Victorian Water Quality Monitoring Annual Report: 2001 Report prepared for Department of Sustainability and Environment By WATER ECOscience Pty Ltd WATER ECOscience Pty Ltd ACN 067 477 989 68 Ricketts Road Mt Waverley Victoria Australia 3149 Private Bag 1 Mt Waverley Victoria Australia 3149 telephone +61 3 9550 1000 facsimile +61 3 9543 7372 Report Number: 720/03 Project Number: 2900 MARCH 2003 “Victorian Water Quality Monitoring Annual Report: 2001” ISSN No: 1445-1646 VICTORIAN WATER QUALITY MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT: 2001 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 WATER QUALITY LEGISLATION AND GUIDELINES............................................................................. 2 1.1.1 State Environment Protection Policies (SEPPs)...........................................................2 1.1.2 Water Quality Guidelines.............................................................................................4 1.1.3 Commonly Assessed Water Quality Parameters..........................................................4 1.2 CURRENT WATER QUALITY NETWORKS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE STATUS.......................................... 5 1.2.1 Victorian Water Quality Monitoring Network.................................................................5 Rivers and Streams Program ................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2 Environment Protection Authority Fixed Site Network ..................................................7 Environment Protection Authority Program ............................................................................... 7 Melbourne Water Program....................................................................................................... 8 1.2.3 Major Storages Operational Monitoring Program .........................................................8 1.2.4 Murray-Darling Basin Commission Water Quality Monitoring Program.........................9 2 METHODS ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 WATER QUALITY CHARACTERISATION ......................................................................................... 10 2.1.1 Percent attainment per station...................................................................................10 2.1.2 Percent attainment per region ...................................................................................10 2.2 MAPPING ATTAINMENT WITHIN REGIONS ..................................................................................... 11 2.3 STATION SPECIFIC WATER QUALITY ........................................................................................... 12 3 DATA REQUESTS................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 STATE WATER RESOURCES DATA WAREHOUSE (WWW.VICWATERDATA.NET).................................. 15 Maps for Site Selection.......................................................................................................... 15 Standard Warehouse Reports................................................................................................ 15 Individual Site Information...................................................................................................... 15 Extract Data from Warehouse ................................................................................................ 15 Browse Statistics and Data .................................................................................................... 15 Measure by Measure Analysis ............................................................................................... 15 DSE Published Documents.................................................................................................... 15 Send Comments/Requests to Warehouse Manager................................................................ 16 4 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL ............................................................. 17 4.1 THIESS ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES QUALITY SYSTEM.................................................................. 17 4.2 WATER ECOSCIENCE’S QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ........................................................... 17 4.2.1 Field Sample Collection.............................................................................................18 4.2.2 Biological Analysis ....................................................................................................18 4.2.3 Chemical Analysis.....................................................................................................19 4.2.4 Data Entry and Retrieval ...........................................................................................19 4.2.5 Data Upload to the Data Warehouse .........................................................................20 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................... 21 5.1 STATE-WIDE OVERVIEW OF WATER QUALITY – 2001.................................................................... 21 5.1.1 Physical Parameters .................................................................................................21 Dissolved Oxygen.................................................................................................................. 21 Electrical Conductivity............................................................................................................ 22 pH......................................................................................................................................... 22 5.1.2 Turbidity/Suspended Solids.......................................................................................24 Turbidity................................................................................................................................ 24 Suspended Solids ................................................................................................................. 24 i VICTORIAN WATER QUALITY MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT: 2001 5.1.3 Nutrients ...................................................................................................................26 Total Nitrogen & Oxidised Nitrogen (NOx)............................................................................... 26 Total Phosphorus & Filtered Reactive Phosphorus (FRP) ....................................................... 26 5.1.4 Metals.......................................................................................................................29 Arsenic.................................................................................................................................. 29 Cadmium .............................................................................................................................. 29 Chromium ............................................................................................................................. 29 Copper.................................................................................................................................. 29 Nickel.................................................................................................................................... 30 Lead ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Zinc ...................................................................................................................................... 30 5.2 CMA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY .............................................................................................. 33 5.2.1 Corangamite CMA Region.........................................................................................33 Water Quality Characterisation .............................................................................................. 33 Station Specific Water Quality: Scotts Creek at Curdie............................................................ 40 5.2.2 East Gippsland CMA Region.....................................................................................43 Water Quality Characterisation .............................................................................................. 43 Station Specific Water Quality: Nicholson River at Deptford .................................................... 48 5.2.3 Glenelg-Hopkins CMA Region...................................................................................51 Water Quality Characterisation .............................................................................................. 51 Station Specific Water Quality: Glenelg River at Fulhams Bridge............................................. 58 5.2.4 Goulburn-Broken CMA Region ..................................................................................61 Water Quality Characterisation .............................................................................................. 61 Station Specific Water Quality: Lake Nillahcootie.................................................................... 68 5.2.5 Mallee CMA Region ..................................................................................................71 Water Quality Characterisation .............................................................................................