Water resources - Quality - New South Wales
New South Wales
What are the main pressures on surface water quality and the key findings?
Pressures on Surface Water Quality
- Cumulative impacts of various land use activities and urban development.
Main findings: Location of Water Quality problems and trends
Turbidity exceedances were widespread through inland NSW including most basins within the Murray-Darling Drainage Division but were less prominent in coastal NSW basins, only being recorded in the Hawkesbury, Macquaries-Tuggerah Lakes and the Hunter basins. Turbidity was increasing in some basins with existing turbidity exceedances (Macquarie-Bogan) and a number of southern coastal basins lacking existing turbidity problems (Clyde, Bega, Towamba). Two inland basins (Namoi and Gwydir) showed decreasing turbidity.
Nutrient exceedances were assessed primarily in terms of total phosphorus, as total nitrogen is generally not monitored in NSW. Total phosphorus exceedances often occurred with, and would appear to be related to turbidity exceedances in the Murray Darling Basin. Many coastal basins also had a nutrient problem. Increasing phosphorous trends were recorded in a number of coastal (Tweed and Macquaries-Tuggerah Lakes) and inland basins (Macquarie-Bogan). Decreasing trends were observed for three inland basins (Murray-Riverina, Upper Murray and Naomi) and one coastal basin (Clarence).
In contrast to turbidity and nutrients, salinity exceedances were not widely recorded within NSW. However, chronic exceedances were recorded within the Murray-Riverina basin and other exceedances were also measured within a number of other Murray-Darling basins. Predominantly, measured salinity values showed no trends or decreased. Decreasing salinity trends were observed in several of the Murray-Darling basins including the Lachlan, Murray-Riverina, and Namoi. However, increasing salinity trends were observed in the Manning Basin and the Horton River within the Gwydir Basin. Very limited surface water pH data was compiled for NSW.
Summaries presented within State and Territory reporting sections are from project reports compiled by State and Territory agencies. For further information contact the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC) or the New South Wales Environment Protection Agency.
Description of water quality monitoring programs
Organisations Involved
- New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC)
Other data have been provided by
- Australian Water Quality Center (South Australia),
- Australian Water Technologies,
- Ecowise Environmental (formerly Australian Capital Territory Electricity and Water),
- Murray-Darling Basin Commission,
- Sydney Catchment Authority,
- THIESS Environmental Services (Victoria),
- Water Ecoscience (Victoria), and
- Wyong Council.
Management Objectives / Guidelines Used
- ANZECC (1992) guidelines (for protection of aquatic ecosystems)
- NHMRC/ARMCANZ (1996) guidelines (for drinking water)
Sampling Methods
Routine (regular time period) monitoring (see detailed methodology report).
Summaries presented within State and Territory reporting sections are excepts from project reports compiled by State and Territory agencies. For further information contact the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC)
The following table lists the coverage of water quality monitoring in New South Wales. Basins that had no stations used in this assessment of water quality monitoring are not listed in this table.
| Drainage Basin | Number of stations used in water quality reporting | Number of attributes for which exceedance analyses could be determined | Number of attributes for which trend analyses could be determined |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 100 | N/A | N/A |
| Barwon Darling Management Area | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Bega River | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Bellinger River | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Border Rivers | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Castlereagh River | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Clarence River | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Clyde River - Jervis Bay | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Condamine-Culgoa Rivers | 15 | 5 | 5 |
| Coopers Creek | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Darling River | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| East Gippsland | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Gwydir River | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Hastings River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Hawkesbury River | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| Hunter River | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Karuah River | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Lachlan River | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| Lower Murray River | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Macleay River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Macquarie - Tuggerah Lakes | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Macquarie-Bogan Rivers | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Manning River | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Moruya River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Murray-Riverina | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Murrumbidgee River | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Namoi River | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Richmond River | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Shoalhaven River | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Snowy River | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Towamba River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Tuross River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Tweed River | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Upper Murray River | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Wollongong Coast | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Click on the basin name in the table to view a water quality report for that basin.
What is the extent of the water quality monitoring coverage?
Reported Monitoring Coverage
Data were primarily provided by the Department of Land and Water Conservation's Key Sites Surface Water Quality Program. Data from 99 sites from 32 river basins were reported giving good State wide coverage, covering the south east coast and Murray-Darling Drainage Divisions. Monitoring station density and resultant basin coverage was too low to characterise water quality within a number of smaller coastal basins.
Data were not provided for two basins, Sydney and Benanee, and for two Drainage Divisions Bulloo-Bancannia and Lake Eyre.
Some variables are not widely monitored and were not well reported ie, pH and total nitrogen.
Most of the State exceedance and trend analysis coverage is only for three variables: salinity, turbidity and total phosphorus. pH and total nitrogen data and analyses were available for a small number of basins.
Not all available State data were included in the exceedance and trends analyses due to limitations in terms of period of record and frequency of collection.
Application of findings, information gaps and recommendations
Application of findings
The surface water quality assessment findings provide a general analysis of impacts on water quality within river basins for such groups as the State Water Monitoring Coordinating Committee, Catchment Management Boards, Councils and Government Agencies.
The evaluation of the current status and trends of water quality also allow resource managers to identify and address emerging issues.
Information Gaps
- There was limited information on important water quality variables including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and toxic substances.
- Guidelines used in the assessment do not fully account for natural variability especially with regard to turbidity.
- The effects of flow regulation on relationships between flow and water quality were not assessed.
- Impacts of acute episodic events i.e. storm flows / rainfall events on water quality were not monitored or assessed.
Recommendations
- Locally derived water quality objectives be incorporated into future exceedance analyses to better account for natural variability.
- Sites with one or more water quality impacts be investigated further to identify specific causative factors in terms of land use practices and pollution levels contributed from human settlement. Particular emphasis should be placed on sites with significant increasing trends in specific indicators or where there are observed spatial patterns in declining water quality. Statistical exploration of spatial and temporal trends could be undertaken to provide more specific information and model links regarding causal relationships.
- The factors thought responsible for temporal water quality patterns including climatic induced variation, i.e. rainfall patterns and storm events be investigated in greater detail.
- The effects of storages including stratification, drawdown effects and off-take depths be further investigated.
- More detailed trend analyses be conducted after longer-term data sets are compiled to reduce the relative influence of cyclic events.
Summaries presented within State and Territory reporting sections are excepts from project reports compiled by State and Territory agencies. For further information contact the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation (DLWC)
Further Information
- Further information can be obtain from:
- Link to Map Maker.
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