Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Increased concentrations of suspended sediments and agricultural chemicals are having significant effects inshore close to agricultural areas. Much continues to be done to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef but it will be decades before the benefits are seen.
  
• The impact of catchment run-off on inshore areas is expected to continue to affect the economic value of associated Reef-based industries.
  
• A decline in inshore habitats will have social implications for coastal communities.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Catchment runoff – Outlook Report 2009 supporting evidence

Existing policies and management actions

• Water quality guidelines for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (2009) [1.70MB]
  
• Regional water quality improvement plans
  
• Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program
  
• Improving water quality
• Coastal ecosystem protection

Future management requirements

• Future management requirements in this area are being guided by ongoing assessment of emerging research outcomes and issues identified by the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009.

Defined research questions

• What are the implications of interactions, and any thresholds and synergies, between declining water quality and other broad-scale disturbances (e.g. crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, storms, and mass coral bleaching)?
  
• What are the potential consequences of alternative land use and resource management systems on coral bleaching and ecological thresholds, and on social and economic systems in the Great Barrier Reef?

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring