Marine Monitoring Program: Annual report for inshore water quality monitoring 2014-2015

Abstract

[Extract] The management of water quality remains an essential requirement to ensure the long-term protection of the coastal and inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015). The land management initiatives under the Australian and Queensland Government's Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) and the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan (Reef 2050 Plan) are key actions to improve the water quality entering the GBR. The goal of Reef Plan is “To ensure that by 2020 the quality of water entering the reef from broadscale land use has no detrimental impact on the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.” This report summarises the results of water quality monitoring activities, carried out by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and James Cook University (JCU) as part of the Marine Monitoring Program (MMP) in 2014-15, with reference to previous data from 2005 to 2014.