Healthy Rivers to Reef - Southern Inshore Monitoring Program

The Southern Inshore Monitoring Program started in 2017 and was established by Healthy Rivers to Reef to collect data on seagrass, coral, water quality for inshore marine waters between Cape Palmerston to Clairview Bluff. This area is one of our four inshore marine zones included in the annual Waterway Health Report Card. It's considered an important habitat for protected dugongs and green sea turtles which graze on seagrass beds found through the zone.

From 2014 to 2017 there was no data available for the Southern Inshore Marine Zone and the Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership worked to establish a monitoring program as a priority to collect data on seagrass, coral and water quality including pesticides. Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal Pty Ltd (DBCT P/L) funded the program in its entirety between 2017 and 2019, with Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (DBI) coming on board as a funding partner in 2019. Both DBCT P/L and DBI recently signed on to continue funding the project, securing the data collection until at least 2026.

Our strong commitment to the program will ensure our understanding of waterway health in the Mackay-Whitsunday-Isaac Region continues to grow. The project brings together researchers from JCU TropWATER, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Queensland.

A big thank you to Ricci Churchill (Manager, Safety, Risk, and Environment) and the Safety, Risk, and Environment Team for spearheading this partnership and being part of such a wonderful and important program.

If you’d like to read the latest Healthy Rivers to Reef Report card, you can by clicking here.