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Catchment Health Indicator Program (CHIP) Reports

What is the CHIP Report?
The Catchment Health Indicator Program (CHIP) is the key output of the Waterwatch program. Each month, volunteers collect water quality data across the catchment. Combined with waterbug and riparian condition surveys, this data generates a health score for each waterway reach a section with fairly uniform characteristics.
Every year, each reach receives a report card. All years of data are available on the Data Dashboard by exploring trends, compare reaches, and see how your local waterway is tracking over time.
View catchment health data by year, reach, and location, all in one place.
2025 CHIP Report
Based on surveys conducted by over 150 volunteers across 219 sites in the Upper Murrumbidgee catchment:
1,677 water quality surveys, 156 waterbug surveys, and 179 riparian condition surveys.
11
Excellent
35
Good
48
Fair
1
Poor
Quick Overview
Data collected at 219 sites across the catchment — 95 report cards issued in total.
48% of reaches rated excellent or good — a slight decrease on last year's record.
Planting diverse native vegetation in and along waterways builds resilience to extreme weather.
2025 CHIP REPORT
High-level catchment summary
9.9 MB PDF
2025 Reach Report Cards
Detailed data per reach
17.1 MB PDF
Past Reports
Since 2024, the annual report and reach report cards have been published as two separate documents.
CHIP Report - 2024
732.0 KB
CHIP 2024 Reportcards
5.7 MB
CHIP Report 2023
15.5 MB
CHIP Report 2022
11.4 MB
CHIP Report 2021
11.4 MB
CHIP Report 2020
11.0 MB
CHIP Report 2019
12.1 MB
CHIP Report 2018
9.4 MB
CHIP Report 2016-17
10.3 MB
CHIP Report 2015-16
9.6 MB
CHIP Report 2014-15
9.0 MB
CHIP Report 2013-14
3.0 MB
Methodology
Waterwatch has been collecting catchment data in this region since 1995. In 2013, the University of Canberra reviewed the CHIP, resulting in waterway sections being redefined as smaller, more precise reaches. This enables finer-scale assessment and highlights currently unsampled areas.
The 2013–14 report was treated as a pilot under this new approach and is not directly comparable to subsequent years.
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Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.
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