for intern ational, national and

regional migratory species and the h igh m ountain

catchm ents are destinations for birds that ar e

the subject of international migratory bird

agreements.

1.5 Managing the catchments

The exceptional natural values of the Alps

catchm ents ar e actively man aged by the p rotected

area Agencies of the ACT, NSW and Victoria

and through a uniquely Australian co-operative

man agement agreement for t he Australian Alps.

This 24 year old transboundary cooperative

man agement at the headwaters of our most

important rivers is described in Chapter 5. The

natur al heritage values that are being ma naged

are also presented in more detail, given th eir

importan ce for und erstanding the concept of

natural condition for the Alps, in Chapter 6.

1.6 Climate change and the Alps

Climate change is impacting the n atural condition

of the Alps catchmen ts and th is is affecting the

water quality, its ow regime and the overall

water yield of the catchments. This has major

economic implications for the Murray-Darling

Basin. These thr eats are d escribed in m ore detail

in Chapter 2 .

Alpine Podolepis (Podolepis sp.) [three frames] and Native Dandelion (Microseris lanceolata) massed owering[centre-left], Club Lake Creek Kosciuszko National Park, January 2011. Part o the massed summer wildfower displays andexceptional natural values o the Australian Alps



17/77


2. Climate Change Threats to the

Alps CatchmentsPredictions of the effects of enhanced greenhouse climate change

suggests that the alpine environments and their dependent biota

are amongst the most vulnerable environments in Australia and

their protection and that of the adjacent eucalypt montane forests

and woodlands are vital for biodiversity conservation at the

national scale(Mansergh et al, 2004 p73)

Water yield, water quality and water ow regimes

(ecosystem services) from the Alps are directly

linked to th e natu ral condition of the catchments

and this condition is affected by climate change

(Figure 2.1).

Natural condition is good condition, and is

dened as the condition of the Alps catchments

pre-European settlement. It is the naturally

vegetated, stable, and non-eroding Alps

catchments, th eir associated healthy, functioningecosystems an d th eir stable or nat urally eroding

soils and natural surface and sub-surface water

ows. Natural condition helps dene restoration

goals for th e man y disturbed a reas of the Alps. It

is a conservation goal to retain ar eas in this state

despite constant t hreats to the catchments.

Figure 2.1 Natural condition and its link to wateryield, water ow regime and water quality

Figure 2.2 Some impacts to natural condition andtheir association with water yield, waterow regime and water quality

Natural condition enh ances the resilience (and

stability) of catchments to climate change impacts

and oth er thr eats such as invasive animal and

plant species and human use (Figure 2.2). In

addition, it helps mainta in the nat ural scenic

beauty, ecosystem function and biodiversity

richness of the Alps.


18/77


Climate chan ge threats to th e natu ral condition

of the catchm ents are p redicted to impact high

quality water delivery from the Alps. The climatechange effects that have been measur ed and

predicted changes for the natur al environmen ts

of the Alps catchments are briey reviewed here.

Some of the implications are also described.

2.1 Temperature

The Alps have been warming at ab out 0 .20C

per decade over the past 35 years (Green and

Pickering 2009) which is at a higher rate

than man y other areas of Australia (Figure2.3). Climate change predictions identify that

tempera tures will continue to r ise and for the

year 2050 average temperatures will have further

increased by somewhere between +0.6 to +2.90C

(NSW DEC 2006; Green and Pickering 2009).

Figure 2.3: Climate change inuenced meantemperature increases for Australia for thepast 40 years

(Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

Higher average temperatures have many

predicted implications including the up-mountain

shift of vegetation comm unities and animal

habitats; more storms; more drought conditions

and a higher re frequency and more severe re

behaviour.

2.2 Precipitation

In the past 54 years there has been a signicantdecrease in snow as measured at the 1830 metre

altitude Spencers Creek Snow Course, Kosciuszko

National Park (Green and Pickering, 2009 p214).

Snow covered terrain in 1980, Main Range of KosciuszkoNational Park


Snow cover has declined on average by 15 metre-

days per decade. [Metre days are calculated when

the depth of snow is multiplied by the nu mber

of days at that depth and sum ming the weekly

result to give a single gure for each year]. This is

from 213 metre-days in the decade following 1954

to 146 in the past 10 years (Green and Pickering

2009 p214). Spring thaw has been occurring onaverage two days earlier per decade, with very low

snow years (1999 and 2006) represented by the

two earliest thaws on record (Green and Pickering

2009 p214).

