Queensland’s waterways are being impacted by excessive volumes of sediment with the majority coming from man-made disturbances such as land clearing and associated in-stream erosion as well as building and construction sites. This excessive deposition of sediment impacts the natural environment through the loss of habitat, ecosystems etc., and through increased concentrations of nutrients and metals in waterways which leads to poor water quality. It also increases the risk of flooding and need for maintenance of waterways and stormwater infrastructure.
Stormwater Queensland (SQ) believes designers, contractors, auditors and regulators need to improve their understanding of the causes of erosion, appropriate mitigation measures, the requirements of current legislation, and best practice. If current practices do not improve, the environmental values we desire from our waterways will be reduced or lost. This will have direct impacts upon the benefits our communities derive from our waterways effecting both tourism and commercial livelihoods.
SQ is committed to providing industry leadership on best practice stormwater management and has prepared a Position Statement on erosion and sediment control including High Efficiency Sediment Basins.
The position paper can be downloaded here and will be used by SQ to help advocate for better erosion and sediment control.
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