Agnes Water Desalination Project Preliminary Studies – Aquatic Ecology John Thorogood and Kylie McPherson

The Proposed Plant Adjacent to the existing water treatment plant Comprising: - A submerged offshore intake (600m off Chinamans Beach) - A submerged offshore brine outfall (800m off Chinamans Beach) Capacity – 2mL/day increasing to 12mL/day

Study Methodology Review Focused consultation Field survey

The Existing Environment ‘Oceanic’ water quality Chinamans Beach characterised by surf, mobile sandy substrate, with rock out crops Absence of tidal wetlands and subtidal seagrass Significant reefs lie approx 60km offshore

Round Hill Creek is important for both recreational and commercial fisheries Chinamans Beach supports recreational beach fishing Trawlers (<6) operate offshore, targeting tiger prawns and saucer scallops Fisheries

Conservation Significant Habitat Tidal waters are part of the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park. Adjacent to Chinamans Beach. Designated ‘General Use Zone’ GUZ allows for ‘reasonable use, whilst still conserving these areas’ Waters offshore of Chinamans Beach are designated GUZ of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Waters offshore also lie within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Conservation Significance cont. Along with entire GBR – listed as a Wetland of National Significance and World Heritage Area No RAMSAR site No wetlands of state or regional significance No Fish Habitat Area No Dugong Protection Area No seagrass

State Coastal Management Plan Agnes Waters lies within the Wide Bay Coast Coastal Management Region Draft Regional Coastal Management Plan under preparation Current issues include: loss of habitat, impacts of urban development on coastal landscapes and beach protection zones, beach erosion and impacts of marinas and dredging

Conservationally Significant Species Chinamans Beach is nesting site for marine turtles (nesting, October-March; Hatching, December-May) Offshore waters comprise humpback whale migration corridor

Permits GBRMPA – GBRMP permit Possible EPBC Act Referral Marine Plants Permit - Unlikely

Potential Impacts Construction Phase -Disturbance of nesting turtles -Disturbance of migrating whales (negligible impact) -Disturbance of fishers -Disturbance of beach and sea bed -Increased turbidity

Potential Impacts cont Operation Phase - Intake of Fauna (turtle hatchling) (no impact on fisheries resources expected) - Discharge of Brine (elevated salinity) Modeling predicts <0.6g/L increase at 100m Mobile species (fish, prawns, etc) will avoid waters of elevated salinity Some change in community structure of immobile benthic fauna likely to close proximity of diffuser

Mitigations Construction Phase - Construct pipelines in the winter months to avoid turtle nesting; or avoid any night work Operation Phase - Screened intake - Effective diffusion of brine effluent

Conclusions Proposed site has low conservation significance with the notable exception of turtle nesting Proposed site is physically robust Predicted impacts considered reliable Predicted impacts (after mitigation) are likely to be ecologically negligible and not significantly fisheries or conservation values