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Wetlands

Hunter Region

Introduction

The Hunter Region covers the area from Johns River north of Taree, to Gosford in the south and near Ulan to the west. It encompasses the major urban areas of the Central Coast, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Maitland (DLWC, 1999).

It contains a range of wetland types, including coastal and tableland wetlands. A number of these wetlands have regional, state and national significance.

Hunter River
The Hunter River downstream of Glenbawn Dam
Source: DLWC

Wetlands of the Hunter Valley

Wetlands of International Importance

There are two Ramsar wetlands in the Hunter Valley. They are the Kooragang Nature Reserve and the Myall Lakes. Both wetlands are also listed under the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. The following summaries have been adapted from the Ramsar Pages of Environment Australia's Website. More information on these wetlands and the reasons for their inclusion as Ramsar wetlands are available on either Environment Australia's Website or The Ramsar Bureau Website.

Kooragang Nature Reserve (Wetland C & No 80 on Map 2)

Kooragang Nature Reserve became a Ramsar site on 21 February 1984.

Kooragang Nature Reserve's 2926ha is in the estuary of the Hunter River and part of the Ramsar site is subject to tidal flooding. Kooragang Nature Reserve and surrounding habitat is an important bird study area in NSW.

Hunter Estuary
Aerial view of the Hunter Estuary, 1999
Source: DLWC

Kooragang Nature Reserve supports a variety of wetland types, including mangrove forest, saltmarsh, saline and freshwater pasture, casuarina forest, brackish and freshwater swamp, mudflats, sandy beaches and rock training walls. Rainforest remnants also occur in Kooragang Nature Reserve.

Kooragang Nature Reserve is important as a feeding and roosting site for seasonally migrating shorebirds, including the bar-tailed godwit, greenshank, terek sandpiper and eastern curlew. In total 190 species of birds have been recorded at Kooragang Nature Reserve representing 25% of species known in Australia.

The Myall Lakes (Wetland G & No. 33 on Map 2)

Myall Lakes
Aerial view of the Myall Estuary - Myall Lakes in the foreground, 1999
Source: DLWC 

The Myall Lakes are situated approximately 75 kilometres north of Newcastle between the villages of Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens to the south and Forster to the north, on the central coast of New South Wales. The Lakes were accepted as a Ramsar site on the 14/06/99. They have an area of 44,612 ha. The Lakes lie within the Myall Lakes National Park and include the Corrie Island and Little Broughton Island Nature Reserves.

Myall Lakes
Source: Dayle Green (DLWC)

Myall Lakes is one of the few coastal brackish lake systems in New South Wales which has not been greatly modified by human activities. The area is renowned for its floristic diversity, with over 600 species of plants, and complex variety of habitats, which is largely due to differences in substrate. The Lakes also provide a habitat for a large number of waterbirds, and are an important drought refuge. It is an extremely popular tourist destination featuring water-based recreational activities, and thus an economic engine for a number of towns in the region.

Myall Lakes
Source: Dayle Green (DLWC)

Wetlands of National Importance

The following wetland summaries have been adapted from the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia, 3rd Edition. More information on these wetlands and the reasons for their inclusion in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia can be found on Environment Australia's Website.

Barrington Tops Swamps (No. 25 on Map 2)

Sedge Swamp
Sedge Swamp at Barrington Tops
Source: Dayle Green (DLWC)

Barrington Tops Swamps are located approximately 70km west of Gloucester in the Hunter Valley. They comprise Horse Swamp, Butchers Swamp, Polblue Swamp, Upper Polblue Swamp, Brumlow Swamp, Saxby Swamp, Edwards Swamp, Black Swamp, Barrington Swamp, Bobs Swamp, Beean Beean Swamp, Little Murray Swamp, and Kerripit Swamp, the Gloucester Tops group of swamps, and Burraga Swamp. They are all representative of sub-alpine swamps. The swamps contain habitat for a number of fauna species considered vulnerable under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. They also support a number of significant plants (ANCA, 1996).

Port Stephens Estuary (No. 34 on Map 2)

Stephens Estuary
Aerial view of the Port Stephens Estuary, 1999
Source: DLWC

The Port Stephens Estuary consists of the tidal waters and intertidal wetlands of Port Stephens, up the Myall River to Myall Lakes National Park, up the Karuah River to Karuah, and including all of Tillegerry Creek and Twelve Mile Creek.

This extensive estuarine system contains 2,776 ha of mangroves, 1000 ha of seagrass and 1433 ha of saltmarsh. This represents the largest area of mangrove forest in NSW (approximately 21 % of the total area in NSW), the second largest area of seagrass in New South Wales as well as 13 % of the saltmarsh found in NSW (Australian Heritage Commission, 1998).

Wallis Lake and Adjacent Estuarine Islands (No. 38 on Map 2)

Wallis Lake
Aerial view of Wallis Lake and adjacent estuarine islands
Source: DLWC

This significant wetland area consists of the tidal waters of Wallis Lake, near Forster, extending up Coolongolook River to the junction of Minimbah Creek, and to the mouth of the Wallamba River. This coastal lagoon comprises approximately 20 % of total seagrasses in NSW.

