Declared areas and watercourse limits
- Declared catchment areas
- Declared drainage and embankment areas
- Upstream and downstream limits of a watercourse
- Declared subartesian areas
- Wild rivers
Declared catchment areas
To preserve the quality of the water, parts of Queensland that immediately surround particular storages have been declared as ‘catchment areas’ under the Water Act 2000.
Some types of development within these areas must be approved by both local government and the Department of Environment and Resource Management.
- Maps of declared catchment areas
- Policy and code for preserving water quality in declared catchment areas (PDF, 192K)* (Ch. F10 of the Handbook of Resource Planning Guidelines)
Declared drainage and embankment areas
Within declared drainage and embankment areas, works that are installed or constructed to control the flow of water into or out of a watercourse, lake or spring are code-assessable development under the IPA.
Upstream and downstream limits of a watercourse
Having clear upstream and downstream limits is important for applying the Water Act’s jurisdiction, particularly with regard to accessing water and quarry material resources. When the natural limits are unclear and not easily identifiable on the ground, the state government can declare them through a Regulation. Declared limits, which are listed in the Water Regulation 2002, override any natural limits in these cases.
Upstream limits
The upstream limit of a watercourse can be:
- the point where the stream becomes so small that it does not have sustained base flows after rainfall events—usually evident by the lack of riverine vegetation species or aquatic-dependant habitat such as pools and riffles (the natural limit)
- the point declared by Regulation.
Gullies and other small drainage features that flow only in response to a rainfall event are generally not watercourses.
Downstream limits
The downstream limit of a watercourse can be:
- the point in a coastal stream to which the spring tide normally ebbs and flows (the natural limit)
- the downstream face of any barrage constructed in the tidal reaches of the stream; or
- the point declared by Regulation (commonly a bridge or property boundary).
This information is an overview of the topic. Please contact the department or see relevant Acts for more specific details.
Declared subartesian areas
In Queensland, a number of subartesian areas have been declared under the Water Act 2000. Some have been declared within water resource plans, while most have been declared under the Water Regulation 2002, both of which are subordinate legislation to the Act.
- Maps of declared subartesian areas
Wild rivers
To help preserve wild rivers in their near-pristine condition, a wild river declaration outlines where certain types of new development can occur in the catchment, and under what conditions. A wild river declaration is a statutory document under the Wild Rivers Act.
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 10 June 2009