Figure 2.4: Climate change inuenced mean totalrainfall for Australia for the past 40 yearsshowing a decline for SoutheasternAustralia

(Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology)


19/77


Predicted higher temper atures will mean

any p recipitation falling in the Alps will fall

increasingly as rain rather than snow. Climatechange predictions identify that the snow-

covered-area sustaining snow for more than

60 days may be reduced by up to 96% by 2050

(Hennessy et al, 2003). There are also predicted

changes in pr ecipitation regimes for the Alps.

The Murray-Darling Basin (including the Alps)

is likely to be 10% drier than past experience

(Prosser 2009; MDBA 2010 p33). This is based

on (median) 2030 climate change predictions

completed for the Murray-Darling Basin

Auth ority. The overall amoun t of precipitation

in the Alps is predicted to decrease by up to 24%

by 2050 (Hennessy et al, 2003) and an increased

num ber of droughts are p redicted. Severe storms

are predicted along with their implications for

heavy rain and potentially excessive and rapid

ooding events.

2.3 Changes in weather

High intensity storms in the Alps can be damaging

to both vegetation and soils. Intense storm s have

already resulted in erosion of areas of exposed

soils following extreme wildres in the Australian

Alps in 2001, 2003, and 2007. Soils exposed

by feral horses, intr oduced deer and other feral

animals and development a ctivities by human s

are also impacted b y these events.

Intense summer thunderstorm developing over theAustralian Alps in 2010


More intense storm s are pr edicted for the Alps,

including more intense precipitation events (PV

2009a). Increasing temperatures and decreasingprecipitation together with oth er secondary

clima te regime chan ges such as lower hum idity,

increased number of cloud-free days and

increased levels of ultra-violet radiation (UV) are

also predicted (Good 2008, Good et al, 2010). An

increase in t he n umb er of frosts may also occur

in some alpine ar eas given a reduction in sn ow

cover an d an increasing nu mber of cloud free

days (Williams et al, 2009). These changes will

have impacts on the existing native vegetation

species and communities. Drought conditions will

occur and extreme and catastrophic re weather

conditions are predicted to be more frequent.

2.4 Impacts to native ora

The Alps plant comm unities most impacted

initially by clima te chan ge will be th e higher

elevation alpine an d suba lpine commun ities

including Snowpatch and Feldmark; Tall Alpine

Herbeld; Short Alpine Herbeld and Sod-tussock

Grasslands an d groundwater commu nities.

In t he highest catchmen ts of the alpine area

it is predicted that the Short Alpine Herbeld

will disappear and be rep laced by Tall Alpine

Herbeld, while the Sod-tussock Grasslands

and wet herbelds will dry and become Tall

Alpine Herbeld (Pickering et al, 2004; Green

and Pickering 2009). These dynamic changes in

community distribution will not greatly impact

water yield from the alpine area catchments in

the short-term but, as the predicted extinctionof a number of inter-tussock herbaceous species

occurs, fragmentat ion of the vegetat ive cover will

occur leading to soil exposure and eventually,

increased soil erosion. This dir ectly affects water

quality. Seasonal melt-water ows will diminish

as snow patches diminish, thereby affecting the

ow regimes and the immediate downstream

vegetation commun ities (Green an d Pickering

2009).


20/77


Short Alpine Herbeld community in 1974 (located belowthe snow patches) near Club Lake, Kosciuszko NationalPark. At this site in 2010, this plant community had been

colonised by Tall Alpine Herbeld species

(Source: Roger Good collection)

The high elevation alpine an d subalpine ar eas are

also the areas of highest precipitation and, while

relatively sma ll, they are the h ighest yielding

catchm ents on a un it area basis. It is an area

which will need to be managed very carefully,

where chan ge in condition will need to be

monitored closely and where adapt ive responses

such as soil conservation work m ay be needed.The individual alpine area sub-catchments yield

the most water per catchment area. However the

greater part of the subalpine and m ontan e areas

are forested and it is these forested catchment s

which contr ibute th e greatest total volume of

water, both as surface runoff and a s contributions

to groundwater and subsequent groundwater

seepage to the rivers and streams. Hotter and

drier climatic conditions will inuence the rate

of forest ground litter accumulation and most

signicantly, the reduction of fuel moisture ofground litter fuels (Williams et al, 2009).

Other predicted changes in vegetation include

vegetation t hickening due to increased CO2;

changes in treeline (downslope into frost hollow

basins and upslope into higher altitudinal areas);

the d rying of wetlands, bogs and fens (Dunlop an d

Brown 2008); and, the impacts of more frequent

and intense res on re sensitive species such as

Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) (Williams et

al, 2009).

