Thursday 22 December 2005

Cairns residents are gearing up to collect water samples from this wet season’s first flush of river water under a reef-wide water quality monitoring programme.

Coordinated by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the monitoring tracks and determines the impact of land-based pollutants entering the Marine Park.

GBRMPA Community Monitoring Coordinator Deb Bass said it was part of a broader plan to halt and reverse the declining quality of water entering the Marine Park over the next ten years.

“This intense sampling effort is important as the first rain of the wet season typically flushes the highest concentrations of nutrients, sediments and pesticides out into the marine environment,” she said.

“Monitoring plays a key role in determining how reefs and seagrass are affected by land-based pollutants, helping the GBRMPA plan for the long-term sustainability of the Marine Park.”

Ms Bass said community members would sample river mouths monthly throughout the year and more frequently during floods.

“It’s great to see the community coming on board with this important water quality monitoring programme. Given the size of the entire programme and the area of coastline covered, community support and assistance is essential.”

The monitoring is being run by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, with tourist operators monitoring for pesticides on islands in the wet tropics.

Staff are also helping by monitoring pesticide levels at Fitzroy Island, Bedarra Island and Orpheus Island resorts

Frankland Island Cruise and Dive are sampling at Normanby Island and Quicksilver are assisting with sampling at Low Isles.

Once the results from this wet season are analysed, a full report will be released next year on the GBRMPA website www.gbrmpa.gov.au