Insignificant Minor Moderate Major Catastrophic 1 2 3 4 5 A (Almost certain) Moderate High Very High Very High Very High B (Likely) Moderate High High Very High Very High C (Possible) Low Moderate High Very High Very High D (Unlikely) Low Low Moderate High Very High E (Rare) Low Low Moderate High High The use of this risk matrix will assist in determining which water bodies are at high/very high risk and the appropriate course of action to be taken. The frequency and intensity of monitoring for water bodies with high or very high risk would need to be increased both during and outside bloom season. A risk based approach to manage BGA blooms is underpinned by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2004). We propose 3 levels of Incident Management Response (IMR) once a bloom has been detected. Therefore these IMR levels should be based on the consequences of the bloom (given the bloom has already been detected). Table 5 shows the IMR levels once a bloom exceeds the major consequence, then it is likely to be declared an emergency and would be dealt with through the Emergency Management Manual of Victoria. Table 5 Incident Management Response Level (based on consequence table in Australian – Drinking Water Guidelines, 2004) Incident Consequence Consequence Management Descriptor Level Description Response Level Insignificant impact, little disruption to normal operation, low increase in normal 1 Insignificant None operation costs. No media interest, stakeholder indifference, negligible impact on
Insignificant 1 Minor 2 Moderate 3 Major 4 Catastrophic 5 A (Almost certain) Moderate High Very High Very High Very High B (Likely) Moderate High High Very High Very High C (Possible) Low Moderate High Very High Very High D (Unlikely) Low Low Moderate High Very High E (Rare) Low Low Moderate High High The use of this risk matrix will assist in determining which water bodies are at high/very high risk and the appropriate course of action to be taken. The frequency and intensity of monitoring for water bodies with high or very high risk would need to be increased both during and outside bloom season. A risk based approach to manage BGA blooms is underpinned by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2004). We propose 3 levels of Incident Management Response (IMR) once a bloom has been detected. Therefore these IMR levels should be based on the consequences of the bloom (given the bloom has already been detected). Table 5 shows the IMR levels once a bloom exceeds the major consequence, then it is likely to be declared an emergency and would be dealt with through the Emergency Management Manual of Victoria. Table 5 – Incident Management Response Level (based on consequence table in Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, 2004) Consequence Level Descriptor Consequence Description Incident Management Response Level 1 Insignificant Insignificant impact, little disruption to normal operation, low increase in normal operation costs. No media interest, stakeholder indifference, negligible impact on None
Sample-BGA-Risk-Managment-Plan-2014.docx