2.5 Impacts to native fauna

Endemic alpine species such as t he Mount ain

Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus) and Broad-

toothed Rat (Mastocomys fuscus) which are

dependent on r eliable winter snow cover for th eir

survival will be directly impacted by the var iable

snow cover and a futur e withou t snow cover.

Many habitats presently suitable for these species

will be lost (Pickering et al, 2004).

Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus),Australian Alps

(Source: Linda Broome)

It is pred icted tha t there will be a loss of some

subalpine and alpine specialist species and more

generally, an up-mountain migration of species

(Dunlop and Brown 2008). Invasive species are

predicted to cause additional problems.

2.6 Invasive species

The fragmentation of native vegetation and

exposure of soils provides opportunities for

invasion by exotic plant species, particularly

those that adapt to or benet from changes in

environm ental conditions and climate change,

such as Broom (Cytisus spp) and Hawkweed

(Hieracium spp). The increasing upward invasion

of these weed species to the h ighest elevations is

already occurring and will be furth er enh anced by

predicted warmer conditions.


21/77


An outbreak of the aggressive weed Hawkweed(Hieracium sp) discovered near Round Mountain inKosciuszko National Park in December 2010. Treatmentresponses were immediately implemented

(Source: Anthony Evans)

Introduced animals are (similarly) moving higher

into the Alps. Feral hor ses (Equus calballus) and

their associated dam age to bogs and fens are of

par ticular concern . The organic soils of many of

these m ires are being damaged by feral horses and

then further incised by more rapid water ru noff.

2.7 Soil erosion from less snow

Where the Alps ora is impacted by reduced snow

cover, th e soil stability may also be impacted. The

reduced snow cover (which other wise provides

an insulation layer) may lead to increased freeze-

thaw ice or frost-heave (needle ice) activity in

alpine soils, includin g some of those which were

restored in NSW in the 1960s.

Winter needle ice formed on a road edge, Mount Sarah,Alpine National Park, Victoria. The soil moisture reezesovernight, orms needle ice crystals, expands vertically

and lits some soil with it. Repeated many times, thisdestabilises any exposed soil areas and leaves disturbedsoil ready or erosion at snow melt or during rainall events

(Source: Sera Cutler)

2.8 Frequent extreme res and soilerosion and water yield impacts

Predicted dryer forest fuels and higher energy

electr ical storm s are likely to lead to m ore

frequent wildre ignitions and higher intensity

res. For obligate seeders (which depend entirely

on seed to regenerate after re) such as Mountain

Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), an increase in re

frequency may inuence catchment yield through

larger areas of post-re regenerating forests.

Such regrowth ut ilises larger am ounts of water

in-catchment (Williams and Gill 1995). For

Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis), another

Feral horses (Equus calballus) in the highest and remaining unburnt catchment areas following the 2003 Australian Alpsres, Kosciuszko National Park

(Source: Dane Wimbush collection)


22/77


obligate seeder, the seed source may diminish

with increasing re frequency (if the Ash does

not reach seed bearing maturity prior to the nextre event) and there may be species composition

changes in the catchments (Williams et al, 2009).

These frequent high intensity forest res will

in turn impact the stability of the un derstorey

vegetation sp ecies leading to fragment ation of the

forested areas.

The main tenance of soil stability in th e forested

Alps catchm ents is very much depend ent on

the retention of a vegetative cover of 70 to

100 percent and greater tha n 10 ton nes per

hectare of ground litter (10 to 35 t/ha) (Costin

et al, 1960; Good 1976; Worboys 1981; Good

1982; Good 1986; Costin 2004; Leaver 2004).

This level of vegetative and litter cover will be

difcult to achieve and maintain under predicted

tempera ture increases, reduced t otal precipitation

and more frequent high intensity res. This

min imum level of vegetative cover for catchm ent

stability is also the m inimu m fuel level which

contributes to high intensity wildres. It is a

direct tension between catchment conservationand wildre management objectives for the Alps.

Furth er research work is needed t o investigate

this complexity.

With declining plant species nu mbers a nd

vegetation and grou nd litter cover, the soils of the

forested catchments are m ore pron e to acceleratederosion as evidenced in th e Alps following th e

2003 res. Any unstable and eroding catchments

will have higher catchment discharge rates,

carrying high levels of sedimen ts to dam storages

and reducing the quality of the water.

2.9 Climate change and water yield,water quality and ow regime

Water yield

A nat ural vegetated cond ition will help maint ain

water yields from catchm ents. Managing for

clima te change th reat s to water yields includes

managing for res, removing weeds and restoring

critical ecosystems. Though difcult to achieve

in hotter and drier conditions, a lower frequency

of major, intense, forest res in the catchments

may help increase yield through less in-catchment

water being committed to post-re forest

regeneration. The restorat ion of previously killed

high altitude Snow-gum communities (from

grazing and burning [Byles 1932 cited in Zylstra

2006, Costin et al, 2004]) will help enhance water

yield in a predicted environment of declining

precipitation (Costin and Wimbush 1961). These

2003 Australian Alps wildre, Kosciuszko National Park

(Source: Michelle Watson)


23/77


restored high altitude Snow-gum communities

will harvest add itional water from cloud, fog and

hoar frosts and will maintain en hanced snowdeposition (a snow-fence effect) in winter (Costin

and Wimbush 1961, Costin et al, 2004). Climate

change and its associated warm er conditions will

enhan ce the distribution of man y weeds. The

removal of willows which extract an estimated

5.5 megalitres of water for every 2-3 kilometres

of infested river (Doody 2011) will enhance

downstream water yield.

Water quality

Clear, high quality water is sourced from non-

eroding catchm ents and climate change maycause impacts to vegetation cover and resulting

soil erosion. Non-natural soil erosion impacts

high mountain stream s and impacts downstream

infrastructure, including impoun dmen ts which

service hydroelectric power generation a nd

domestic water supply dams. Disturban ce of

natu ral vegetation in h igh altitude environmen ts

exposes soils to soil erosion.

Areas of subalpine Snow-gums (Eucalyptus paucifora) inKosciuszko National Park were killed by grazing and re.This has happened in two ways. Historic wildre events

burnt the Snow-gums, they resprouted and stock grazedthe new growth which killed the trees. The practice oburning-o Snow-gums also caused resprouting which was

subsequently grazed. It is these human disturbed areaswhich are proposed or restoration to achieve 10% wateryield enhancement or the high mountain catchments.


The Corin Dam ACT, in October 2010

The reservoir sources its high quality water rom theAustralian Alps catchments in Namadgi National Parkand the water is used as a source o drinking water or

Australias national capital, Canberra



24/77


Flow regime

Vegetation in a natural condition helps prevent

rapid run-off, soil erosion and slope instabilityand assists in maintaining water quality. In

the alpine ar ea, damaged vegetation can lead

to rap id incision, undercutting, tun nelling and

headwater erosion of the alpine hu mus soils.

In forested lan ds, a very careful catchment

management balance is required. The majority

of the Alps forests have, at equilibrium fuel

accumu lation, fuel loads in th e order of 20 to

70 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) (Good 1982; Good

1986; Leaver 2004). Smaller levels of forest litter

cover such as 10t/ha may reduce the capacity of

forest ecosystems to facilitate rainfall inltration

(Costin 2004). This could result in higher soil

surface water ows, erosion, higher discharge

rates and downstream d am storages not being

able to efciently store, regulate and release the

consequent environmental ows. The capacity

Thick subalpine understory regeneration in an Alpine Ash(Eucalyptus delegatensis) community, Alpine National

Park near Falls Creek Victoria in 2007. This area burntduring the 2003 Australian Alps res. The alpine ashregenerates only rom seed ater re and creates dense

regrowth


Kosciuszko National Park in 2011. This ormer SphagnumBog community was restored in the 1960-70s and shows

expanding Sphagnum (brighter green on the let) but newentrenched erosion and soil loss (photo centre) whichrequires maintenance to prevent urther soil loss


Simple soil erosion control intervention work at a critical

endangered species site. Two year old restoration workat the 2003 re damaged Pengilleys Sphagnum bogendangered ecological community, near Smiggin Holes,Kosciuszko National Park. The hessian covered straw

impoundment has contained the water, prevented streamincision and allowed the wetland to partially regenerate



25/77


to regulate such water ows for multiple use

is centra l to the opera tion of the engineered

Murray and Murrum bidgee Rivers system, part ofthe Murray-Darling Basin Scheme. Excess water

owing over impoundment spillways becomes lost

water in terms of its potential for multiple-use.

In t he climate chan ge predicted future of more

frequent and severe storm events, the ability

of natural vegetation cover and forest litter to

hold soils in place; to allow water inltration

and to pr ovide stability to steep moun tain slopes

is critical. Good (natural) vegetation cover can

lessen the energy of down-mountain water ows

which is critical for catchment conservation;

for minimising the frequency of catastrophic

high energy ood events; for increasing the

safety of humans in th e Alps and for protecting

infrastructure such as impound ment s and

hydroelectric power generation sites.

