Estuary water quality data (chlorophyll a, salinity and turbidity) were accessed and collated from a wide range of sources in 2007/2008 to assist with the production of the 'Estuaries and Coastal Lakes' theme of the first round of NSW State of the Catchments (SOC) reports.; ; Data sources included NSW government departments, local councils, water supply authorities, universities and consultants. The original data were collected for a variety of reasons including:; * compliance with environmental standards (ie assess the impact of STPs on receiving waters) ; * SoE reporting; * planning and management; * research; ; The source data have been compiled into one Excel spreadsheet with 78 fixed format Excel worksheets, one for each estuary. Where provided the location of water quality monitoring sites is provided as a spatial dataset.; ; The method of data collection, units of measure, data quality, and period of record varies between data providers. Data were subjected to a quality assurance process before being accepted into the database. Some data are subject to agreement with the individual data providers and have been removed from the dataset.; ; The data were used for developing a new classification system based on the response of chlorophyll a to nutrient loading from the catchment. The classification system was then applied to defining reference condition, trigger values (chlorophyll a and turbidity) for management action and the extent of compliance of water samples with the trigger values.

This dataset describes data collected from the Huon Estuary (Tasmania). Data was collected over a three day period approximately every three months from March 1996 until August 1998. 10 surveys were completed (HES1 to HES10). Data was collected from 61 sites, ranging from 0 salinity at Judbury to a salinity of 35 at the seaward end of the estuary near Huon Island. 5 sites were located near fish farms (refer to the separate metadata record for weekly data at these sites). At these sites, data was collected for all parameters (CTD, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, pigments, spectral absorbance and phytoplankton) measured. At a further 31 sites spread over the estuary, data was collected for the physical and chemical parameters only. At the remaining 25 sites, only physical (CTD) data was collected. Below Port Huon, samples were collected at three depths - surface, fluorescence maximum and from within the salt wedge. Above Port Huon, samples were collected from the surface and from the salt wedge (where present). This dataset forms part of the CSIRO Marine Research Huon Estuary study, conducted over the period 1996-1998.

Estuary water quality data has been collected by the Estuaries and Catchments Team of the Environment, Energy and Science Group in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment since 2007. Data has been collected using a standard monitoring protocol outlined in 'Assessing estuary ecosystem health: Sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols. NSW Natural Resources Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Program', most recently updated in 2016 and available on the NSW environment website. The data has been used to monitor the aquatic ecosystem condition of over 160 estuaries in NSW over time. Adopting the principles of the National Water Quality Management Framework, the data has been used to develop NSW specific guideline values for a range of physico-chemical water quality indicators for each estuary type. This allows comparison of observed data to these guidelines to assess condition of any estuary in NSW. As part of the Marine Estate Management Strategy Implementation Plan Stage 1, a NSW water quality database has been developed, where this data is now stored. Water quality monitoring in NSW estuaries is ongoing, and updated data will be made available routinely.

Estuary water quality data has been collected by the Estuaries and Catchments Team of the Environment, Energy and Science Group in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment since 2007. Data has been collected using a standard monitoring protocol outlined in 'Assessing estuary ecosystem health: Sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols. NSW Natural Resources Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Program', most recently updated in 2016 and available on the NSW environment website. The data has been used to monitor the aquatic ecosystem condition of over 160 estuaries in NSW over time. Adopting the principles of the National Water Quality Management Framework, the data has been used to develop NSW specific guideline values for a range of physico-chemical water quality indicators for each estuary type. This allows comparison of observed data to these guidelines to assess condition of any estuary in NSW. As part of the Marine Estate Management Strategy Implementation Plan Stage 1, a NSW water quality database has been developed, where this data is now stored. Water quality monitoring in NSW estuaries is ongoing, and updated data will be made available routinely.

The Huon Estuary Study was undertaken by CSIRO Marine Research between 1996 and 1998. The Huon Estuary is in South Eastern Tasmania. This record references the CTD data from both the spatial (HES) and the weekly monitoring (CM) surveys of the Huon Estuary Study. For the spatial (HES) surveys this includes the raw, intermediate, processed and calibrated data. The record also references the software used to process this data together with the technical reports written in support of the datasets. Two ctd profilers were utilized during the spatial surveys, their deployment during the spatial surveys is described in a technical report CTD Data From the Spatial Surveys of the Huon Estuary, OMR-121/117. A technical report on the performance of the seabird ctd is Sea-Bird CTD Performance in a Salt-Wedge Estuary, OMR-116/117. For the weekly monitoring (CM) surveys only preliminary processing has been undertaken. A readme_cont_ctd.txt file describes the processing routine followed for the weekly monitoring surveys. This dataset has not been calibrated. There are also other problems with the weekly monitoring ctd data especially in terms of depth registration (see Lineage below). CTD deployment information (not the actual data) is stored in the project database which is described by the 'Huon Estuary Study 1996/1998 - Database' metadata record. A number of CTD's were also deployed during the Physical Snapshot Surveys (see Marlin record 'Huon Estuary Study 1996/1998 - Physical Snapshot Survey Data') These ctd's were quickly deployed, the data was not processed and they form part of the snapshot dataset along with underway data collected on the same day. For these reasons this data are not referenced by this metadata record and does not form part of the HES CTD dataset.