In the news

Meet the brains behind our Report Card Dinny Taylor and Adam Shand are the technical specialists behind the Townsville Dry Tropics Waterways Report Card — an annual report that grades local waterways on their health, based on data for water quality, habitat changes, hydrology, litter, and fish life. Their almost year-long task means acquiring more than 27,000 data points from...

Partnerships receive $3.75 million investment The Queensland Government has announced it will invest $3.75 million over three years to continue the Regional Report Card Partnerships Initiative, which includes the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters. Four other Regional Report Card Partnerships operate within the Great Barrier Reef catchment: Wet Tropics Waterways; Mackay-Whitsunday-Isaac Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership; Fitzroy Partnership for...

20 July 2023 — Healthy Waters Arvo! Townsville’s waterways flow into everything we do. Whether walking the Ross, fishing at Pallarenda, dog-strolling along The Strand, or taking a dip in Crystal or Alligator Creeks — any Dry Tropics heart is half-made of water. But how healthy are our rivers, creeks, and coasts? To mark the release of our 2023 Waterways Report...

Get water wise: Nutrients explained Our annual Townsville Dry Tropics Report Card shows which local waterways have excess levels of nutrients. Here, we answer your 5 quick questions about river nutrition: 1. What are ‘nutrients’? Nutrients are the essential building blocks of life! They are elements or compounds that are critical for maintaining the balance and health of ecosystems. Their...

'Environmental data can’t tell its stories sitting in spreadsheets.' Diane Tarte is a name well known to many concerned with the changing state of the Great Barrier Reef and the coastal and catchment areas that affect its future. A campaigner for greater data- and science-based decision making for Queensland’s reefs and wetlands in the pre-digital 70s, Di was a founding...

Join us in the Townsville Community Action Plan (CAP) Want to contribute to the development of a project to benefit our local waterways and Reef? We're keen to hear from you. As part of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Community Action Plan (CAP) Program and with Reef Ecologic we’re co-leading a Townsville CAP that will see community- and Traditional Owner-led...

Upcoming Around Townsville — July/Aug 2023 Our community is busy connecting and working towards healthier waterways. The following are events and opportunities of interest on our radar: Upcoming events July 2 - July 9: The theme for this year’s NAIDOC week is ‘For Our Elders’ and to mark the week, Townsville will see a flag raising ceremony, march, and Elder’s...

Partnership welcomes new Executive Officer and Independent Chair This month the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters has welcomed both a new Executive Officer in Kara-Mae Coulter-Atkins, and a new Independent Management Committee Chair in Dr Keith Noble.     With the two leaders come decades of land and water management experience, and a passion for Townsville, the Great Barrier Reef,...