Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA). Implementation Report 2006: Implementation Period 2 (IP2 2005-2006). Prepared by the Independent Sustainable Rivers Audit Group (ISRAG) for presentation to the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, November 2006

Abstract

This SRA Implementation Report completes the second year (Implementation Period 2, IP2) of the first three-year cycle of the Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA). The report, prepared by the Independent Sustainable Rivers Audit Group (ISRAG), is concerned with data collection, quality assurance, data processing and analysis and preliminary interpretations, and with SRA Theme development. Implementation Reports are prepared annually, and the first Interim Audit Report, containing river health assessments, is to be issued in 2007, following IP3. Full Audit Reports containing more comprehensive assessments and trend analyses will be issued at six-year intervals (thus, IP6 is scheduled for completion in 2010). In IP2, 17 of the 23 Murray-Darling Basin Valleys were sampled (eight for the Fish Theme, 13 for the Macroinvertebrate Theme, four for both Themes). A third Theme, Hydrology, is scheduled for data analysis and inclusion in the 2007 Interim Audit Report. Further Themes are under development and reporting will commence reporting during IP4 IP5 (2008 2010); these are discussed in Section 5 of this report.