NATIONAL RIVER CONTAMINANTS PROGRAM

Program Objectives

The National River Contaminants Program is a significant research and development program jointly funded by Land and Water Australia and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. It expands and builds on the highly successful National Eutrophication Management Program, which concluded in 2000. The National River Contaminants Program has a strong scientific base and will produce practical research that will contribute to developing natural resource management initiatives across Australia. From a natural resource management perspective the National River Contaminants Program will provide:

a whole of ecosystem approach which focuses on the combined impacts of major riverine contaminants - nutrients, sediments and salts and their role in ecosystem processes;
scientific input to end of catchment target-setting frameworks currently being established at Federal; state; basin and local scales; and
practical support for operational decisions regarding the management of river contaminants.

The National River Contaminants Program will provide practical technical information to directly support river management at the National and catchment scales, and will fill information gaps to improve our understanding of the impact of contaminants on ecosystem processes. The National River Contaminants Program will also improve our understanding and management of river contamination issues, to help reduce the associated costs and to better manage the risk of river contamination. To do this the Program seeks to understand;

where contaminants are coming from in the landscape;
how they are transported to the river system; and
what transformations occur as contaminants interact within the water column and with other potentially harmful contaminants.

The National River Contaminants Program will value add to important natural resource management initiatives, including the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Integrated Catchment Management Policy.

Program Plan

The Program Plan has been finalised with the completion of the final round project application process. Seventy-five high quality project applications were received in the initial call, with over $23 million worth of proposals bidding for a program budget of approximately $3 million.
Thirteen proposals were invited to submit second round applications totalling approximately $4.5 million, with ten projects ultimately successful in receiving funding.
The final list of projects funded under the National River Contaminants Program is listed below.

Project Title	Investigator	Institution	Description
In-stream and riparian zone nitrogen dynamics	Dr Christine Fellows	Griffith University	Project will refine conceptual models for carbon and nitrogen cycling and undertake field experiments to test models. Conceptual models developed from the project will allow for development of management principles to improve stream water quality and river health.
Catchments nutrients and sediment budgets: identification of knowledge gaps	Dr Myriam Bormans	CSIRO Land and Water	Project will develop nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment budgets for Murrumbidgee, Brisbane, Latrobe and Johnstone Rivers. Project operates at the catchment scale and will give improved integrated outcomes for key contaminants.
Integrated impacts of contaminants and flow on riverine ecosystem production.	Dr Darren Ryder	University of New England	Project will identify sources and sinks of a range of contaminants under different flow conditions in the Murrumbidgee. Outcomes will support improved flow management of the Murrumbidgee, with results having wider applicability across south east Australia
Predicting salinity induced loss of biodiversity	Mr Ben Kefford	RMIT University	Project will develop a management tool to predict biodiversity loss due to salinity, across a number of biogeographic regions (Shepparton, Toowoomba, and Townsville). Project will support catchment target setting processes, by developing guidelines for managers.
Development of risk based approaches for managing contaminants in catchments	Prof Barry Hart	Monash University	Project will develop risk-based models to link catchment reduction targets with improved ecological outcomes. Project risk assessment methodology has potential to provide Catchment Management Authorities with a powerful decision support tools.
Development of a catchment contaminant cycle model for stakeholder use	Dr Rob Vertessy	CSIRO Land and Water	Project is an integrating project that uses a catchment-modelling framework to link a number of outputs from other Contaminants Program projects to predict the full catchment contaminant cycle, that is meaningful to stakeholders and able to be used in water quality target setting.
Innovative techniques for Managing Multiple threats to High Value Aquatic Systems	Dr Paul Boon and Dr Paul Bailey	Monash University and Victoria University of Technology	This combined Monash University/ Victoria University project aims to quantify species, community and ecosystems impacts from multiple ecological threats.
Salt Sensitivity Database	Dr Paul Boon and Dr Paul Bailey	Monash University and Victoria University of Technology	This combined Monash University/ Victoria University Salt Sensitivity Database project has prepared a comprehensive database containing 1500 entries on over 1200 different taxa, statistically analysed in order to identify sensitive and tolerant taxonomic groupings, and with interpretive notes.
Alternative stable states: a potential paradigm for managing salinised ecosystems	Dr Jenny Davis	Murdoch University	Project is testing the applicability of the concept of alternative stable states (clear water dominated by macrophytes versus turbid water dominated by phytoplankton) to a range of saline and coloured systems encompassed by inland rivers and wetlands in south-western Australia.
Characterisation and dynamics of colloidal materiel in a turbid tropical river.	Dr George Lukacs	James Cook University	This PhD study of the Burdekin River is proposed to fill the gap in research funding under the program to understanding the dominant river contaminant in northern Australian rivers.
Developing a framework for making improved nutrient decisions for pastures.	Ken Peverill	DRDC, MLA, Fertiliser companies (Pivot, Incitec, CSBP, HiFert)	Project will support improved decision making by fertiliser companies on the application of fertilisers to pasture, reducing the impact of contamination of rivers with excessive nutrient loadings from the dairy, sheep and beef industries.

More information on the National River Contaminants Program, including the Program Plan, can be accessed by following the link to the Land and Water Australia website.

The Land and Water Australia link is: www.rivers.gov.au