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Reef Water Quality Partnership

The Reef Water Quality Partnership was established to improve coordination and collaboration between governments and regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies in improving water quality for the Reef. The Reef Water Quality Partnership supports the implementation of the Reef Plan and regional water quality plans by providing a strong science foundation for setting targets, monitoring and reporting progress.

Reef Water Quality Partnership flyer (PDF, 3 MB)

Who are the partners?

The Reef Water Quality Partnership members include Australian and Queensland Government agencies and the regional NRM bodies of the Reef catchments. The Reef Water Quality Partnership also seeks close collaboration with industry in implementing management solutions.

Australian Government partners include: the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Queensland Government partners include: Department of Natural Resources and Water, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.
Regional NRM Body partners include: Terrain Natural Resource Management, Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM, Fitzroy Basin Association, Mackay Whitsunday NRM Group and the Burnett Mary Regional Group for NRM.

What is the role of the Reef Water Quality Partnership?

A key part of Reef Plan is coordinating existing and planned water quality monitoring to contribute to the setting of water quality targets, based on the best available science. Monitoring and predictive modelling will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of catchment, regional and Reef-wide activities in achieving Reef Plan objectives. To this end the Reef Water Quality Partnership will:

support the development of science-based targets;
coordinate water quality monitoring and predictive modelling activities; and
develop a Reef and catchment reporting system.

The RWQP supports and facilitates the implementation of actions H1, H2, I4, I5 and I6 of the Reef Plan.

How does the RWQP operate?

The Reef Water Quality Partnership (RWQP) operates through three structures: the Management Committee, the Scientific Advisory Panel and the Regional Implementation Group. These structures are coordinated by the RWQP Support Team with funding from an NHT project managed by the regional bodies as a strategic priority.

The Management Committee

The Management Committee was established to lead the Partnership activities through strategic policy advice and program direction, and the coordination of partner activities to deliver agreed priorities. The membership of the Management Committee includes senior representatives from Australian and Queensland government agencies and regional NRM bodies of the Reef catchments.

The Scientific Advisory Panel

The Scientific Advisory Panel provides independent scientific and technical advice relevant to the management needs of the Partnership. It is directed by the Management Committee. Membership of the Scientific Advisory Panel includes experts in:

Land management for water quality benefits;
Landscape and soil attributes;
Soil, freshwater and marine water biochemistry;
Resource management, water quality and ecosystem health target-setting and monitoring;
Marine and freshwater aquatic ecology;
Water quality modelling across scales and land uses, fresh and marine waters;
Information integration, synthesis, reporting and communication;
Data capture, storage and delivery; and
Social and economic dimensions of regional NRM delivery for water quality outcomes

The Regional Implementation Group

The Regional Implementation Group ensures that the Partnership has strong connections to regional operational activities. It provides advice on implementation issues and a means for regional delivery of the Partnership’s priorities.

Last reviewed 29 January 2008

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