Exploring the depths of ecosystem health
Ninth kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary Report Card released
An Australian pelican is featured on the front of the Report Card. Picture: Helen Cunningham
The latest report card released by the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers (TEER) Program today shows improvement in most grades throughout the length of the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary.
Using 12 months of data collected from 16 sites along the estuary between December 2022 and November 2023, the 2024 kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary Report Card indicates a slight improvement in ecosystem health across most monitoring zones compared to the 2022 Report Card.
Scientist and report author, Dr Rebecca Kelly from isNRM, said monthly samples collected along the estuary are measured against water quality guidelines to generate a grade for each zone.
“These grades can be compared over time and as can be seen in the 2024 kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary Report Card, there has been an improvement in water quality across zones 2 to 5 where grades vary from ‘fair’ to ‘excellent’,” Dr Kelly said.
“The period covering the 2024 Report Card was the third driest since reporting began in 2011. This is important because climate is a key driver of catchment and estuary processes, and has a strong influence on water quality.”
TEER Program Chair, Kristen Desmond, said it was important to monitor and understand the health of the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary due to its ecological, economic, and social significance.
“The TEER Program’s monitoring represents one of the longest estuarine datasets in Tasmania and can be used to understand natural and human induced pressure on the estuary, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of activities undertaken to improve water quality,” Ms Desmond said.
The Hon. Nick Duigan, Minister for Parks and Environment, said the Report Card demonstrated the ongoing value of the TEER Program as a regional collaboration between the agencies responsible for management of the kanamaluka / Tamar estuary and Esk rivers.
“The work undertaken by the TEER Program to produce the 2024 kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary Report Card is critical to understand ecosystem health, which informs our collective efforts to improve water quality, including policy proposals and targeted investment,” Minister Duigan said.
The 2024 kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary Report Card is a product of the TEER Program’s Ecosystem Health Assessment Program. A copy of the Report Card and the accompanying Technical Report is available for public viewing on the TEER Program website.