ROCKY POINT PRAWN FARM

Water Quality Release Improvement Plan (WQRIP)

Improvements :·

• Recycling Ponds 20%-30% of farm area
• Biological assistance in recycling ponds - Plants and invertebrate organisms.
  

RPPF have adopted an integrated approach to improving the quality of water for production on the farm. The contaminant and release management plan is based on the use of a system of water storage and treatment ponds. Management is currently using approximately 20% of total pond area as storage and treatment ponds (settling ponds). During the 1998/99 prawn season RPPF is applying for a new inlet and outlet that will include a 5 hectare dedicated treatment pond. This will improve the farms means of recirculating water and flexibility in the timing and magnitude of releasing treated water.

In collaboration with CSIRO, an intensive programme to implement, record and monitor a number of biological methods has been carried out in the 1997/98 prawn season with its aim being to set an area needed to reduce Total Nitrogen to target levels. The results from this research will be passed on to the Department of Environment and Heritage as soon as it is available.