South Australians can have their say on a strategy to reduce
pollution in the Port River and Barker Inlet following the release
of a draft Port waterways Water Quality Improvement Plan.
While much has been done to improve the water quality of the
area in recent years, the Port waterways still suffer from nutrient
discharges from industry and treated sewage. The EPA has has identified
the major sources of nutrients to the Port waterways and used
numerical modelling to develop nutrient reduction targets.
Major dischargers have responded with plans to reduce their nutrient
discharge loads to meet these targets over time. Click on the
diagram below to view details of the main dischargers, their present
nutrient loads to the waterway, their long-term targets and their
committed reductions.
While other sources such as urban runoff have been intercepted
by wetlands to reduce their impact on the waterways, it is important
that these are not allowed to increase over time as they have
a local effect on parts of the waterway.
The draft Water Quality Improvement Plan has been underpinned
by community involvement in the setting of acceptable standards
for the water quality in the Port waterways. Community feedback
is also important now. Have a look at the Draft
plan (673KB PDF) and the summary
brochure (218KB PDF) and have your say
- either through the on-line
forum or by contacting Peter Pfennig at the Environment Protection
Authority (ph 8204 2181; email peter.pfennig@epa.sa.gov.au).
Comments are due by 31 January 2007.
