Delivering for water

With nearly 20,000km of waterways, more than 13,000km of coastline, 1955 islands and 1700 beaches, Queensland is reliant on healthy rivers, creeks and marine environments.

Our freshwater systems, wetlands, coastlines and island ecosystems are important for biodiversity, fisheries and food production, recreation and leisure, sustainable economies and for preserving our Cultural heritage.

Our water ecosystems also play a critical role in buffering us from extreme climates and protecting our coastal communities from natural disasters. Protecting and restoring our waterways and coasts is essential to our quality of life, to a sustainable economy and for our native plants and animals.

Through the NRM Expansion Program, the Queensland Government has invested $15.86 million into 9 projects that will deliver improvements to water quality, riparian vegetation, aquatic habitats and marine ecosystems.

How this outcome is measured

The regional NRM sector uses a range of tools which form part of our State-Wide Indicators Framework to monitor and report on our on-ground impact.

WetCAT – a method developed in partnership with the Queensland Wetlands Program – will be used to monitor progress towards wetland health outcomes.

StreambankCAT is a new method that has been developed for monitoring improvements in the condition of streambanks and will be trialled from July 2026.

The Paddock to Reef system will be used for reporting by projects delivering water quality outcomes – in some cases in combination with LCAT.