Issue: Contributions and pressures between the land and inland water - Pressures of changes to the land on inland waters
This is an issue under the Land theme of the Data Reporting System.
Why we need to know about this issue
The land's vegetation provides shade and bank stability to surface waters while surface water courses provide the water for terrestrial plants and animals. Condition of inland waters is therefore crucial to condition of terrestrial biodiversity, and condition of terrestrial biodiversity, especially streamside vegetation, is crucial to the condition of inland waters.
The two principal pressures on inland waters from the land are pressure on water quality and pressure on the actual volume of water available to the environment. A major pressure on water quality from the land is eroded soil. This can cause sedimentation and turbidity in water ways. Sedimentation can smother aquatic biota while turbidity cuts off sunlight to aquatic plants, inhibiting photosynthesis.
Additionally, some sediments. such as acid sulphate soils, may be toxic to biota. Sediments can also carry excess nutrients which can unbalance aquatic ecosystems, leading to algal blooms. Excess nutrients can also enter inland waters from other land sources, such as fertilizers used in agriculture, and animal waste from farms and intensive animal production facilities.
Other ways in which the land and land uses can affect water quality are saline contamination from rising water tables, and pollution, from agricultural pesticides. A further major pressure from the land to inland waters is the extraction of water for agriculture. Agriculture is Australia's principal user of water (see Indicator: HS-41 Water consumption by sector ).
Indicators
- LD-04 Area and change in area of exposed soil surface contributing to erosion
Area of exposed soil is an indication of the quantity of unstable soil likely to be available to contribute to runoff to surface waters, impacting as sedimentation on water quality and aquatic biota. - LD-06 Area and proportion of land affected by dryland salinity and acidity
Extent of surface salinity is an indicator of the potential pressure of saline run-off from the land on inland waters. - IW-05 Average annual groundwater depth
Surface salinity results from the rise of saline groundwater into surface soil. Extent of surface salinity is an indicator of the pressure of salt from rising groundwater on the land. - IW-12 Catchment nitrogen and phosphorus load
Agricultural land use disturbs soils and can change loads of nitrogen and phosphorus entering inland waters, placing pressure aquatic species as well as on terrestrial species that rely on the water source. Quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrating in surface water catchments are a direct measure of this pressure. - IW-13 Catchment sediment load
Agricultural land use disturbs soils and can change loads of sediment entering inland waters, placing pressure aquatic species as well as on terrestrial species that rely on the water source. Quantities of sediment concentrating in surface water catchments are a direct measure of this pressure. - IW-26 Forested streamlength
Removal of riparian vegetation can allow saline groundwater to rise, causing salt contamination of both the surface soil and surface water. If banks are destabilised, eg by grazing of domestic animals, the absence of riparian vegetation can lead to flooding during periods of heavy flow, causing soil loss to the land and sedimentation and salination of the surface water. - HS-41 Water consumption by sector
The extraction of water for agriculture is one of the two broad pressures that the land and its uses place on inland waters.
Related issues
- Land - Land condition- Land cover
- Land - Land condition- Soil stability and quality
- Land - Land condition- Condition of terrestrial species and ecological communities
- Land - Land condition- Hydrology
- Land - Direct pressure of human activities on the land- Soil loss and loss of soil quality
- Land - Direct pressure of human activities on the land- Land clearing
- Land - Direct pressure of human activities on the land- Salinity
- Land - Direct pressure of human activities on the land- Species introduction and species change
- Biodiversity - Landscapes- Ecosystem diversity
- Biodiversity - Pressures on biodiversity- Land clearing
- Biodiversity - Species, habitats and ecological communities- Conservation status of species and ecological communities
- Biodiversity - Pressures on biodiversity- Grazing pressure
- Biodiversity - Pressures on biodiversity- Changed hydrology
- Land - Contributions and pressures between the land and inland water- Pressures of changes to inland waters on land
- Land - Contributions and pressures between the land and the ocean- Condition of species at the land-ocean interface
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Hydrological condition- Surface-water availability and human use
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Hydrological condition- Ground-water availability and human use
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Hydrological condition- Ecological aspects of river flow regimes
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Hydrological condition- Connectivity - dams, weirs, regulators and levees
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Land and vegetation condition- Erosion
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Land and vegetation condition- Vegetation
- Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Land and vegetation condition- Nutrients and sediments - sources and loads
- Inland Waters - Habitat scale influences- In-stream habitat - woody debris and sand slugs
- Inland Waters - Habitat scale influences- Riparian vegetation
- Inland Waters - Habitat scale influences- Wetlands
Key
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