In a first for our region, Best
Management Practice Guidelines for water quality improvement in the
grazing industry have been released by NQ Dry Tropics.
These guidelines were developed to
ensure that our beef industry is here for the future. They also aim
to maximise water quality and minimise soil loss from the runoff of
sediments and nutrients to our waterways.
This work, which was carried out
over a number of years, is the culmination of a partnership between
NQ Dry Tropics and key stakeholders, including graziers. A
comprehensive consultation process was undertaken with landholders,
industry bodies, government agencies and the scientific
community.
The best management practice
guidelines give graziers an opportunity to see how they rate
according to best practice techniques. It also helps graziers to
identify areas of improvement which can assist when making
decisions about the management of their land.
Information is presented in the
guidelines on best management practices for: managing land that is
away from water, managing land adjacent to water such as
riverbanks, fencing land adjacent to water, managing water bodies,
and property-wide management.
The guidelines also identify
different types of runoff and threats associated with each of them.
These are: runoff from widespread rain events and floods, water
contained within a river or water body where there is little or no
flow, and runoff generated by small localised rain storms.
