About NICA - Goal and Actions

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NICA and Catchment Management

NICA began in 1996, as a community-based steering committee (NRCCC), established to coordinate integrated catchment management of the Noosa River. Our role includes:

• Provide a forum for community input and discussion
• Identify and prioritise catchment issues
• Develop and promote the adoption of catchment management strategies and actions by all stakeholders
• Leverage funding to implement, monitor and evaluate such strategies and actions

In 2001, NICA produced the Noosa River Catchment Management Strategy (3.5 MB), after five years of extensive stakeholder consultation. The Strategy is a visionary guide for action. It identifies areas of natural resource management that can be improved to help reduce the cumulative impacts of human activity and the resultant decline in environmental values within the catchment.

     With broad memberships from community, industry, government and other sectors, NICA now assists the entire catchment community to implement key priorities identified in the Strategy.

Goals

 

The Strategy lists up to 153 actions contributing to six major catchment goals:

1. Optimise the biodiversity and habitat values of the catchment
2. Encourage best land management practice for sustainability and productivity
3. Encourage best management of water resources in the catchment
4. Encourage increased research, understanding and sharing of information between stakeholders
5. Encourage best practice in river and stream management
6. Encourage best practice in fisheries management

 

Priority Actions

NICA aims to focus initially on high priority actions using a collaborative and integrated approach between local on-ground and planning groups, whilst continuing to include industry, government and community in decision making processes and projects. The priority actions include:

• Rehabilitate riparian areas especially in the Kin Kin sub-catchment. Most sediments within the Noosa River Catchment arise from gully erosion caused by poor or inadequate streambank vegetation.
• Increase awareness of best practice on land and water, with a major focus on Acid Sulphate Soils (ASS), vegetation management and river use.
• Improve urban stormwater by preventing pollution at the source, and/or retrofitting existing infrastructure with best available technology.
• Mitigate boatwash impacts by encouraging appropriate boat speed, hull design and legislation.