Shade-cloth use for wetland restoration, Cottercatchment, ACT, 2005. The shade-cloth helps protect theregenerating Sphagnum and other wetland species rom

the damaging eects o UV radiation.(Source: Roger Good collection)

2.10 Climate change impacts onnatural condition

Predicted changes in climate and weather factors

in th e Alps include tem peratur e increases and

precipitation regime changes (less snow); less

total precipitation; changed seasonality of

precipitation and more extreme precipitation

events (Hennessy et al, 2003; Pickering et al,

2004; Dunlop and Brown 2008; Hennessy et al,

2007; Garnaut 2008; Green and Pickering 2009;

PV 2009a (Table 2.1). The predictions presented

are for a ra nge of higher CO2 emission levels from

1990 levels for periods extending to 2030, 2050and 2100 . Climate chan ge has been happen ing

for many years and t his has been measured

(Table 2.2). Factors associated with the changing

environment include more cloud free days, lower

humidity and increased total solar radiation (UV)

(Howden et al, 2003).

Climate change is predicted to inuence the

natu ral condition of the catchm ents and this in

turn will inuence the nature of water quality,

The Cotter Dam in the ACT overowing during the La Ninainspired heavy rains that affected eastern Australiancatchments in the spring and summer of 2010. The Cotter

Dam on the Cotter River is downstream o the Corin Damand includes catchments outside o Namadgi National Parkwhich are aected by human disturbance



26/77


ow regime and water yield. Active management

interventions will be needed to ma intain natu ral

condition. Given th is it was impor tant to knowin 2010 the actual condition of the 1.64 million

hectares of the Alps parks catchments. Were

the catchments in sufciently natural (good)

condition to be resilient to climate change

effects? Or, were they vulnerab le to thr eats which

could impact th e catchm ents an d th e yield of

high quality water? Such a baseline conditionassessment of the Australian Alps catchments was

conducted. It was th e second such evaluation in

the history of the Alps catchments, the rst being

completed by the Austra lian Academ y of Science

in 1957 (AAS 1957).

Table 2.1 Climate change predictions

Australia(Hennessy et al, 2007;

Garnaut 2008; Allison et al,2009; Steen et al, 2009; Vic

DSE 2009)

Victoria(Vic DSE 2009)

Alps Catchments(Green, 2003; Hennessy et

al, 2003; Pickering et al,2004; Dunlop and Brown

2008; Hennessy et al, 2007;Garnaut 2008; Green and

Pickering 2009; PV 2009a;Williams et al, 2009)

Average TemperatureIncreases

[For 2030]

2008 emission levels leadto a 25% chance o a 2Crise in temperature

[Best estimates or 2100]

1.6C increase (450 ppmCO2)

2.0C increase (550 ppmCO2)

5.1C increase (nomitigation)

The north-west isexpected to warm morequickly than the rest oAustralia

Projections or 2050 areor an increase between(low emissions scenario)0.6C and (high emissionsscenario) 2.9C

Heatwaves Increase in the number oheatwaves

More days above 35C

Bushres Fire seasons will startearlier

They will nish later

They will be more intense More requent very

extreme and catastrophicre conditions arepredicted

More days with veryhigh and extreme rebehaviour

Changes will occur to reintensity and requency

(High risk) By 2030 morerequent hot res reduceregeneration o Alpineecosystems

Frequent re: possibleconversion o woodlandsto shrublands andgrasslands

Precipitation Likely decreasedprecipitation in temperatelands

Less annual rainall, butmore extreme rainallevents

For 2050

Possible reduction by24% (rom 1990) or highemission scenario

Snow Retreat o the snowline.No snow in 2100 or the nomitigation scenario

Fewer rosts For 2050

Possible reductions (orhigh emission scenario) to96% in the area sustaining

snow cover or more than60 days or 2100


27/77


Australia(Contd)

Victoria(Contd)

Alps Catchments(Contd)

For 450 ppm CO2:Sucient snow orResorts

For 550 ppm CO2: Somesnow

No-mitigation: No snow

Pattern of precipitation Changes to seasonalityand patterns o rainallintensity

For 2050

Precipitation is expectedto decrease by up to 24%

Runoff More foods

Changes to water fowregimes in rivers andwetlands are predicted

Reduced spread o streamfows due to loss o snow,bogs and ens

(Medium risk) By 2040

there is reduced snowdepth and rainall andincreased evaporationleads to lower yield andlower water quality

Drought Increased risk o drought More droughts The alpine area is highlysensitive to more requentdroughts

Weeds and pests Changes will occurto weed and pestdistribution

Less snow, invasion o thealpine area by introducedherbivores and carnivores

(High risk) By 2070,increased competitionrom invasive summerweeds

Habitats and Ecosystems For alpine/montane lands

Potential loss o speciesdependent on adequatesnow cover

Increased establishmento plant species at higheraltitudes

Potential displacement ospecies, changes to snowpatch species

Potential extinctions osummit restricted species;

