IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF RURAL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

The Identification and Evaluation of Rural Best Management Practices Project was managed by the Waroona Office of the Department of Agriculture and Food and contributes to the reduction of Phosphorus pollution in the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary through a considered, structured and legally supported approach to the implementation of key identified Best Management Practices (BMPs) for agricultural diffuse sources of Phosphorus.

Rural point sources can largely be controlled through 'end of pipe' licensing, however diffuse nutrient source management relies on the adoption of BMPs. In order to maximise adoption it is important for landowners to have a full appreciation of what BMPs are appropriate for this catchment, how effective they are at attenuation, how the BMPs can provide input into farm plans, what the up front and on-going costs or benefits are for each BMP, and a legal framework to underpin BMP implementation and attainment of the WQIP phosphorus load targets.

The project focused on the necessary preceding steps of identifying and describing BMPs and their cost effectiveness, using BMPs as the basis for for farm planning, developing systems and frameworks to promote and track update and adoption of BMPs and modelling the impact of BMP adoption and nutrient balance. This approach has allowed an appreciation of the levels of adoption and legal intervention required to achieve phosphorus load targets specified for the Peel-Harvey System, and identified where intervention in nutrient flows can provide cost-effective and justified management opportunities. Where possible and appropriate consultation was undertaken with the local community to involve landholders in the development of the BMP's.

The major land management BMP's evaluated included:

effective fertiliser use,
riparian management,
stock control,
perennial pastures,
soil amendment,
water management, and
irrigation efficiency.

The data derived from this project was essential to the development of scenarios modelled through the Decision Support System model and that ultimately formed the recommendations of the Peel-Harvey Water Quality Improvement Plan.

The following reports, titled:

LASCAM Scenario Report (Neville, 2006), and
Implementation Measures that Support, Influence, Encourage or Require Uptake of Best Management Practices for Nutrient Management (URS, 2005).

represent significant outputs of the Rural BMP's and Targeted Assistance to Intensive Agriculture Projects and can be downloaded in PDF format above.

For further information please contact the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council on (08) 9550 4225 or via info@peel-harvey.org.au.