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Reef Water Quality Protection Plan

Download the Reef Plan

Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (September 2009) (PDF, 2.4 MB)

Download the previous Reef Plan:

If you're having trouble accessing a document, please email us at reefplan@premiers.qld.gov.au.

Map of Reef catchments

Map of Reef catchments

The Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) brings together people and projects to help improve the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef (the Reef) lagoon.

Launched in 2003 as a joint initiative of the Australian and Queensland Governments, the plan was revised and updated in 2009.

The Reef Plan has two primary goals.

Achievement of these goals will be assessed against quantitative targets established for land management and water quality outcomes.

There are two objectives to achieve these goals:

  1. Reduce the pollutant load from non-point sources in the water entering the Reef; and
  2. Rehabilitate and conserve areas of the Reef catchment that have a role in removing water borne pollutants.

The Reef Plan focuses on broadscale land use in catchments adjacent to the Reef.

Reef Plan strategies and actions

The Reef Plan contains three priority work areas and 11 supporting actions, which contribute to the Plan's goal and objectives. View Priority areas and actions

The Reef Plan builds on existing government policies, and government, industry and community initiatives that assist in halting and reversing the decline in the quality of water entering the Reef lagoon.

It identifies actions to encourage good planning and assist land managers in adopting best management practices (BMPs) that are both profitable and environmentally sustainable.

The Reef Plan is aimed at long-term solutions.

Reef Plan participants

The responsibility for implementing Reef Plan's actions is shared by all Reef Plan participants – government agencies, industry groups, regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies, land managers, Indigenous people and community groups.

See who is involved for further information about participants.

The scope of the Reef Plan

The Reef Plan focuses on non-point sources of pollution from broad-scale land use. Non-point source pollution enters the Reef lagoon from a wide range of different sources and cannot be directly attributed to one point of dispersal, such as a pipe or waste outlet.

The Reef Plan outlines actions to minimise non-point source pollution from broad-scale land use and reduce the entry of those pollutants to the Reef. It specifically targets nutrients, pesticides and sediment which wash into waterways, leach into groundwater or flow overland across floodplains and ultimately enter the Reef lagoon as a result of agricultural activities in Reef catchments.

There are a number of other threats to the Great Barrier Reef. These are addressed separately through a variety of regulatory and planning processes managed by both the Queensland and Australian Governments. In particular, urban non-point sources and point sources of pollution such as sewage and waste from ore processing or mining operations are specifically dealt with separately under a range of legislation, regulations and strategies. They are not covered directly in this plan.



Last reviewed 31 August 2009

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