Shire of Chapman Valley
| Area | ~3,965 square kilometres, located ~440 km north of Perth. |
| Towns | Nabawa, Nanson, and Yuna |
| Average Temperature | Mean daily maximum temperature over 30 years 1990 – 2019 Coastal: 32.7°C (Jan) and 20.5°C (Jul); Inland: 37.5°C (Jan) and 19.7°C (Jul). |
| Annual Rainfall | Average annual rainfall over 30 years 1990 – 2019 Coastal: 394 mm; Inland: 315 mm (BoM 2020). |
| ABS Profile | Chapman Valley ABS profile |
| Shire Website | Shire of Chapman Valley |
Over 1,400 people live in the Shire of Chapman Valley, with the majority of those people living in the peri-urban areas in the southwest of the Shire, near the City of Geraldton (ABS 2016).
The population in the Shire of Chapman Valley increased by 22% between the last census in 2011 and the most recent census in 2016, and is projected to continue to increase by a further 5% by 2031 (DPLH 2016).
Approximately 13% of residents of the Shire of Chapman Valley were born overseas and approximately 4% are of Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander descent.
Estimates of the resident populations as at 30 June are released annually for Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The estimates are generally revised 12 months later and final estimates are available after the following census. Visit the ABS website for further details.
The main land uses in the Shire of Chapman Valley are agriculture, rural residential and nature conservation.
Nature Reserves
Wokatherra Nature Reserve
The Wokatherra Nature Reserve covers ~146 ha and is located in the Chapman Valley. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Weirmonger Nature Reserve
The Weirmonger Nature Reserve covers ~10 ha and is located near East Yuna. This small patch of remnant vegetation is completely surrounded by agricultural land. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Wandana Nature Reserve
The Wandana Nature Reserve covers ~69 000 ha and is the only Nature Reserve within the Geraldton Hills subregion of the Geraldton Sandplains bioregion. The reserve is an incredibly diverse and important refuge for flora and fauna in the region.
Protheroe Nature Reserve
The Protheroe Nature Reserve covers ~88 ha and is located west of Nabawa. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Oakajee Nature Reserve
The Oakajee Nature Reserve covers ~161 ha and is located south of Howatharra. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Oakabella Nature Reserve
The Oakabella Nature Reserve covers ~43 ha and located north of Bowes. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Nilligarri Nature Reserve
The Nilligarri Nature Reserve covers ~9ha and is located near the Bowes homestead. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
McGauran Nature Reserve
The McGauran Nature Reserve covers ~1 098 ha and is located just outside of East Yuna. The reserve forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
Mallee Nature Reserve
The Mallee Nature Reserve covers ~333 ha and is located north east of Binnu.
Howatharra Nature Reserve
The Howatharra Nature Reserve covers ~93 ha and is located east of Howatharra. The reserves forms part of the Yamatji conservation estate.
East Yuna Nature Reserve
The East Yuna Nature Reserve covers ~2 300 ha and contains high quality remnant vegetation which provides crucial habitat for rare flora and fauna.
Bindoo Hill Nature Reserve
The Bindoo Hill Nature Reserve covers ~840 ha and was initially established as a water reserve. The reserve consists mostly of undulating hills and stony outcrops of Tumblagooda sandstone and it is a good place for viewing Geraldton Sandplains shrubland, heath and woodland vegetation.
Bella Vista Nature Reserve
The Bella Vista Nature Reserve covers ~90 hectares and is located near Nanson.
The coastline of the Shire of Chapman Valley is dominated by the Cattamarra Coal Measures, which was formed during the Jurassic period from volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The formation comprises of siltstone, shale, claystone, coal and sandstone.
The geology underlying the area east of the Cattamarra Coal Measures is the Northampton complex. The Northampton complex consists of migmatitic and paragneiss rocks.
The geology to the area east of the Northampton Complex consists of a number of formations including the Tumblagooda Sandstone, Yarragadee Formation, Holmwood Shale and the Cattamarra Coal Measures. The Yarragadee formation was formed during the Jurassic period from volcanic and sedimentary rock. The Yarragadee formation consists of fine to coarse grained sandstone with thin interbeds of shale. The Cattamarra was formed during the Jurassic period from volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The formation comprises of siltstone, shale, claystone, coal and sandstone. The Tumblagooda Sandstone consists of fine to coarse grained red-bed sandstone and minor siltstone. The Holmwood Shale was formed during the Permian period form sedimentary and volcanic rock. The Holmwood Shale consists of grey shale, well-bedded clayey siltstone and interbedded limestone.
