The development of a standardised means of collecting, analysing and presenting riverine, coastal and estuarine assessments of ecological condition has been identified as a key need for coastal Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. Forty-four study sites were selected across the Macleay catchment; 32 freshwater sites and 12 estuarine sites and these were sampled 6 times from April 2015 to February 2016 to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The Macleay River Catchment was divided into four major hydrological units across 22 subcatchments: Tablelands, Macleay River main stem, freshwater tributaries and the estuarine tributaries. The project aimed to:

• Assess the health of coastal catchments using standardised indicators and reporting for estuaries, and freshwater river reaches using hydrology, water quality, riparian vegetation and habitat quality, geomorphic condition and macroinvertebrate assemblages as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, and
• Contribute scientific information to the development of a report card system for communicating the health of the estuarine and freshwater systems in the Macleay catchment.

The development of a standardised means of collecting, analysing and presenting riverine, coastal and estuarine assessments of ecological condition has been identified as a key need for coastal Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. Thirty-one study sites were selected across the Nambucca River and Deep Creek catchments; 18 freshwater sites and 13 estuarine sites and these were sampled 6 times from July 2016 to June 2017 to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The Nambucca Ecohealth program was divided into six major hydrological units across nine subcatchments: Nambucca River (North Arm), tributaries of the Nambucca North Arm, Taylors Arm, tributaries of Taylors Arm, and Warrell Creek in the Nambucca catchment; and Deep Creek, an ICOLL (Intermittently Closed and Open Lake or Lagoon) to the north of the Nambucca catchment. The project aimed to:

• Assess the health of coastal catchments using standardised indicators and reporting for estuaries, and freshwater river reaches using hydrology, water quality, riparian vegetation and habitat quality, geomorphic condition and macroinvertebrate assemblages as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, and
• Contribute scientific information to the development of a report card system for communicating the health of the estuarine and freshwater systems in the Nambucca River and Deep Creek catchments.

Floodplain wetlands play a significant role in the storage of sediment and water and support high levels of nutrient cycling driven by intermittent inundation. In regulated rivers, the frequency and duration of floodplain inundation are often reduced. Managed water inundation is used as a tool to help restore floodplains, but its outcome on wetlands requires further quantification. We examined the effects of environmental floodplain watering on water quality and 3 groups of invertebrates, including benthic and pelagic micro invertebrates and macroinvertebrates, in 2 wetlands systems on the Gwydir River system in the north of the Murray-Darling Basin. We hypothesised that a wetland inundated for longer periods would alter water quality and support a greater richness and abundance of invertebrates, thus altering their assemblage structures. Water quality and the assemblage structure of all 3 invertebrate groups in the wetlands were significantly influenced by the time since connection (TSC) to their rivers and therefore the length of inundation. However, the response of water quality and the micro invertebrate assemblages to TSC differed between the 2 wetlands. Water quality was affected by an increase in 6 variables, including total nitrogen, and a decrease in soluble reactive phosphorus. Micro invertebrate abundance was positively associated with TSC, but the abundance of macroinvertebrates was not. The relationships demonstrated between TSC and invertebrates indicate that the duration of inundation is important for ecological structure and food webs in these and other semiarid floodplain wetlands.

The Basin-wide Environmental Watering Strategy forms a part of a program of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin to deliver water to instream channels and wetlands through environmental flows. A key objective of the Strategy is 'Improved Ecological Processes' based on more productive and diverse food webs and ecological communities supported by the increased movement of carbon and nutrients. In turn, achieving these productivity and water quality objectives supports the Basin Plan Objectives of improving the life cycle completion of key plants and animals, and meeting the needs of the whole fish and waterbird community. Therefore, key Basin Environmental Watering Strategy targets of successful fish and waterbird recruitment can only be achieved if environmental water delivers sufficient energy that is both available to, and accessible by aquatic biota.

In this report we assess the responses of three groups of aquatic invertebrates, including epi-benthic and zooplankton microinvertebrates and macroinvertebrates to the environmental water releases and natural flows that occurred in the channels in Gwydir River Selected Area during the Long term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) program. We found that the responses in either richness or abundances of individual taxa due to various associations with channel hydrology significantly affected in assemblage structure of all three invertebrate groups. The response of invertebrates to channel hydrology was mainly demonstrated for epibenthic and zooplankton microinvertebrates and not macroinvertebrates but those associations were not strong. Due to the presence of invertebrates at all sites and times when water was available environmental water can play a significant role in contributing to the basal food resources in the Gwydir Selected Area.

The development of a standardised means of collecting, analysing and presenting riverine, coastal and estuarine assessments of ecological condition has been identified as a key need for coastal Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. Thirty-four study sites were selected across the Port Macquarie region; 15 freshwater sites and 19 estuarine sites and these were sampled 12 times from May 2014 to June 2015 to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The Port Macquarie region comprises three catchments - the Hastings River, Lake Cathie - Lake Innes, and the Camden Haven River. These were divided into 14 subcatchments for reporting: Hastings River, Forbes River, Ellenborough River, Thone River, Pappinbarra River, Mortons Creek, Wilson River, Maria River and Limeburners Creek in the Hastings catchment; Lake Cathie - Lake Innes; and the Camden Haven River, Upsalls Creek, Black Creek and estuarine lagoons Watson Taylors Lake, Queens Lake and Gogleys Lagoon in the Camden Haven catchment. The project aimed to:

• Assess the health of coastal catchments using standardised indicators and reporting for estuaries, and freshwater river reaches using hydrology, water quality, riparian vegetation and habitat quality, geomorphic condition and macroinvertebrate assemblages as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, and
• Contribute scientific information to the development of a report card system for communicating the health of the estuarine and freshwater systems in the Port Macquarie region.

The development of a standardised means of collecting, analysing and presenting riverine, coastal and estuarine assessments of ecological condition has been identified as a key need for coastal Catchment Management Authorities and Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. This project was conducted over an 18 month period in the Clarence catchment and nearby coastal river systems covering 88 sites across 37 river systems to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The Clarence catchment was divided into 4 hydrologic units for reporting; Clarence main stem, Northern Tributaries, Coastal Tributaries and the Mann-Nymboida-Boyd systems. In addition, 5 small coastal systems (7 sites) in the Clarence LGA (but not in the Clarence catchment) were sampled only for water chemistry. The project aimed to

• Assess the health of coastal catchments using standardised indicators and reporting for estuaries, and freshwater river reaches using hydrology, water quality, riparian vegetation and habitat quality, and macroinvertebrates assemblages as indicators of ecosystem health in streams of the Clarence catchment, and
• Contribute scientific information to the development of a report card system for communicating the health of the estuarine and freshwater systems in the Clarence region.