Environmetrics

Port Phillip Bay

PORT PHILLIP BAY STUDY WINS CSIRO CHAIRMAN'S MEDAL

A study of Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay has won the 1996 CSIRO Chairman's Gold Medal. The annual award carries with it a cheque for $25,000.

The Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study (PPBES) team was led by Professor Graham Harris of CSIRO's Environment Project Office in Canberra. The Study was largely funded by Melbourne Water, and involved close cooperation between twenty seven contracting partners including CSIRO Divisions, Victorian Government agencies, and overseas scientific institutions such as the University of California (San Diego).

According to Professor Harris, PPBES is not only a unique example of multidisciplinary scientific study, but it is also a model for future management and understanding of large catchments in Australia and overseas.

"As a result of the success of PPBES, we have recently signed an agreement with Sydney Water for a similar large scale study of the catchment and the Harbour," said Professor Harris. "We hope that the results of the Sydney study give it the same clean bill of health as Melbourne received from PPBES."

Professor Harris said that the PPBES team were delighted with the practical recognition which their work had received from the Government of Victoria, which committed itself to abide by the recommendations of the Study.

The PPBES team consisted of: Professor Graham Harris, Dr Graeme Batley, Dr David Fox, Mr Douglas Hall, Dr Peter Jernakoff, Mr Robert Molloy, Dr Alexander Murray, Mr Brian Newell, Dr John Parslow, Dr Graham Skyring and Dr Stephen Walker.

1996

Professor Graham Harris (CSIRO Project Office) and the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study Technical Group and Management Team - Dr Graeme Batley (Division of Coal & Energy Technology), Dr Chris Crossland (CRC for Ecologically Sustainable Development of the Great Barrier Reef), Dr David Fox (Division of Mathematics & Statistics), Mr Douglas Hall (PPBES Office), Dr John Hunter (Division of Oceanography), Dr Peter Jernakoff (Division of Fisheries), Mr Robert Molloy (PPBES Office), Dr Alexander Murray (Division of Fisheries), Mr Brian Newell (PPBES Office), Dr John Parslow (Division of Fisheries), Dr Graham Skyring (SES Environmental Consultants), Dr Stephen Walker (Division of Oceanography) and Dr Trevor Ward (Division of Fisheries).
For their work on the $12M four-year Port Phillip Bay environmental study.

The Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study Technical Group and Management Team designed, managed and completed the largest and most integrated piece of coastal marine research ever carried out in Australia. The Study produced world class scientific outcomes that revolutionised our understanding of the functioning of the Bay.

The 2000 square kilometre Port Phillip Bay is threatened by several conflicts of use, not least of which is the city of Melbourne on its shores with over 3 million inhabitants. Industrial waste-water and urban run-off from the City enter the Bay, which is Melbourne's premier aquatic playground and contains some of Victoria's most important nature conservation areas. Its shores are the site of significant RAMSAR wetlands.

In 1991 CSIRO was invited to help resolve concerns about the release of effluents into the Bay. The brief was "to determine the environmental status of the Bay in relation to nutrients and toxicants and to provide the basis for long term management of point and diffuse loads." The clients for this 4 year, $11.6 million study were Melbourne Water, Melbourne Parks and Waterways, the Victorian Environment Protection Agency, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Victorian Channels Authority.

The CSIRO team managed 29 contractors carrying out 47 individual contracts ranging from physical oceanography to fisheries biology. Key research produced significant new information in several areas and has resulted in new scientific capabilities residing in Australia.

For example:

• Research by the University of California-San Diego, the Victorian Fisheries Research Institute and CSIRO demonstrated that sediments of the Bay were the key hidden component in the ecosystem, with their microbial denitrification systems determining whether the Bay would flourish or degrade irreversibly.

• Water quality was mapped using new statistical tools that revealed the relations between different effluent sources and the Bay function.

• New airborne remote sensing techniques were pioneered to map the benthic habitats in the Bay. These techniques are about 2 years ahead of the rest of the world and form the basis of a new business for a small Australian company.

The Study demonstrated the key role played by the biodiversity of the Bay ecosystem and quantified the threats posed by introduced, alien species. Great emphasis was placed on conservation, protection and restoration of the Bay ecosystem in order to maintain water quality.

The end result is a model of the Bay system, the only one of its kind in Australia and widely applicable to coastal marine environments. Valuable information for future Bay management was produced, and has already had a major impact on infrastructure plans in Melbourne.

Contact: Allan Adolphson   Ph: +61-(0)2-9325-3261   Fax: +61-(0)2-9325-3200

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last updated June 14, 2002 12:11 PM
Bert.deBoer@cmis.csiro.au