Explaining Reef Water Quality and Regional Report Cards

Report cards associated with Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments, waterways and marine areas inform management decisions to improve water quality and ecosystem health within these environments. They raise awareness of the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan (Reef 2050 WQIP) and assist regional communities to understand waterway conditions and progress towards catchment management targets. They can also provide greater appreciation/understanding of the social, economic and cultural benefits that waterways provide to local communities and catchment management actions to achieve reduced pollutant loads, better water quality, restored ecosystem health and improved wellbeing.

There are distinct report cards that cover the GBR – the Reef Water Quality Report Card evaluates and reports on progress towards the Reef 2050 WQIP targets, objectives and long term outcomes on a reef-wide basis. Regional Report Cards (Wet Tropics, Townsville Dry Tropics, Mackay Whitsunday Isaac, Fitzroy and Gladstone Harbour) outline the condition of a variety of indicators for diverse ecosystems within each region.