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Summary of Wilson Inlet Catchment Monitoring ProgramOver the past decade the excessive growth of the seagrass Ruppia megacarpa and regular Spring phytoplankton blooms have caused concerns that Wilson Inlet is becoming enriched with nutrients (eutrophication). If the input of nutrients continues to occur unchecked then water quality in Wilson Inlet can be expected to deteriorate in a similar manner to that which has occurred in the Albany Harbours, Peel-Harvey and Swan-Canning estuarine systems. An understanding of the nutrient sources and processes from the catchment is required to effectively manage eutrophication. To begin to gain an understanding of nutrient inputs, a catchment monitoring program was instigated by Agriculture WA in the early 1990s. Initially, the goals of monitoring were to estimate nutrient loads being discharged from the catchment to the inlet. In 1994, the Wilson Inlet Management Authority in partnership with the Water and Rivers Commission commenced water quality monitoring with the goal of obtaining information on the various processes and trends operating in the catchment. Routine water quality monitoring of the rivers discharging to Wilson Inlet is still continuing.
This pamphlet summarises the results of the monitoring data that has been collected to date. A full report by the Water and Rivers Commission entitled 'Nitrogen and phosphorus in tributary inflows to the Wilson Inlet, Western Australia' (WRT 21, 1999) is available and presents a more detailed analysis and discussion of the results of monitoring. A previous pamphlet (Wilson Inlet 2, September 1999) presented the results of estuarine monitoring in Wilson Inlet and complements most of the information presented in this pamphlet.  |
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