The Nangetty formation underlies that the eastern and northern portion of the shire. The Nangetty formation was formed during the Carboniferous-permian period from sedimentary and volcanic rocks, it consists of diamictite, shale and sandstone. The Tumblagooda sandstone underlies small areas within the eastern and northern portion of the Shire.
The soils of the coastline of the Shire of Chapman Valley comprise of deep sandy calcareous soils. The soils types east of the coast line consists of sodic subsoils of red loamy duplexes, sandy duplexes and siliceous coloured sands. The red loamy duplexes are often associated with drainage lines in the area. The soils that underlies the eastern portion of the shire includes red shallow loams with red to brown hardpan soils and deep sandy and sandy earth soils. These soils are associated overlies a undulating plain with numerous dune ridges and breakaway country.
Please go to the below link for more information on soil and geology in the region
http://www.arcgis.com/apps/StorytellingTextLegend/index.html?appid=88b626db0f3a479e9b526a50b58f551b
Priority Fauna Species
East Yuna Nature Reserve
The East Yuna Nature Reserve covers ~2 300 ha and contains high quality remnant vegetation which provides crucial habitat for rare flora and fauna.
Conservation significant fauna in the Northern Agricultural Region
For more information about fauna in the NAR visit the fauna theme page, and check out the list of Conservation Significant Fauna.
IBRA Regions
Geraldton Hills subregion (Geraldton Sandplains 1)
The Geraldton Hills is located in the LGAs in the middle portion of the region. This subregion is characterised by sand heaths of emergent Banksia and Cypresses, York Gum woodlands on alluvial plains. Areas of limestone are dominated by proteaceous heath and Acacia scrubs. Low closed Acacia shrublands occupies much of the alluvial plains associated with the Greenough and Irwin Rivers (Desmond and Chant, 2001b).
Edel Subregion (Yalgoo1)
The Edel subregion is located in the northern LGAs in the NAR. This subregion formerly a subregion of the Geraldton Sandplains, forms a part of the Yalgoo IBRA. It is considered to be unique because it is a transition zone for flora and fauna of the South western and Carnarvon Bioregions. Much of the region is dominated by proteaceous shrubs, Acacia and Casuarina scrub (Desmond and Chant, 2001a).
Threatened Ecological Communities
Priority Ecological Communities
Plant assemblages of the Moresby Range system
Includes the Melaleuca megacephala and Hakea pycnoneura thicket on stony slopes, Verticordia dominated low heath, and Allocasuarina campestris and Melaleuca uncinata thicket on superficial laterite, on Morseby Range.
Threats: clearing for infrastructure
For more information visit the DPaW website.
Frankenia pauciflora low open shrublands in swales
Community occurs on Tamala South grey-brown sand, on mid to lower slopes of Tamala Limestone ridges and some isolated rises on calcareous deep and shallow sands. Taxa include Acacia rostellifera, Stylobasium spathulatum, Frankenia pauciflora, Tetragonia implexicoma, Threlkeldia diffusa, Zygophyllum fruticulosum.
Threats: grazing, land clearing
Category (WA) – Priority 1
For more information visit the DPaW website.
Coastal sands dominated by Acacia rostellifera, Eucalyptus oraria and Eucalyptus obtusiflora
Floristically, this community is similar to other Acacia rostellifera communities but is differentiated on structure, being dominated by mallee eucalypts. The community occurs on limestone ridges, in some swales in the coastal dunes between Cape Burney and Dongara, on the Greenough Alluvial Flats on limestone soil and near Tarcoola Beach. Some very small occurrences have also been recorded on the limestone scarp north of the Buller River.
Threats: Clearing
Category (WA) – Priority 1
For more information visit the DPaW website.
No priority coastal and marine areas have been identified in the Shire of Chapman Valley.
Coastal Assets
Primary and Secondary Coastal Dunes
Primary dunes (from low water mark) and secondary dunes. Valued for recreational, aesthetic and cultural reasons, along with the services provided for storm protection and habitat.
Marine Assets
Seagrass Meadows
Seagrasses are flowering plants that complete their life cycle submerged in seawater. Western Australia has the world’s highest diversity of seagrasses, with 27 species occurring in shallow waters off the coast. Seagrasses form a vital component of marine ecosystems through their services as primary biomass producers, sources of habitat (including breeding and nursery areas) and dissolved oxygen, sediment traps, and nutrient cycling. Seagrass distribution is determined by a combination of shelter, sediment, turbidity, nutrient, temperature, current and tidal influences.
Extensive seagrass meadows occur in protected near-shore areas of the NAR, where clear water, low nutrients and sandy sea floors prevail, and are dominated by the long strap-like Ribbonweed or Strapweed (Posidonia spp) and the thin-stemmed Wireweed (Amphibolis spp).
Seagrass habitats are fragile and susceptible to damage and can take many years to recover from disturbance, such as physical damage/removal and shading due to algal blooms (as a result of increased nutrients), and sedimentation (due to dredging activities and erosion in catchment areas).
More information on seagrasses in Western Australia can be found in the following publications: Flowers of the Ocean: WA’s Expansive Seagrass Meadows; The Wonders of Weed Information Sheet; Fisheries Fact Sheet: Seagrasses; Establishing Reference and Monitoring Sites to Assess a Key Indicator of Ecosystem Health (Seagrass Health) on the central west Coast of Western Australia (see references).
Groundwater Areas
Gascoyne Groundwater Area
The Gascoyne Groundwater Area extends north to Kalbarri and bounds the Arrowsmith Groundwater Area east to pastoral country. The largest groundwater aquifer occurs in the Yarragadee Formation, which has an estimated yield of 22.5 million m³/year (NACC, 2005). Groundwater from fractured rock aquifers in the eastern, inland part of the region is predominantly saline and poor yielding. This region of the Gascoyne Groundwater Area falls under the Carnarvon Artesian Basin Allocation Plan.
Rivers
Chapman River
Drainage Basin Length (km) Catchment Area (km2) Average Stream Salinity (mg/L) Key Characteristics Greenough 80 1,644 3000-35000 Originates east of Yuna and drains the farming areas of the Chapman Valley. The river enters the ocean within the northern suburbs of Geraldton and is only open to the ocean during winter flows. Buller River
River Length (km) Catchment Key Characteristics Buller 10 33.9 The Buller River head waters rises 25 km north of Geraldton and meanders in a southerly directions before discharging into the Indian Ocean approximately 4 km north of Drummonds Cover.
Wetlands
Birdlife Midwest-Geraldton
Birdlife Midwest-Geraldton
Mingenew Irwin Group
Mingenew Irwin Group
MIG was formed in 1994 based on a need for locally driven Research and Development and covers approximately 300,000 ha within the shires of Mingenew and Irwin, with approximately 200 farm businesses being active members. MIG has three main focus areas: Research; Information; and Education and Environment.
MIG’s aim is to “Promote and develop economic and environmentally sustainable agriculture through research, planning, monitoring and demonstrating best practice.”
MIG provides locally focused agricultural research and development that delivers practical benefits to members.
Northern Biosecurity Group
Northern Biosecurity Group
Yuna Farm Improvement Group
Yuna Farm Improvement Group Contact: Matt JohnsonYuna Farm Improvement Group (YFIG) is a self-funded, independent grower group that was established in the 1990s. YFIG relies solely on members volunteered time and a community crop coordinated by its members.
YFIG is a proactive group with more than 40 farming busineses and 20 corporate members. It enjoys a strong relationship of working with researchers and agronomists in all areas of crop production. Each year the committee sets research priorities and organises the appropriate collaborators for the best outcome. In addition to carrying out on-farm research the group also organises training seminars, a pre-seeding update, post seeding fieldwalk and Spring field day all of which are extensively supported by industry professionals. It is also the key avenue of disseminating information and opportunities relevant to ensuring the viability of our farm businesses and local community.
PO Box 27 Nabawa WA 6532 Australia