GBCMA Corporate Plan
2009-10 to 2012-13
Chair’s Statement
On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to submit the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority's Corporate Plan for the period 2009-10 to 2013-14. The Corporate Plan has been prepared in accordance with sections 19C and 19D of the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, Section 247 (2A) of the Water Act 1989 and 2007-08 Ministerial Guidelines.
2009-10 will be a starkly different year for natural resource management in the Goulburn Broken region.
Fires have ravaged the southern part of the catchment and there will be a major focus on rebuilding. Landscape scale projects such as VEAC recommendations and Lake Mokoan will pick up pace. Government funding and support for community driven natural resource management activities is declining. 12 years of drought have taken their toll on the water resources and health of our rivers.
The February 2009 fires are a national disaster and preliminary assessments indicate that 190,000 hectares of the catchment has been destroyed, or about seven percent of the entire Goulburn Broken Catchment, 212 major rivers and 2,845 kilometres of streams have been burned. Added to this is the human dimension of 100 lives lost and thousands of homes. The rebuilding and recovery of shattered lives and decimated environments will take years.
The Goulburn Broken CMA stands ready to play a part to help and is currently assessing the damage, talking to communities affected and working with partners to devise a practical plan to rebuild the community and the natural environment.
2009-10 will see a number of landscape scale projects underway, these include the Mokoan Wetland, VEAC recommendations for Barmah and the Lower Goulburn as well as the rolling out of the Northern Victorian Irrigation Renewal Project. The Goulburn Broken CMA has a significant role to play in these projects from coordinating on ground works through to the provision of technical expertise to implementation as well as strategic input.
The Goulburn Broken CMA's most recent Annual Report demonstrates that $35 million of government funding is needed to deliver programs with a reasonable level of outputs. In addition to this the Goulburn Broken region will also require $11 million of funding to commence fire recovery work for our community and environmental assets. Current forecasts for revenue for the Corporate Plan suggest that 2009-10 will be down by almost 50 percent on 2007-08 and this will have two major impacts: loss of regional jobs and deterioration in the condition of natural resources in the catchment.
The development of the Northern Sustainable Water Strategy is almost complete and the recommendations will be implemented in 2009-10. The region awaits with interest the State Government's Land and Biodiversity Paper which is due for release in mid 2009.
The dry conditions persist in the catchment. Work with landowners to manage their properties for drier conditions is continuing and showing that loss of condition of assets can be minimised. The Drought Employment Program is proving to be a significant deliverer of outputs, especially in fencing and weed control activities. Whilst drought is not a desirable event, the outcomes from the Drought Employment Program are good for the catchment.
The Goulburn Broken CMA can only deliver part of the activities in this Corporate Plan, we rely on the good will, hard work and experience of our partners including Landcare, landowners, Department of Primary Industries and Sustainability and Environment, Goulburn Murray Water, Local Governments and community groups and organisations.
Huw Davies
Chair
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 | GB CMA Corporate Plan 2009-10 to 2012-13 |