Land Use Issues

The way the land is used, and how intensively, can cause land degradation, air pollution or water pollution. The term land degradation includes:
 

• - weed invasion into bushland areas
• - soil erosion as a result of urban development and redevelopment
• - erosion of tracks in bushland and foreshore areas
• - erosion of drainage lines below stormwater outlets
• - siltation of creeks and waterways
• - nutrient enrichment of soils and/or soil deposition (from transported solids)
• - vegetation loss/decline/damage
• - foreshore erosion.

Recreational activity can degrade land:

Horse riding, trail bike riding, walking along bush and foreshore tracks can also degrade the land; therefore the water areas of Middle Harbour. We believe it is important to control the intensity of such recreation activity; and to manage the areas set aside for it properly.

Soil erosion damage flow and in the future

 Soil erosion is the most visible form of land degradation in Middle Harbour. When urban, industrial and infrastructure projects are first constructed, they visibly erode the soil. One can also see that soil is eroded from degraded bushland and tracks. The downstream effects of soil erosion, however, are not so visible. They are sedimentation and water turbidity; and they will perhaps damage the environment more in the future than they do now; for example, by restricting the area and thus use of waterways and watercourses for recreation; and by reducing the clarity of the waters. Also, more sediment and poorer water quality will make Middle Harbour catchment less attractive as a home for native fauna.