Wallis Lake is the third most productive estuarine fishery in New South Wales. The seagrass, saltmarsh and mangrove areas provide important nursery grounds for commercially important fish species (Australian Heritage Commission, 1998).

Wetlands Centre Australia (No. 89 on Map 2)

The Wetlands Centre Australia (formally the Shortland Wetlands Centre) is located on the eastern edge of Hexham Swamp in the suburbs of Newcastle. It is a particularly important site for environmental education in NSW. It is also an important breeding area for many different species of waterbirds including some species which are considered vulnerable at a state level (ANCA, 1996).

For more information visit the Wetlands Centre Website.

Other Hunter Wetlands

Hexham Swamp

Hexham Swamp is part of the Hunter River estuary complex and is situated less than 5 kilometres from the mouth of the Hunter River on the outskirts of Newcastle. The swamp lies on the western side of the river and covers an area of 3 200 hectares. It comprises the majority of the Ironbark Creek catchment. The Swamp is dominated by freshwater wetlands but contains some small areas of estuarine wetlands also.

Hexham Swamp
Hexham Swamp is part of the Hunter Estuary, 1999
Source: DLWC

Floodgates were constructed on Ironbark Creek between 1969 and 1970 as part of a flood mitigation scheme. Prior to construction of the floodgates, Hexham Swamp was a tidal wetland. After installation the tidal effects and flooding of the swamp no longer occurred. This has allowed cattle and horse grazing to expand in the area.

Hexham Swamp adjoins the Kooragang wetland, a wetland of international significance. It also adjoins the Wetlands Centre (formerly known as the Shortland Wetlands Centre). As such, Hexham Swamp is also an integral part of the Lower Hunter Estuary. Further information on Hexham Swamp and the current Hexham Swamp Rehabilitation project is provided below.

Environmental Flow Rules

Their relevance to the Wetlands of the Hunter Valley

The Hunter provides water for agriculture, much of the State's power and mining industries and for some major towns. The River and the Hunter estuary are also important natural assets for New South Wales. Over the last 130 years land use changes, dam construction and water use have resulted in major changes to the natural flow of the Hunter River, and damage to its health. The evidence of poor river health includes algal blooms, increasing salinity and nutrient levels, and dwindling native fish populations.

In late 1997, a River Management Committee (RMC) was established for the Hunter, as part of the state-wide water reform process. The committee was set up to develop a water management plan, including environmental flow rules for the Hunter. Click here to view a PDF of the River Management Committees Report on Environmental Flow Rules for the Hunter Valley.

The environmental flow rules (EFRs) were implemented in the Hunter Valley in 1998/99. The committee was then asked to advise on a water sharing plan for the regulated rivers of the Hunter Valley. The water sharing plan commenced in July 2004 and provides the following environmental rules:

Rule 1. Reserve all water above the Plan extraction limit for the environment

  • The Plan sets an extraction limit means that, on a long-term average basis, approximately 80% of yearly flows in the river are protected for the maintenance of environmental health.

Rule 2. A minimum flow to be maintained at all times

  • The plan specifies the minimum flow level to be maintained at all times at Liddell, which is just upstream of the Glennies Creek junction, and Greta which is close to the end of the system.

Rule 3. Provide reserves of water for environmental purposes

  • Reserves of 20,000 ML of water in both Glenbawn Dam and Glennies Creek Dams are set aside at the start of each water year.
  • This water to be used to assist in the management of critical water quality problems such as algal blooms or chemical spills or for more general environmental purposes.

Rule 4. Protection of flows during periods when supplementary water access licences may take water

  • Total extractions in each river are restricted to no more than 50% of total flow during periods when supplementary water access licences may take water.
  • The plan also limits the total volume that may be taken from uncontrolled flows in any water year.

What issues do the current rules address?

The targeted outcomes from the environmental flow rules are:

  • Improvement in water quality and instream habitat;
  • The restoration of triggers for migration of animals and reproduction of plants and animals;
  • Improvement in floodplain, riverine and wetland vegetation; and
  • Improvement in overall river health.

Myall Lakes
Wetlands workshop, Myall Lakes, 1996
Source: Dayle Green (DLWC)

The Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flow Rules

To assess the response of the riverine ecosystems of the Hunter River against the environmental flow rules, it was seen as essential that a sound scientific assessment of the rules be made.

The NSW Government established a major scientific program to address this need. This program is referred to as the Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flows or IMEF. The environmental side of the program involves the collection of biological, physical and/or chemical data from river sites and wetlands within sections of the river that are affected by the flow rules. The program provides not only additional understanding of the flow responses of riverine ecosystems based on sound scientific methods, but also an opportunity to evaluate the environmental performance of the flow rules themselves. The IMEF program has been designed and progressively implemented across the state since 1997.

Monitoring is underway in the Hunter Valley to assess the response of the river and associated wetlands and estuaries to the environmental flow rules. Five estuaries are monitored using IMEF methods.

The Estuaries Management Program

A number of wetland projects are being carried out in the Hunter Region under the Department's Estuaries Management Program. Further details on the Estuaries Management Program and related wetland projects can be found on the "Estuaries of NSW" pages of this Website.