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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

Actions taken

Objective

To ensure that adequate water quality and quantity data are readily available to assist water management decision making.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the proposed water management policy package provides for water quantity monitoring as a basis for allocation, extraction and environmental flows.

Key issues

This information is available from Volume 2 of the last SoE Report (SDAC 1997), which can be downloaded. The final objective, final recommendation, and a summary of key management actions are detailed below.

Actions taken

There has been some progress in addressing the recommendation on water quality and quantity monitoring since the previous SoE Report (1997), including the following.

• The Weed Management Act 1999 and the State Water Development Plan 2001 established the framework for an expanded system of stream gauging stations and water quality monitoring in the State. This new monitoring information will be available through the on-line public access to water information web site, known as W.I.R.E.D, and the State of Rivers reports. Through the State Water Development Plan, new water quality and flow monitoring site installations are occurring.
   
• The draft 'Tasmanian Surface Water Quality Monitoring Strategy' 1999 has been finalised to allow for the more efficient integration of water quality monitoring and data management across the State. The Land Information System Tasmania (LIST) is only one means for water information distribution and may not be most appropriate; access to water quality, stream gauging and river flow data are available through W.I.R.E.D.
   
• A framework has been established through Water Quality Management Planning for identifying and implementing environmental flows.