Changes in hydrology andimpacts to ens and bogs

Changes in phenologywith earlier spring thaw

Decrease in Sphagnumbogs

Vegetation thickening dueto CO2

Rising treeline, upwardmigration o species andecosystems

Loss o snow coverinsulation and habitat orspecies

Landuse Increase in snowmaking

Increase in summertourism and recreation

Loss o snow insulation orsoils and greater needleice impacts


28/77


Table 2.2 Measured climate change trends (1900-2009)

Australia(Hennessy et al, 2007;

Garnaut 2008; Steen et

al, 2009; Vic DSE 2009)

Victoria(Vic DSE 2009)

Alps Catchments(Hennessy et al, 2003;

Pickering et al, 2004;

Dunlop and Brown 2008;

Hennessy et al, 2007;

Garnaut 2008; Green

and Pickering 2009; PV

2009a)

Measured trends 1900-2009 1910-2007: averagetemperature increase0.9 C (Figure 2.1)

Rainall is higher in thenorth and west, dryingin southern and south-eastern Australia(Figure 2.2)

There have been lowstream fows over theperiod 2000-09

2009 CO2 emissions aretracking at the upperbounds o the mostpessimistic IPCC scenarios

The alpine region haswarmed over the past 35years at 0.2C per decade

Warming trends at alpinesites over 35 years havebeen greater than at loweraltitudes

There has been astatistically signicantdecrease in snow over thepast 54 years

Spring thaw has beenoccurring 2 days earliereach decade

The requency o bigdumps o snow hasdecreased

The decline o theShort Alpine Herbeldplant community dueto warming has beenrecorded

Burnt areas on the western face of the Main Range and alpine area, KosciuszkoNational Park following the 2003 Australian Alps res

(Source: Dane Wimbush collection)


29/77


Treeline Snow-gum, Charlotte Pass Kosciuszko National Park



30/77


3. 2010 Catchment Condition Status

A whole-of-Alps assessment of the natural

condition and threats to the catchment s was

needed. It would h elp identify if the catchmen ts

were, in 2010, either r esilient or vulnerable to th e

effects of clima te change. It would also iden tify if

any managemen t interventions were needed.

It could be assumed th at th e Alps catchmen ts

were essentially in a nat ural state given th eir

protected area status for up to 66 years. Thanks

to considerable conservation work, this is the

case for many areas. However there are also

man y other p arts of the catchm ents which

were substantially modied during their pre-

protected area history and these have required

extensive restoration and maintenance work.

This work is on-going and unnished. It takes

man y years to restore disturbed high moun tain

lands, mainten ance work is constantly needed

and n ew threats and pressures impact the natural

condition in th is dynamic landscape.

Natural (good) condition is important for the

Alps catchmen ts. It is the role of prot ected area

man agers to help achieve and m aintain this

natural condition and consequently it is their

respon sibility to know the condition of the

catchm ents and to respond to any threats. In

2010 an assessment of the natur al condition was

completed and was guided by three questions:

1. What was the overall nat ura l condition of the

Alps catchments?

2. What was the trend in the natur al condition of

these catchm ents? and,

3. What were the principal threats to the Alps

catchments?

Figure 3.1 The 235 Australian Alps sub-catchments assessed for their natural condition and trend in condition(Source NSW DECCW 2010)


31/77


3.1 The assessment method

The 2010 survey method selected used the

expert opinion of rangers and area managers

to systemat ically assess the condition of the

Alps catchmen ts. This approach was used given

the absence of a stand ardised, GIS based and

quantied baseline natural condition data for

the catchmen ts from which to an alyse condition.

The 1.64 million hectares of catchments were

divided for analysis into 235 sub-catchments in

the order of 10000 hectares in area (Figure 3.1).

Only signicant sub-catchment condition issues

were targeted and expert management staff wereasked to analyse many condition variables prior

to providing a summative judgement of condition.

Supporting information, triangulation of input

advice and immediate peer review of judgements

made were used prior to each sub-catchment

condition an d tren d in condition assessment being

nalised. The qualitative assessment completed

was indicative and not prescriptive though it has

credibility given the reliability of the expert inputs

and triangulation methods used.

Basis or the method used

The catchment condition assessment m ethod was

determ ined during thr ee workshops condu cted for

the Alps Catchments Project. It was reviewed and

then conrmed by an Alps Catchments Project

Steering Committ ee. Simp licity of method was

sought and a trafc light approach to classifyingthe ind ividual catchm ent condition was taken

(Figure 3.2). The assessment categories of good,

moderate and poor were used for the 235 sub-

catchments.

Figure 3.2 Catchment condition assessment codingand trend in condition criteria

Catchment condition

Good identies that the sub-catchment area

was well vegetated with a st able na tive species

groun dcover and was little imp acted by factors

such as feral anima ls. Good cond ition does not

necessarily infer near prist ine which is the

optimum natu ral condition for protected area

catchments.

Moderate identies that a sub-catchment was

essentially stable but h ad incomplete vegetation

cover with m inor soil instability. This may be the

result of (for example) vegetation destruction and

soil disturbance by feral hor ses and feral pigs.

Poor identies that the sub-catchment had

been signicantly disturbed and degraded, there

was a low percen tage of groun dcover and soil

erosion was evident. It m ay have had a h istory of

pre-protected area landuse impacts. There was

likely to be the pr esence of weeds and int roduced

animal populations.

Trend in condition

One of three categories were recognised for tren d

in condition for each sub-catchment which were

declining; no trend change and improving

(Figure 3.2).

Improving identies that the vegetation cover

and species complexity, in combination with

a reduction in th e area of disturbance and soil

loss, had improved in r esponse to conservation

man agement and natu ral healing. In most

sub-catchments this status recognises that

introduced animal control and weed management

programmes (at the time of the assessment) were

achieving their objectives.


32/77


No-trend-change identies that the area overall

was neither im proving nor d eclining. The ar ea

may be improving in parts (such as an ar eathat was being restored) and may be declining

elsewhere (such as impacts from weeds). It

recognises that thr eat mitigation pr ogrammes

were in place but were only just keeping up with

the level of impacts (it was not getting worse).

Declining identies that irrespective of

feral animal and weed control program mes

being un dert aken by the Alps Agencies, native

vegetation cover and species populations

were declining and soil instability and erosion

were evident. Management actions were n ot

keeping pace with impacts caused by historical

landuse impacts; increasing introduced animal

populations and weed invasions and there was

catchm ent dam age and degradation resulting

from these impacts.

3.2 Catchment condition decisionmaking process and criteria

used

Rangers and area m anagers were asked to make

judgements on condition and trend in condition

relative to a number of key criteria (Table 3.1).

These criteria were determined at workshops

conducted as part of the Alps catchments project.

Each interviewed expert reviewed a number of

criteria that could inuence their assessment

for a sub-catchment before reaching a condition

decision for each sub-catchment.

3.3 Advantages of the method

In t he absence of a standar dised GIS based

data-base for the Alps parks, this method of

interviewing sub-catchment management experts

provided a number of benets for the project.

Australian Alps protected area management staff contributing to the catchment condition survey January 2010

(Clockwise rom top let) NSW National Parks and Wildlie Service; Parks Victoria; NSW GIS expert Doug Mills; ACT Parksand Conservation

(Source: Graeme L. Worboys collection).


33/77


The method was simple, cost-effective and was

focused on major issues. It provided an indicative

assessment of the natu ral condition and tr end incondition of the catchments at a whole-of-Alps

scale.

3.4 Limitations to the method

The assessment was based on judgments from

individuals and not by quantitative data and

systematic survey and t his was an importan t

limitation. In addition, no eld survey or ground

trut hing was completed. Though the informat ion

generated was sourced from the best available

knowledge and highly qualied and experienced

professional staff, the ndings must be consideredindicative.

Some other limitations for the assessment

included the general lack of readily accessible

quantied data for some sub-catchments;

the n eed to average the condition assessment

information across sub-catchments; differences

in the relative knowledge and experience of

personnel completing the assessment; and,

the general degree of difculty in assessing

Table 3.1 Criteria used to guide interviewee assessment of catchment condition

Management issues (concerns) Guidance for assessing condition status

Vegetation status Stability o the vegetation and percentage o natural

cover. Exposure o bare (unvegetated) soil or more

than 15% o an area provides a guide or poor

condition.

Introduced animal presence

(Deer, horses, pigs, oxes, rabbits)

The abundance and distribution (and percentage

area) o the particular catchment utilised by thepest animal is assessed. The dominant pest animals

were identied. Other introduced animals may be

recognised where there were serious issues with

species such as cats, hares, goats and wild cattle.

