Pressures & Responses
This section provides examples of pressures that are impacting our waters, what impacts these pressures are having or may cause, how we are responding to address these pressures and impacts and what opportunities there are for environmental improvement. It should be noted that many of the pressures, impacts and responses are interlinked.
Pressures on our inland waters, including surface water and groundwater, include:
- climate change impacts from declining annual rainfall, hotter temperatures, intense rainfall events and more dangerous fire weather that will affect water supply and water use both for people and the environment
- resource use including water extraction and recreational activities
- habitat modification including land clearance, removal of native vegetation, addition of dams and other water collecting devices, change of land use including urban development and disturbance of acid sulfate soils
- pollution from various sources such as wastewater discharge, chemicals from industry (in particular legacy use), stormwater runoff, agriculture (fertilisers, pesticides and livestock), microplastics, nutrients and sediments
- pest species and disease introduced via translocation that may compete with native species.
