The Eastern banks received an “A” in the 2009 Report Card, a small improvement from the previous year’s “A-”.  Water quality conditions (EHI) were generally similar to that of previous years and characterised by low nutrient concentrations and low phytoplankton biomass.  Nutrient concentrations (TN, TP) were fully compliant with QWQ guidelines as in previous years.  However, there was an increase in the extent of Lyngbya but this was offset in the Report Card formulation by improved water clarity within the zone.

The water quality characteristics of the Eastern Banks are largely due to the zone's proximity to the South Passage which provides a constant source of oceanic water and associated flushing. As a result, the seagrass meadows in the Eastern Banks region are some of the deepest in the Bay.

Coral communities at Myora on Stradbroke Island have the highest percentage of hard coral cover (65%) of all of the coral communities in Moreton Bay with a predominance of the more ecologically sensitive branching Acroporaspecies.

Abbreviations glossary

A description of the indicators and methods used can be downloaded as a PDF file.

ECOSYSTEM HEALTH INDEX (EHI)

The EHI is a measure of the proportion of a reporting zone that complied with the water quality objectives for key indicators monitored as part of the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program. The water quality objectives are defined in the South East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy (2001).

• EHI 1 = 100% of area complies with the environmental objectives.
• EHI 0 = 0% of the area complies with the environmental objectives.

BIOLOGICAL HEALTH RATING (BHR)

The BHR forms 20% of the the Report Card Grade. The values in this sheets are calculated using the original method used since 2002-03 and is presented for comparison.