The State Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring Project (SWAMP) is a state wide project responsible for collecting, analysing and reporting the ambient water quality condition of rivers in NSW. SWAMP collects water quality data monthly to: assess ambient river water quality in terms of electrical conductivity, temperature, turbidity, total suspended solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, phosphorus and nitrogen at selected sites across NSW provide high quality, long term, statistically robust data to enable condition and trend reporting provide data to enable measures of compliance with state and national guidelines and standards, and provide a framework of river water quality monitoring across NSW upon which other programs can build. Note: If you would like to ask a question, make any suggestions, or tell us how you are using this dataset, please visit the NSW Water Hub which has an online forum you can join.

The State Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP) is a state wide project responsible for collecting, analysing and reporting the ambient water quality condition of rivers in NSW. SWAMP collects water quality data monthly to:,

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.

Proportion of monitoring sites in NSW with a Water Quality Index Rating of good, moderate and poor. The Water Quality Index measures the water quality condition of rivers in NSW. It compares monthly water quality results against a set of predetermined water quality targets to calculate a score between 1 and 100. A score of 100 represents a site in pristine condition, while a score of one is a very highly degraded site. Data is collected by the DCCEEW Water Group and published in their Water Quality Reports.

From October 2017 through September 2022, the National Water Quality Network (NWQN) monitored 110 surface-water river and stream sites and more than 1,800 groundwater wells for a large number of water-quality analytes, for which associated quality-control data and corresponding statistical summaries are included in this data release. The quality-control data—for samples that were collected in the field (at all 110 surface-water sites, 350 groundwater wells, and 16 quality-control-only sites), prepared in the laboratory, or prepared by a third party—can be used to assess the quality of environmental data collected by the NWQN through the estimation of bias and variability in reported results. The general analyte groups that were monitored at NWQN surface-water and (or) groundwater sites and have associated quality-control data in this data release include major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, hormones, pharmaceuticals, radionuclides, microbial indicators, sediment, and environmental tracers. For each analyte group, the data tables contain results for one or more of the following types of quality-control samples, where relevant: blanks, matrix spikes, and replicates collected at field sites; laboratory blanks, reagent spikes, and matrix spikes prepared by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) (quality-control samples prepared by other analyzing laboratories are not included in the current data release); and third-party blanks, spikes, and reference samples prepared by the USGS Quality Systems Branch (QSB). For each relevant analyte, tables of summary statistics characterize the frequency and concentrations of blank detections, the typical magnitude of and variability in spike and reference-sample recoveries, and the typical variability between replicate concentrations. Tables included in this data release: Table1_SiteList.txt: Information about National Water Quality Network sites that have associated quality-control data. Table2_AnalyteList.txt: Information about National Water Quality Network analytes that have associated quality-control data, including available aquatic-life and (or) human-health benchmarks and selected information regarding analytical methods. Table3_BlankData.txt: For all relevant analytes, results for blanks collected at field sites, prepared in the laboratory, or prepared by a third party. Table4_SpikeData.txt: For all relevant analytes, results for matrix spikes prepared in the field, matrix spikes prepared in the laboratory, reagent spikes prepared in the laboratory, or reagent spikes prepared by a third party. For matrix spikes, results of paired environmental samples are included. Table5_ReplicateData.txt: For all relevant analytes, results for field replicates and paired environmental samples. Table 6_ReferenceData.txt: For all relevant analytes, results for third-party reference samples. Table7_BlankStats.txt: For all relevant analytes, summary statistics for each type of available blank sample. Table8_SpikeStats.txt: For all relevant analytes, summary statistics for each type of available spike sample. Table9_ReplicateStats.txt: For all relevant analytes, summary statistics for field replicates. Table10_ReferenceStats.txt: For all relevant analytes, summary statistics for reference samples.

Statewide River Water Quality Assessment (SRWQA) 2004 & 2008 uses water quality data collected as far back as 1998 to determine the status and trends of nine water quality parameters for all waterways in the state, where consistent data is available. The project was undertaken by the Water Science Branch of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in 1999 and 2004 has now been updated to include water quality information up to the end of 2007. This dataset only shows the classifications and trends from the 2004 and 2008 assessment. The Assessment focused on colour, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total dissolved salts, total suspended solids and turbidity. A total of 255 sites from 23 basins in Western Australia (out of a total of 44) were included in the 2008 update with 126 of these being assessed for the first time in 2008. In 2004 232 sites were assessed. Due to a lack of data numerous sites that were assessed in 2004 are not included in the 2008 update. Many basins had no data, whilst the others lacked recent monitoring data. The status and trend results were compiled into an excel spreadsheet. Dataset was formerly known as Statewide River Water Quality Assessment (DOW-056)