In 2002, the Australian Government initiated a national programme (the Coastal Catchment Initiative [CCI]) which aimed to improve the management of coastal catchments. The Great Lakes region of New South Wales, Australia, was selected CCI projects.
The region includes the Myall Lakes, Smiths Lake and Wallis Lake catchments which support a large number of native plant and animal species, including several endangered and vulnerable species. The lakes support local tourism, oyster farming, prawning and fishing industries, and agricultural activities.
Maintaining good water quality in these lakes is vital to their long term ecological health and the sustainability of the economies they support. Threats to the health of the lake ecosystems are mainly nutrient and sediment inputs from urban, industrial and agricultural land uses in the catchments.
As part of the Great Lakes CCI, the ANU developed the CAPER decision support system (DSS) to explore how the health of the lakes might improve with better management of their catchments.
October 2006 to June 2008