Rainforest, wetlands and reef. Photos by Richard Pearson (JCU), Chloe Lucas (CRC Reef) and David Wachenfeld (Triggerfish images)

Catchment to Reef

The quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon from Queensland's rivers has deteriorated since European settlement. Human activities change aquatic habitats, and produce nutrients and sediments that run into river catchments and out to sea. This threatens the health of our rivers and wetlands, as well as our coral reefs and seagrass beds.

The Catchment to Reef research project will develop new tools to assess and monitor the health of catchments and aquatic systems in both the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Areas. The tools will also enable land managers to mitigate the effects of human activities on water quality. This research will help to improve the health of Queensland's river catchments and the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. The three-year, $5m project is a joint initiative by CRC Reef and Rainforest CRC.

Meeting new water quality targets

Healthy rivers and wetlands mean healthy catchments. They filter out contaminants, support rich biodiversity including important fishery species, and provide water for human use. Water from catchments flows out to sea, so healthy catchments also mean healthy reefs, seagrass beds and coastal habitats for marine life such as dugongs and turtles.

Land management practices affect the quality of the water flowing through our river systems and onto the Great Barrier Reef. Farming has introduced nutrients and chemicals, and development has reduced the amount of wetlands and natural vegetation needed to filter water running off the land.

Working together, the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments have developed the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, which aims to halt and reverse the decline in water quality entering the Reef lagoon within ten years. The Plan will set targets for improving water quality.

We need new tools to measure and monitor the status and trend of water quality in river catchments and in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon to meet these targets, and to evaluate the effects of improving land and water management.

The Catchment to Reef program will develop a range cost-effective tools, protocols and expertise tailored to meet the needs of all sectors of the community and management agencies. This will enable land users and managers to meet the targets set by the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, and implement bestpractice in river management.

While the research will take place on selected catchments and inshore areas in the Wet Tropics region, outcomes from the program will be applicable across all the Great Barrier Reef Catchments.

Working together to improve water quality A guide to the key organisations and their plans.

Catchment to Reef Research The different projects, and how they fit into the catchment.

Catchment to Reef brochure (Adobe pdf 149KB)

Background to the Catchment to Reef project