Monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the outcomes of investments is one of the priorities for Reef Rescue. Due to the large extent of the Great Barrier Reef and its catchments, innovative and efficient monitoring techniques are required for evaluating management, supported by reporting approaches that can combine information from a variety of sources. A total of $714,000 was allocated through two projects to improve reporting of two primary indicators for Reef Rescue: pollutant loads and marine water quality. The research developed techniques for reporting end of catchment pollutant loads (RRRD030) entering the GBR lagoon with uncertainty estimates, and developed a metric for reporting marine water quality (RRRD016) using datasets collected from remote sensing, and in situ water quality monitoring.

RRRD030: Pollutant load estimation for Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments: Accounting for the uncertainty in monitoring and modelled data using data assimilation techniques

RRRD016: Developing integrated assessment metrics for reporting of water quality in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon