Council adopts its own water quality standards for the estuary

Council adopted the Nation’s own water quality standards for the estuary and its tributaries on 27 July, closing a three year process.

The standards are stricter than the federal floor for dissolved oxygen and for bacteria. Both categories matter directly to the shellfish beds, which have closed after heavy rain in four of the last six years.

Adopting its own standards means the Nation sets the number that any upstream discharge permit has to meet, rather than commenting on somebody else’s number after the fact.

The Environmental Protection department will begin applying the standards to permit reviews on 1 October. The full text is in the documents library.