Hornsby Shire Council is this month celebrating 20 years of scientific monitoring of the Hawkesbury River estuary and the collection of an unprecedented data set for the Australian scientific community that will inform decision making for the public, researchers and all tiers of government.
In partnership with the NSW Government's Manly Hydraulics Laboratory, for the last two decades Council's program has collected data using a series of deployed monitoring stations which collect near real time observations of salinity, turbidity, water temperature and indicators of algal presence, which in turn informs recreational and commercial users of the river as well as relevant authorities including the NSW Food Authority and Sydney Water.
Council's Catchments Coordinator Dr Ana Rubio noted the significance of the program's dataset in its ability to inform future policymaking as well as enhancing scientific understanding of estuarine processes.
"What we have now is a very high-resolution data set and with information comes knowledge — we now have an unprecedented understanding of the needs for protection of the estuary and the confidence required to make decisions based off of this abundance of data," said Dr Rubio.
"Manly Hydraulics Laboratory's support to us in developing and deploying real-time monitoring technology has allowed us to essentially revolutionise the way in which estuaries are managed. We're very proud that the success of our collaboration with MHL has effectively set a new state and national benchmark for this sort of monitoring," Dr Rubio added.
Central to the program is the monitoring of chlorophyll-a in the Hawkesbury River—a key indicator for the presence of potentially toxic algae blooms. Access to this data remotely and in real time allows Councils to make swift and informed decisions about public health and commercial use of the waterway and planned future innovations will see the integration of Artificial Intelligence, enabling enhanced predictions for both swimming conditions and alerts for the onset of an impending algal bloom.
Hornsby Shire Mayor the Hon Philip Ruddock AO said he is proud of the achievement of Council's officers and their significant contribution to the community.
"The Hawkesbury River is the lifeblood of many industries in our region and the centre of much recreation for the residents of Hornsby Shire," said Mayor Ruddock. "This innovative collaboration between local and state government should be celebrated as a great success for the community, for science, for industry and for the future of this precious river."
Learn more about the issues facing the Hawkesbury River, Council's management of the estuary and the Hawkesbury River System Coastal Management Program at: https://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/estuary
