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.

Many river restoration projects fail. Inadequate project planning underpins many of the reasons given for failure (such as setting overly ambitious goals; selecting inappropriate sites and techniques; losing stakeholder motivation; and neglecting to monitor, assess, and document projects). Another major problem is the lack of an agreed guiding image to direct the activities aimed at restoring the necessary biophysical and ecological processes within the logistic constraints of on-ground works. Despite a rich literature defining the components of restoration project planning, restoration ecology currently lacks an explicit and logical means of moving from the initial project vision through to on-ground strategies. Yet this process is fundamental because it directly links the ecological goals of the project to the on-ground strategies used to achieve them. We present a planning process that explicitly uses an interdisciplinary mechanistic model of disturbance drivers and system responses to build from the initial project vision to the implementation of on-ground works. A worked example on the Upper Hunter River in southeastern Australia shows how understanding catchment history can reveal disturbance and response mechanisms, thus facilitating process-based restoration.

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.

The Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (Ecohealth) is a comprehensive estuarine and freshwater monitoring program that reports on the health of our waterways. The Ecohealth program includes a number of physical, chemical and biological indicators to determine the health of waterways. The combination of waterway health indicators that identify short-term (water chemistry), intermediate-term (zooplankton, macroinvertebrates), and long-term responses (fish, geomorphology and riparian vegetation) provides a robust program for quantifying, reporting and communicating waterway health, and prioritising management actions.

The Ecohealth Monitoring Program outlines a framework for the development of a catchment-based aquatic health monitoring program for rivers and estuaries with the aim of providing consistency in monitoring and reporting, and establishing the partnerships required for local and regional dissemination of outcomes. The development and application of specific monitoring frameworks, and standardised data collection, analysis and reporting underpins the Ecohealth program. This standardised approach facilitates an effective reporting mechanism to communicate water quality and resource condition information to the wider public, stakeholders and managers.

Ecohealth enhances the ability of natural resource managers to monitor, measure and report on ecosystem health by establishing a statistically-valid and quality assured sampling regime. The benefits of a standardised, region-wide system include:

• consistency and efficiency in project design, sampling, analysis and reporting
• improved management, access, sharing and interpretation of data among all partners
• catchment-wide reporting – from upland streams, large rivers, coastal lagoons, estuaries and near-shore marine areas
• improved evidence-based decision making on NRM activities and investment, including improved long-term management of catchments and waterways through undertaking Ecohealth monitoring at regular intervals
• enhanced communication about waterway health between NRM agencies, local government, other stakeholders and the community
• improved public information on waterway health and management actions in local catchments through the production of Report Cards.

The products generated by the Ecohealth program cover high-level scientific technical reports that provide an in-depth presentation and analysis of data collected, as well as Ecohealth Report Cards that aim to clearly disseminate waterway health outcomes and management initiatives to engage with local communities. In addition to communication products, Ecohealth also provides a scientifically robust dataset as the basis for State of Catchment (SoC) and State of Environment (SoE).

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 Land Services and Local Councils who are required to monitor natural resource condition, and water quality and quantity in these systems. Forty-eight study sites were selected across the Richmond catchment; 23 freshwater sites and 25 estuarine sites and these were sampled monthly (estuarine) or bi-monthly (freshwater) over a 12 month period in 2014 to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The Richmond catchment was divided into 5 hydrologic units for reporting; Richmond River main stem; Wilsons River; Eden and Iron Pot Creeks and Shannon Brook; Bungawalbin, Myrtle and Sandy Creeks; and Emigrant, Maguires and North Creeks. 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 ecosystem health in streams of the Richmond 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 Richmond 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 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 Coffs coastal catchment; 11 freshwater sites and 20 estuarine sites. These sites were sampled 8 times from September 2014 to December 2015 to contribute to the assessment of the ecological condition of the catchment.

The 14 Coffs coastal catchments were divided into 9 hydrologic units for reporting: Corindi River, Saltwater Creek and Pipeclay Lake; Arrawarra Creek; Darkum Creek; Woolgoolga Creek; Willis Creek and Hearnes Lake; Moonee Creek; Coffs Creek; Boambee and Newports Creeks; and Bonville and Pine Creeks. 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 Coffs Harbour region.