Estuary Health
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Estuaries are important natural places that sustain key aquatic species and, provide good habitat and cultural, social, economic and ecological services that are important to a region. Estuaries managed in sustainable ways, they support a variety of ongoing economic benefits to communities and industry.
The map shows daily health/condition scores that have been calculated based on daily chlororophyll-a and turbidity data that is compared to baseline conditions/levels for each site. This information is then compared to trigger values (80th percentile of all data available for reference estuaries as defined by the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment, DPIE, Environment, Energy and Science*) are calculated to highlight when an indicator is outside the expected range. The level of compliance against the trigger values are reported based on the level and frequency of exceedance. Results showing poor grades will trigger further investigation or a management action. For information on the analysis used to calculate the estuarine health scores/grades, please refer to DPIE guidelines and protocols*.
Latest Estuary Health Grades
| Grade % in the Last 12 Months | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Latest Grade | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor | Very Poor | ||
| Bar Island | Poor |
28 Nov 2024 | 0 | 20 | 66 | 5 | 8 | |
| Courangra Point | Good |
28 Nov 2024 | 0 | 13 | 54 | 18 | 15 | |
| Gunyah Point | Poor |
28 Nov 2024 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 27 | 15 | |
| Wisemans Ferry | Fair |
28 Nov 2024 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 23 | 14 | |
Report card grades, definitions and descriptions (from NSW OEH, 2013)*
| Grade | Result | Definition (example) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very Good | The indicators measured meet all of the benchmark values for almost all of the time period. | Equivalent to the best 20% of scores in the state | |
| Good | The indicators measured meet all of the benchmark values for most of the time period. | Equivalent to the next 30% of good scores | |
| Fair | The indicators measured meet some of the benchmark values for some of the time period. | Equivalent to the middle 30% of scores | |
| Poor | The indicators measured meet few of the benchmark values for some of the time period. | Equivalent to the next 15% of poorer scores | |
| Very Poor | The indicators measured meet none of the benchmark values for almost all of the time period. | Equivalent to the worst 5% of scores in the state |
* NSW DPIE guidelines and protocols »» Assessing estuary ecosystem health: sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols (2013)
NSW Natural Resources Monitoring »» Evaluation and Reporting Program