Annan and Endeavour River Freshwater and Estuarine Water Quality Report An Assessment of Ambient Water Quality and Effects of Land Use 2002 – 2009 CYMAG Environmental Inc. Cooktown, Queensland March 2012 Written by Christina Howley1. Reviewed by Dr. Andrew Brooks2, Jon Olley2, Jason Carroll3 1: Howley Environmental Consulting/ CYMAG Environmental Inc. 2: Griffith University, Australian Rivers Institute, 3: South Cape York Catchments For a copy of this report or more information e-mail:
[email protected] CYMAG: Formed in 1992 as the Cooktown Marine Advisory Committee, CYMAG (Cape York Marine Advisory Group) has evolved from that of a purely advisory capacity to a group that concentrates on a diverse range of environmental mapping, monitoring and assessment programmes. Based on local community concerns, CYMAG developed and implemented a community based water quality monitoring project for the Annan and the Endeavour Rivers in 2002. Monthly monitoring of these rivers has created the first extensive database of water quality monitored on a regular basis on Cape York Peninsula. This baseline data has allowed us to observe impacts that have occurred to these rivers from mining and other developments within the catchments. Data from all of our water quality monitoring projects is entered in the QLD DERM database making it available to natural resource managers and other land users. (Ian McCollum, CEO) Acknowledgements From 2002 to 2005 all work was conducted by CYMAG & SCYC volunteers. Logistical support, boats, vehicles, fuel, monitoring design and project management were contributed by local scientists and volunteers. Initial funding for monitoring equipment came from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).