Coffs Harbour Region Ecohealth Project: Assessment of River and Estuarine Condition 2011

Abstract

<p>The development of a standardised means of collecting, analysing and presenting riverine, coastal and estuarine assessments of ecological condition has been identified as a key need for coastal Catchment Management Authorities and Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. This project was conducted over a 12 month period in 2011 in the Coffs Harbour Region covering Bonville/Pine Creeks, Boambee/Newports Creeks, Coffs Creek, Moonee Creek, Hearnes Lake, Darkum Creek, Woolgoolga Lake, and Corindi/Saltwater Creeks to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment. The project aimed to</p> <ul> <li>Assess the health of coastal catchments using standardised indicators and reporting for estuaries, and freshwater river reaches using hydrology, water quality, riparian vegetation and habitat quality, and macroinvertebrates assemblages as indicators of ecosystem health in streams of the Coffs Harbour region, and</li> <li>Contribute scientific information to the development of a report card system for communicating the health of the estuarine and freshwater systems in the Coffs Harbour City Council region.</li> </ul>