Respond swiftly to climate change, using the best available science to maximise our water resources and sustain healthy, more resilient catchments.
- Meeting or exceeding our goals to keep rivers, wetlands and aquifers healthy and support better outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef.
- Reviewing 23 water plans across the state to finely balance the share of water for the environment, cultural values and other water uses.
- Using climate science and innovation to:
- understand and manage risks to water resources
- build mitigation into management
- strengthen resilience.
- Actively monitoring waterways and groundwater levels to improve catchment health.
- Delivering compliance plans, audits and effective regulation of the water sector.
- Transforming rural water management through smarter metering and optimising water markets.
- Boosting and leveraging partnerships with councils, National Resource Management (NRM) organisations, community groups, and industry to build innovation and capacity into decision making.
- Delivering Great Artesian Basin bore-capping program to reduce water wastage.
- Support recreational and commercial fisheries, as well as Queensland’s strong tourism economy which all rely on healthy aquatic environments.
Initiatives
These initiatives are underway between October 2023 and December 2024.
Our initiatives:
- Finalise replacement of Mary Basin water plan
- Progress the review and replacement of water plans for:
- Complete performance assessment reports for:
- Condamine and Balonne water plan
- Border Rivers and Moonie water plan
- Baffle Creek Basin water plan
- Cape York water plan
- Cooper Creek water plan
- Publish climate change information to raise awareness and literacy of climate change impacts on water
- Continue to progress water reform efforts through the Rural Water Futures program:
- deliver Water IQ enhancements and establish the future data platform
- implement telemetry within the Queensland Murray–Darling Basin (QMDB)
- amend water regulation to strengthen the measurement of water taken including telemetry.
- Ongoing engagement with water stakeholders on water initiatives including through the Water Engagement Forum (WEF)
- Deliver timely and reliable surface and groundwater monitoring data to inform water resource management
- Continue to support Murray–Darling Basin plan implementation
- Deliver regulatory functions as outlined in the regulatory strategy and prioritised in the annual compliance plan
Initiative in partnership with the Australian Government:
- Continue to implement the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) capping and piping with the Australian Government
Initiative in partnership with Department of Environment and Science and Department of Agriculture:
- Champion water resource projects led by Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisations in their delivery of water projects.
Initiative in partnership with Department of Environment and Science, Department of Agriculture and Sunwater:
- Develop a strategy to tackle rising groundwater levels in the Lower Burdekin that includes on and off-farm actions.
Initiative in partnership with Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment (OGIA):
- Improve the mapping of groundwater connectivity for Condamine Alluvium Groundwater System.
Last updated: 17 May 2024