Structural flood mitigation works and estuarine management in New South Wales—Case study of the Macleay River

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Abstract
In many estuaries of New South Wales (N.S.W.), agricultural, urban, and industrial activities have benefited at the expense of naturally occurring attributes such as commercial and amateur fisheries, wildlife habitats, recreational resources, and esthetic and cultural values. The successful future management of the estuarine environment is contingent on a number of factors, including a paucity of baseline data, a lack of predictive models, the difficulty of quantifying natural attributes, and a previous tendency to study the effects of each development proposal on an individual rather than on a cumulative basis. A positive step in estuarine management was recently taken by the N.S.W. government with the passage of legislation whereby environmental considerations are incorporated into planning and management procedures. However, shortcomings still exist in the overall management approach. This paper illustrates some of these shortcomings by examining the adverse environmental effects of structural flood mitigation works on the Macleay River estuary. Desirable considerations for the future management of estuaries are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the need for environmental compensation and habitat restoration, two concepts which, until recently, have had restricted application in coastal management in New South Wales.