February 2023: Water Quality and Macroinvertebrate analysis

Alison Loxton
Mar 15, 2023
2 min read

Hi everyone,

I trust you are all keeping well.

Attached is the spreadsheet for the latest Water Quality Monitoring results for February 2023.

Please note that, due to a shortage of chemical reagents, there is no Chemical Analysis spreadsheet for February. In fact, obtaining supplies has been a real struggle.

We recently conducted an evaluation of the program in terms of the significant voluntary effort involved and, following significant increases in the cost of the reagents used to conduct chemical sampling, have decided on the following future program, commencing March 2023:

As there is a shortage of chemical reagent, we cannot conduct chemical sampling until at least May, 2023; meaning that February, March and April will be without a chemical analysis spreadsheet
Macroinvertebrate sampling will continue unchanged.
As the burden of sampling falls upon only a few individuals, we have decided to sample only half the 27 sites in a given month, followed by the other half in the following month and so on. In so doing we will extend the life of the chemical reagents from 1 year to 2 years. My gratitude is extended to those people who assist the sampling – Kim, Helen, Ross and Brian – and do so willingly and with good humour.
To assist fishing people in the Coomera River we have added the saltwater side of the Coomera River Weir to our sampling list; this gives a clearer and comprehensive picture of salinity and water quality from Paradise Point right through to saltwater side of the weir.
We thank our local State MP Mark Boothman for continuing to underwrite the cost of the chemical reagents, and also our operational costs; greatly appreciated, Mark.
In the future we will be adding educational material to the website to explain the results in terms everyone should be able to understand and also, with the assistance of member Chris Horacek, publish graphs of long-term results from local waterways.

If you do have any questions, or wish to assist in any way, please email me so that a speedy response can be provided.

Kind regards to you all

Steven Gill