Water Quality Policy

This Policy applies to all surface waters, including coastal waters, and groundwaters, other than:

  1. privately owned waters that are not accessible to the public and are not connected to, or flow directly into, waters that are accessible to the public; or
  2. waters in any tank, pipe or cistern.

The purpose of the Policy is to achieve the sustainable management of Tasmania's surface water and groundwater resources by protecting or enhancing their qualities while allowing for sustainable development in accordance with the objectives of Tasmania's Resource Management and Planning System (Schedule 1 of the State Policies and Projects Act 1993 ).

The objectives of this policy are to:

  1. focus water quality management on the achievement of water quality objectives which will maintain or enhance water quality and further the objectives of Tasmania's Resource Management and Planning System;
  2. ensure that diffuse source and point source pollution does not prejudice the achievement of water quality objectives and that pollutants discharged to waterways are reduced as far as is reasonable and practical by the use of best practice environmental management;
  3. ensure that efficient and effective water quality monitoring programs are carried out and that the responsibility for monitoring is shared by those who use and benefit from the resource, including polluters, who should bear an appropriate share of the costs arising from their activities, water resource managers and the community;
  4. facilitate and promote integrated catchment management through the achievement of objectives (1) to (3) above; and
  5. apply the precautionary principle to Part 4 of this Policy.

The Water Quality Objectives include:

Protected Environmental Values are values or uses of the environment for which it has been determined that a given area of the environment should be protected. Water quality objectives may be set for surface waters and groundwaters in Tasmania by determining protected environmental values should apply to each body of water.

Water Quality Guidelines are estimates, based on the best scientific information available, of the levels of indicators which should be met in order to protect an environmental value.

Water Quality Objectives for a specific body of water are the most stringent set of water quality guidelines which should be met to achieve all of the protected environmental values nominated for that body of water.

PDF
State Policy on Water Quality Management 1997

(PDF: 318 KB / 32 pages)

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Further Information

Contact: Senior Policy Officer

Senior Policy Officer
Enviornment Division
134 Macquarie Street
HOBART TAS
Phone: 03 6233 4028
Fax: 03 6233 6800
Email:  EnvironmentEnquiries@environment.tas.gov.au