A catchment health monitoring program for the Coffs Coast Catchments

About the Ecohealth program

The Northern Rivers Aquatic Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (Ecohealth) is a catchment based estuarine and freshwater monitoring and reporting program currently being trialled by Council . It provides an assessment of water quality, riparian (river bank) vegetation condition, fish assemblage, and macroinvertebrate (waterbugs) distribution to assess ecosystem health of individual waterways and catchments. The Ecohealth program also involves the distribution of a catchment Report Card, a community communication tool summarising the Ecohealth Report findings and displaying this information in an easy to understand visual format.

Sampling Sites

Bonville and Pine Creek
Boambee and Newports Creek
Coffs Creek
Moonee Creek
Hearnes Lake
Woolgoolga Lake
Darkum Creek
Arrawarra Creek
Corindi and Saltwater Creek

Sampling regime

Monthly sampling for water chemistry, bi-annual sampling for macroinvertebrates at freshwater sites, and a once-off assessment of riparian condition are the key components of Ecohealth. In addition, macrophyte mapping of estuaries and water quality measurements and samples collected at each site are:- Water depth (m), pH, Temperature (C), Conductivity (mS/cm) and Salinity (ppt), Dissolved oxygen (mg/L and % saturation), Turbidity (NTU), Secchi depth (m), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) (mg/L), Chlorophyll a (ug/L), Total nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) (mg/L)

For further information visit NRCMA website