Using multiple lines of evidence to guide the management of catchment water quality

摘要: Natural resource management (NRM) actions need to be implemented in the most appropriate locations to be cost effective and efficient. To adequately target water quality investment we need to understand ‘how catchments work’with respect to sediment and nutrient delivery into rivers. Which nutrients or sediments contribute to water quality problems? What is their origin? Where in the catchment are their source areas? Along which hydrological pathways are the materials transported to the waterways? And when? Effectively this requires a spatial catchment ‘diagnosis’.The impacts of NRM actions also need to be assessed. Government seeks to be able to determine the extent to which outputs (eg meters of fence line installed or hectares of riparian zones or wetlands) contribute to outcomes such as improved river health. The spatial catchment diagnosis can inform efficient monitoring programs. For example, if the …