Monitoring
By monitoring our waterways we can gain a picture of the health of the catchments. Monitoring over time can provide information on changes to the condition of our catchments. This data can assist with putting together plans for the maintenance and rehabilitation of our waterways.
Monitoring can also be used to:
- Identify major water quality issues or 'hotspots'
- Help to prioritise what actions should be taken to solve catchment health problems and set water quality targets
- Evaluate the effectiveness of management actions, such as fencing off riverbanks
- Provide learning opportunities for the local community (including schools) and encourage responsible catchment management and use
- Provide the opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in catchment monitoring and management processes
- Support and assist other monitoring programs undertaken by state agencies and local government
How to monitor
Monitoring involves a number of elements, from setting up and designing a monitoring project, choosing which indicators to monitor, the best methods for monitoring, through to data management. For more information see How to monitor.
What to monitor
A range of indicators are monitored, depending on the objectives of the project, including physico-chemical indicators (such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity and nutrients), biological indicators (such as macro-invertebrates and fish) and stream condition and habitat indicators (such as riparian habitat, instream habitat and bed and bank stability). For more information see What to monitor.
Types of monitoring
There are six common types of waterway monitoring:
- snapshot assessments
- ambient (routine) monitoring
- load-based (event) monitoring
- impact assessments
- restoration assessments
- compliance monitoring
- investigative studies.
Each one is better suited to particular monitoring objectives. For more information, and case studies on some of these, see Types of monitoring.
Who to contact
To find out who else is involved in community-based waterway monitoring in your area, and to seek help with your monitoring activities, see Regional contacts.
Last updated 15 February 2008
