Catchment Health Indicator Program (CHIP) Reports

The Catchment Health Indicator Program (CHIP) Report is a key output of the Waterwatch program. It provides a health score for our rivers and wetlands using data collected by Waterwatch volunteers.

In our region, Waterwatch has been collecting catchment data since 1995. In 2013, the CHIP underwent a review by the University of Canberra. As a result the CHIP data is now displayed in smaller waterway sections defined as 'reaches'. This allows for a finer scale assessment on the condition of our waterways where data exists and highlights areas in the catchment that are currently unsampled.

The 2013-2014 CHIP took on this new approach and each reach was accompanied by individual report cards to provide greater context. Given the many changes, this CHIP report was viewed as a pilot study and is not comparable to the subsequent reports.

2023 CHIP Report

Cover of the 2023 Catchment Health Indicators Program report

The 2023 CHIP report is based upon 1,946 water quality surveys, 189 waterbug surveys and 132 riparian condition surveys conducted by over 200 volunteers.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible.

Key points of 2023 report:

Data was collected at 229 sites across the Upper Murrumbidgee catchment.
The report has found that out of 95 report cards, 10 are in 'excellent' health, 43 were 'good', 41 presented as 'fair' and 1 received a 'poor' rating.
Overall, 55% of reaches fell into the excellent/good range which is the best result in the CHIP’s ten year history, breaking the previous record set in 2022.
Through the middle of the year, the drier conditions lead to the catchment condition beginning to decline. However, the wetter weather returned in November and conditions improved.
Planting a diversity of native vegetation both in and along our waterways will help make our catchments more resilient to extreme weather conditions.
Platypus Month was back in 2023, with a total of 23 individual Platypus detected across the eight ‘river reach’ sites during August 2023.