1.5.2 Water quality

Summary

This product summarises surface water quality for two river basins: Gloucester river basin and Karuah river basin within the Gloucester subregion. No long-term, consistently applied water quality monitoring programme is available for the Gloucester river basin. The NSW Office of Water commenced to monitor surface water quality at two sites on the Avon River from November 2013. Measurements show an increasing trend in electrical conductivity (EC) and a decreasing trend in pH with distance down the Avon River. Other intermittent measurements show that pH on the Avon River is near neutral (pH ranging from 6.6 to 7.4) and EC is less than 500 µS/cm. For the Karuah River, two separate measurements show that EC is less than 400 µS/cm, and pH varies from 6.3 to 8.5.

Groundwater quality in the Gloucester subregion sequences has been assessed against national guidelines for water quality provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC and NRMMC, 2011), and the Australian and New Zealand Environmental and Conservation Council (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000). Both salinity and trace element concentrations are considered, and focus is given to salinity, which is the parameter most commonly reported. Possibilities for beneficial use of water are provided based on median total dissolved solids (TDS) values. An overview is provided on gaps in the dataset and suggestions are given for data standards in future reporting.