• Change text size
• Skip to content

• About us
• Contact us

Search

• Home
  • Atmosphere
  • Biodiversity
  • Coasts and marine
  • Heritage
  • Human settlements
  • Land
  • Living sustainably
  • Parks Australia
  • Water
  • EPBC Act

• SoE
  • About SoE reporting
  • SoE 2011
    • SoE 2011 report
    • SoE 2011 in brief
    • Supplementary material
  • SoE 2006
    • SoE 2006 report
    • SoE 2006 at a glance
    • Theme commentaries
    • Integrative commentaties
    • Current or emerging issues
    • Technical reports
    • Data Reporting System
  • SoE 2001
    • Report
    • Key findings
    • Fact sheets
    • Theme reports
    • Technical papers
  • SoE 1996
    • SoE 1996 report
    • Key findings brochure
    • Technical papers

• Themes
  • Drivers
  • Atmosphere
  • Inland water
  • Land
  • Marine environment
  • Antarctic environment
  • Biodiversity
  • Heritage
  • Built environment
  • Coasts

• • Publications

State of the Environment (SoE) reporting themes

Inland water

This theme looks at the evolving state of water resources in the world's driest inhabitable continent, in the context of a major drought and a period of ambitious water policy reform.

This chapter assesses the state and trend of inland water environments resulting from historical development pressures, and the outlook for these environments given the emerging pressures we face (SoE 2011, 4 Inland water - 1 Introduction).

Key findings

SoE 2011:

• The past decade has been Australia's most ambitious period of water policy reform.
• Withdrawing water for other uses changes our inland water ecosystems.
• Pressures caused by past human activities continue to affect our inland waters, and climate change poses our largest future threat.
• Recent droughts have had major effects on our southern inland water systems.
• Remediation of catchment water quality is not yet well managed.
• Better understanding is needed about how well ecosystems can withstand changes in water regime.
• Meeting our population’s need for water will be a critical challenge for Australia.
• Water prices have risen, but Australia is using less water.
• Water reforms, via the water market, will help secure environmental flows and support ecosystem services.

For more details see SoE 2011 - Inland water: Key findings

SoE 2006:

• River and wetland management activity has increased in the past five years, with environmental flow allocations, habitat restoration, and invasive species control programmes in many river systems. Nevertheless, Australia’s inland waters remain under significant development pressure and much remains to be done before the health of all Australian waterways is sustainable in the long term.
• Increasing attention is being paid to the development of a national system of freshwater aquatic reserves to ensure that those river and wetland ecosystems that are still largely undisturbed can be protected into the future.
• The recent drought has placed additional pressures on already stressed river systems, leading to impacts on biodiversity in some regions.
• Controls on point-source nutrient and chemical pollution have been reasonably successful over the past decade, with a few remaining areas of concern.
• The National Water Initiative is set to revolutionise the way water is used, reused and managed in Australia. The impact on the aquatic environment of specific policies, such as extensive water trading, needs to be carefully monitored.

For more details see SoE 2006 - Inland waters: Key points

Related information

SoE 2011:

• Australia State of the Environment 2011: Chapter 4. Inland Water
  • 4 Inland water (PDF - 20,440 KB)
• Australia State of the Environment 2011: In Brief
  • In Brief (PDF - 3,290 KB)
• Supplementary products
  • AUSRIVAS- Australia's in-stream biological health 2003-2010 (PDF - 1,730 KB) |  (Word - 3,981 KB)
    This report presents the results of the AUSRIVAS (Australian River Assessment System) survey which uses standardised monitoring of riverine aquatic macroinvertebrates (a diverse range of insects, crustaceans and mollusks) to provide information about river health and change over time.
  • National Water Quality Assessment 2011 (PDF - 4,428 KB) |  (Word - 3,763 KB)
    The National Water Quality Assessment 2011 was comissioned to provide a snapshot of water quality across inland waters of Australia, and is a key input to the State of the Environment Report 2011. The water quality indicators examined include turbidity, salinity, pH, nutrients and algal blooms (specifically cyanobacterial blooms), and faecal contamination (microbial quality).

SoE 2006:

• Australia State of the Environment 2006: Chapter 7. Inland waters
• Australia State of the Environment 2006 AT A GLANCE
• Inland waters - Theme commentary
• Living in a land of fire - Integrative commentary
• Living in a variable climate - Integrative commentary
• A dying shame - Australian coastal freshwater lakes - Current or emerging issues paper
• Groundwater fauna - Current or emerging issues paper
• Progress in restoring our environment - Current or emerging issues paper
• Property rights and the environment - Current or emerging issues paper
• Spring wetlands of the Great Artesian Basin - Current or emerging issues paper
• The coastal pollution halo - Current or emerging issues paper
• The dilemma of conflicting environmental outcomes - Current or emerging issues paper
• The Wentworth Group and the great water debate - Current or emerging issues paper
• Data Reporting System - Theme: Inland waters

SoE 2001:

• Australia State of the Environment 2001: Thematic findings - Inland waters
• Key Findings Brochure
• Inland Waters Theme Report
• A Nutrient Dynamics Model for Australian Waterways - Technical paper
• Environmental indicators for national state of the environment reporting: Inland Waters

SoE 1996:

• Australia State of the Environment 1996: Chapter 7 - Inland waters
• Key Findings from the First Independent National Report
• Drinking Water Quality - Technical paper
• Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities, Water Use and Consumption on Water Resources and Flooding - Technical paper
• Potential Sources of Sediments and Nutrients: Sheet and Rill Erosion and Phosphorus Sources - Technical paper
• Review of Impacts of Displaced/Introduced Fauna associated with Inland Waters - Technical paper
• State of Habitat Availability and Quality in Inland Waters - Technical paper
• Water Quality for Maintenance of Aquatic Ecosystems: Appropriate Indicators and Analysis - Technical paper