Water quality and ecosystem monitoring programs: Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (W1.1)

Task leader: 3rd Party Task

In October 2003, the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments jointly announced the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (RWQPP) to ‘halt or reverse the decline in water quality entering the reef.’ Most activities of the RWQPP are focused on land-based actions to improve land-use practices and thereby reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment entering the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

As part its role in implementing the RWQPP, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority recently established a monitoring program to track trends in the amount of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants entering Reef waters, the status of water quality within receiving waters, and the condition of key biological communities influenced by water quality. The monitoring program is carried out by a consortium of agencies, coordinated by CRC Reef. The water quality and ecosystem monitoring tasks that will be co-ordinated by CRC Reef are:

Marine Monitoring Program (AIMS) (W1.1a)

• Estimating discharge-weighted annual loads of total suspended sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus species and pesticides in priority rivers.
• Measuring water column temperature, salinity, turbidity, and nutrient, chlorophyll and suspended sediment concentrations in inshore waters.
• Measuring concentrations of organic pollutants (e.g. herbicides, pesticides) in inshore waters and sediments.
• Assessing cover of inshore reef benthic organisms (hard and soft corals, algae) and coral recruitment rates.
• Analysing organic pollutants and heavy metals in hepatopancreas tissue of mudcrabs Scylla serrata.

Nearshore Marine Water Quality Monitoring (CSIRO) (W1.1b)
Integrating ocean-colour remote sensing into the reef-wide water quality monitoring.

Marine Biological Monitoring (DPI&F) (W1.1c)
Assessing intertidal seagrass cover, distribution, species composition, reproductive status, seagrass tissue and sediment nutrient concentrations and sediment herbicide concentrations.

Marine Biological Monitoring (Sea Research) (W1.1d)
Assessing the cover of inshore reef benthic organisms (hard and soft corals, algae) and coral recruitment rates on reefs in the Daintree region.

River Mouth Monitoring (DNR&M) (W1.1e)
Sampling activities and data supply to support river monitoring under task W1.a.

Pesticide Monitoring (UQ) (W1.1f)
Measuring concentrations of organic pollutants, eg. Herbicides and pesticides, in inshore waters and sediments.

Biomarker and Bioaccumulation (EPA) (W1.1h)
Providing expert advice to support mudcrab bioaccumulation monitoring under task W1.a.