The occurrence of algal blooms, increasing salinity and the general lowering of water quality has been of increasing concern to the Avon Catchment Council (ACC). As a consequence, the council provided funding to establish a water quality monitoring program for the Avon River catchment, with a specific focus on nutrients. In the Avon natural resource management strategy (2005) water quality targets for nutrients were set at 1.0 mg/L for total nitrogen and 0.10 mg/L for total phosphorus at the gauging station in Walyunga National Park. Sampling sites were chosen to include the main tributaries of the Avon River and several gauging stations that could provide flow data. There are 41 sites that have been reported on for the year of 2008.

Avon River Catchment Water Quality and Nutrient Monitoring Program for 2008