Water for the Future

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National River Health Program: AusRivAS Quality Assurance and Quality Control Project

Monitoring River Health Report Number 20
Ross Bannister - WATER ECOscience Pty Ltd
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISBN 0 642 55053 0 ISSN 1447-1280

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About the report

This study has examined Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) issues and procedures associated with the National River Health Program's Australian River Assessment System (known as "AusRivAS"). As the first component of the project, a literature review was undertaken to examine QA/QC methods used overseas and their applicability to AusRivAS. The review concluded that AusRivAS QA/QC is comparable with, or better than, overseas practices; but the level of documentation and application of QA/QC practices need to be more consistent for a national program such as AusRivAS.

The other components of the project were audits of data collection for physico-chemical and habitat variables, and macroinvertebrate sample processing associated with AusRivAS. The value of an external auditing process was previously demonstrated by the initial audit of AusRivAS live-sort procedures undertaken by Humphrey and Thurtell (1996).

This second national audit by WATER ECOscience confirms that each agency's procedures incorporated some elements of good QA/QC practice but there is a need for a more consistent national approach. This would draw on the best of individual practices to provide a comprehensive QA/QC program including training and auditing to ensure that the program is applied across all jurisdictions.

Cover of National River Health Program: AusRivAS Quality Assurance and Quality Control Project

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