Introduced plants (weeds)

(Blackberry, willows, broom, hawkweed)

The abundance and distribution (and percentage

area) o the particular catchment utilised by the

introduced plants were assessed. The dominant

introduced plants were identied. Other introduced

plants may be recognised where they present serious

issues

Wildre and prescribed re The requency, distribution and accumulated number

o res were assessed. Fire was treated as a natural

phenomena except where there was an increased

re requency that was non-natural and there were

cumulative impacts

Infrastructure developments The location and area covered by developments

where they lead to threats which include introduced

plants and animals, soil erosion and pollution.

Soils and soil erosion This includes active erosion which may be localised,

in many locations or it may occur as extensive and

severe areas o erosion.


34/77


the degree and extent of impacts across sub-

catchments. Wherever possible, these limitations

were minimised by supplementar y support inginform ation an d t riangulation of evidence.

3.5 An insight: The 1957 catchmentcondition assessment

The 1957 catchment condition assessment method

used by the Austra lian Academ y of Science

was similar to th e 2010 assessment . It used a

combination of written inp uts from catchment

authorities, interviews, expert advice and a

literatur e review and was based on th e author sexperience and knowledge of the condition of

the catchments (AAS 1957). It differed from the

2010 detailed assessment of 235 sub-catchments

in tha t it generated a single overview assessment

of the condition for the NSW and Victorian Alps

catchments.

The 1957 assessment involved a four person

Committee led by Professor J.S. Turner and which

included Professor R.L. Crocker; Dr J.W. Evans

and Mr A.B. Costin. The (abbreviated) 1957 terms

of reference, method and ndings were.

Terms of Reference: The Key questions were:

1. Is there any deter ioration of the water

catchments? Is it of national importance?

2. What are the major causes of the

deterioration?

3. What procedures should be adopted to arrest

the decline and to impr ove the position?

Method: The method included:

1. Corresponden ce to 20 organisations with the

three questions: Is there serious deterioration?

What policy should be adopted in response

to the d eterioration? and What evidence is

available to support the views above?

2. A literature review;

3. Interviews of key personnel; and

4. A special inspection of the catchments of the

Snowy Mountains area and the Victorian Alps.

Results: The 1957 catchment condition

assessment identied that:

1. There was serious deteriorat ion in thevegetative cover; a decline in catchment

efciency and widespread surface soil erosion;

2. The watershed value of the regions was the

paramount consideration;

3. Catchment s were in danger if there was a

loss in the inltration capacity due to the

deter ioration of vegetative cover an d were in

great danger if this deteriorat ion was likely to

lead to accelerated soil erosion which could, in

time, reach devastating proportions.

3.6 The 2010 catchment conditionassessment

The natural condition status was assessed for 235

sub-catchments. The map generated (Figure 3.3)

is indicative, but identies some major concerns

for catchment managers. Many sub-catchments

were either in a mod erate or poor condition. The

trend in condition assessment map also identied

many sub-catchments where the condition wasnot changing or was declining (Figure 3.4).

The subalpine treeline at the Snowy River, near Charlotte

Pass, Kosciuszko National Park, in good condition inJanuary 2011 after 67 years of conservation management



35/77


Figure 3.3 Catchment condition status depicted by colour(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)

Figure 3.4 Catchment trend in condition status depicted by colour(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)


36/77


3.7 Catchment condition status

The overall cond ition sta tus of the Alps

catchments was of concern with more than 60% of

catchm ents either in poor or m oderate condition

(Figure 3.5). The management aim of all park

managers is to achieve at least good condition an d

if possible, near pristine status. For downstream

managers of water, this high quality catchment

status is what would generally be expected for

a protected area. However, many protected

areas were established over lands which h ad a

legacy of landu se impacts. The task of restor ing

these historically disturbed areas is formidable,it takes time and active man agement work is

constantly needed. Restoration and repair work

in the m ountains is seasonal, and it takes longer

to be successful given colder growing conditions.

The condition assessment identied that much

more work was needed to restore catchmen ts to

a natural condition and to maximise resilience to

climate change.

Figure 3.5 Assessed natural condition of theAlps sub-catchments(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)

3.8 Trend in condition status

The trend in condition of more than 70% of sub-

catchm ents was assessed as no tren d change

or even worse, declining (Figure 3.6). Rangers

and area managers who identied no change

were often accounting for sub-catchments where

importan t conservation gains had been m ade, butwhere there were also new or enhanced thr eats

and where management inputs were just holding

ground. A declining catchm ent condition stat us

was a serious assessment.

Figure 3.6 Assessed trend in condition of theAlps sub-catchments(Source: NSW DECCW 2010)

3.9 Soil erosion threats

Soil erosion had been identied as a specic

threat impacting the natural condition of sub-

catchments in many locations (Figure 3.7).

This was unacceptable in a climate chan ge

environm e

caring for our australian alps catchments

Documents