The purpose of this annual estuary condition report, the first since the inception of the Regional Estuaries Initiative monitoring program, is to describe the water quality condition of the Wilson Inlet for the period 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017.
The current monitoring program builds on previous monitoring efforts in Wilson Inlet. The results of extensive monitoring from 1994 to 2006 have been reported in community reports. Less frequent monitoring occurred between 2006 and 2016.
The Regional Estuaries Initiative started a comprehensive water quality monitoring program in the Wilson Inlet and its catchment in October 2016.
The monitoring program is designed to describe the condition of the estuary, primarily in terms of water quality variables as an indicator of overall estuary health. The water quality monitoring program provides potential human and environmental health alerts if toxic phytoplankton are detected at elevated levels and informs the management of fish kill events.
Long-term continuous monitoring is essential to assess the effectiveness of management actions and the impact of both natural variability and anthropogenic changes, such as climate change and significant land-use changes.
