Council to consider findings of Karaaf Wetlands assessments

Published on 19 October 2022

Council Acknowledges the Karaaf Wetlands is on Wadawurrung Country and pays its respects to the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners that have cared and continue to care for this place for thousands of generations.

Independent assessments, set to be presented to the Surf Coast Shire Council at its 25 October meeting, show that stormwater from north Torquay is having an adverse impact on the Karaaf Wetlands on Wadawurrung Country.

Other factors are also influencing both the environmental conditions and cultural health of the wetlands, including overland water flows, freshwater and tidal inflows from Thompson Creek, as well as climate change.

“The Karaaf Wetlands is a complex and changing environment as well as a culturally significant landscape. We have more to learn about how much water is needed by the Karaaf, from what sources, at what times and in what climatic conditions to ensure it is healthy,” Surf Coast Shire Mayor Cr Libby Stapleton said.

“The quality of stormwater needs to be improved and the volume entering via The Sands lakes system needs to be reduced. This work will take time but we are focused on achieving the best result for the Karaaf.”

“We are grateful for our community’s activism and care for the environment.  We are now exploring options that are better for the Karaaf Wetlands and will improve our community’s future water security,” Mayor Stapleton said.

Surf Coast Shire Council CEO Robyn Seymour said the assessments revealed that Council’s master planning of the stormwater network from over 10 years ago focused on managing peak flow rates rather than total volume.

“Therefore the plans underestimated the amount of water that would be generated from north Torquay developments and did not identify the potential for it to affect the vegetation in the Karaaf Wetlands,” Ms Seymour said. “We are committed to learning from and addressing this.”

The surplus of stormwater presents an opportunity. Council is working with Barwon Water on a concept to divert stormwater away from the Karaaf, mix it with recycled water from Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant, and use it to support high value agricultural activities in the Thompson Valley. This also supports the goals of the Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape (DAL) project to maintain separation between Torquay and development in Armstrong Creek.

“In the meantime we are starting a new project to assess our options to improve the quality of stormwater from our network and to divert some water away from the Karaaf Wetlands as we work towards the longer-term vision,” Ms Seymour said.

“We will also begin implementing some of the actions identified in the North Torquay Constructed Wetland Assessment to improve the effectiveness of the constructed wetlands.”

“We need to make sure that any actions we or others take are effective. This means that all agencies and partners will also need to gather more information before making any decisions that might change the way the Karaaf Wetlands functions,” Ms Seymour said.

The types of information Council needs to gather includes:

• Wadawurrung assessment – listen to Country and learn what it needs.
• Hydrology study – how water moves within the wetlands and relationship to the wider Thompson Creek catchment.
• Identification and costing of infrastructure options to improve water quality and to divert or re-use stormwater, including Barwon Water’s concept for the Thompson Valley.

“Even after actions are taken we will need to continue gathering data on the impacts of any changes so we can adapt our approach as we go. This is particularly important as the environment and climate will continue to change too,” she said.

“We have been taking action while we waited for the assessment findings, including removing invasive weeds and stepping up our maintenance of Council-managed constructed wetlands.  We have also strengthened our processes for planning, approving and monitoring constructed wetlands.”

“We are partnering with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, land managers (including The Sands Owners Corporation) and agencies responsible for the Karaaf Wetlands to ensure the best overall solution,” Ms Seymour said. 

“The Karaaf Wetlands has strong cultural and environmental values, and we are working with Wadawurrung Traditional Owners in healing and caring for the wetlands and the broader cultural landscape.”

“We are awaiting news that the Federal Government’s $1.9M election commitment as part of its proposed Urban Rivers and Catchments Program will be funded in the October 2022 Budget and will support these improvements,” she said.

Council is holding an open information session at 6pm on Thursday 27 October at Council offices in Torquay for those interested to learn about the stormwater and environmental assessments’ findings, meet the report authors and hear from Council representatives about how the findings will be used.  There will also be an option for people to join the session online. 

Summary of environmental assessment findings

• Some vegetation in the Karaaf Wetlands has died back or is changing.
• Stormwater runoff from north Torquay has contributed to this change.  Thompson Creek and estuary conditions are also influencing factors.
• Many of the impacts are recent – in the last few years - and particularly noticeable at the western end, where the stormwater enters the wetlands.
• Stormwater has made the Karaaf Wetlands wetter particularly over summer when it would normally dry out.
• Prolonged inundation occurs when the Thompson Creek estuary is closed. 
• Environmental findings reflect a moment in time. Ecological systems are complex and conditions could alter with changes in climate and other factors so must be carefully monitored.
• The more the Karaaf can be insulated from the impacts of adjacent development, the better the chances of maintenance of the existing ecological values and the greater the potential for recovery of currently impacted vegetation.

Summary of north Torquay stormwater assessment findings

• The constructed wetlands (located in residential estates) are generally in good condition with strong vegetation growth.  There are a couple of exceptions where Typha (an invasive weed) has dominated the wetlands (Typha has since been mostly removed from the Esplanade Wetlands).
• The constructed wetlands are too small to treat the water to best practice standards.
• Changes can be made within the existing footprints to improve their function and therefore the water quality. These include cleaning and deepening sediment ponds and creating shallower areas with water plants to extend the amount of time stormwater sits in them to allow for nutrients to be filtered.
• Stormwater from the north Torquay catchment, including The Sands, generates approximately four times more run-off than pre-development conditions.