Monitoring of coastal water quality and reef status for the Douglas Shire Water Quality Improvement Project: 2004-05

The Douglas Shire Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) was established to assist the Shire and its residents in maintaining the health of regional marine habitats bordering the Shire through adoption of land use practices which minimize runoff of sediment, nutrients and other pollutants into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

This report provides a summary of current and historical water quality and reef coral cover data collected by AIMS and Sea Research in the Douglas Shire region. It provides a summary of both the current state of coastal water quality and reefs in the Douglas Shire region, and historical data showing the extent of natural variability in these characteristics and what trends are occurring.

The AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project has been undertaking surveys of regional reefs since 1985 to follow changes in coral cover and track the abundance of crown-of-thorns starfish. Results of all of these surveys can be viewed on: http://www.aims.gov.au/reef-monitoring. Additional surveys of nearshore coastal reefs in Douglas Shire have been carried out by Sea Research, a local environmental consultancy firm with funding from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).

The AIMS Biological Oceanography Group carried out twice-yearly surveys of water quality off Douglas Shire and Cairns since 1989. This sampling program provides the longest and most comprehensive monitoring of water quality in Great Barrier Reef coastal waters at that time. For the Douglas Shire WQIP, these surveys were augmented by water quality sampling at seven coastal reefs sites over sixteen months, including two wet seasons.