All local government areas (LGAs) are located within catchments and/or have catchments within them. Therefore, activities within LGAs influence the environmental health of the associated catchments. Water quality is a very important aspect of catchment health as it reflects and integrates many issues impacting on environmental values. WQM provides an understanding of the patterns and trends in the condition the waterways along with ways to evaluate the effectiveness of management practices.

It is being increasingly recognised that although Councils might need to undertake water quality monitoring for many disparate purposes, this monitoring should be linked by an overall approach to natural resource management. This approach is Integrated Catchment Management.

Integrated Catchment Management embraces the following principles (Centre for Integrated Catchment Management, 1999):

• A holistic approach within catchments (including marine waters and aquifers)
• Sustainable management of natural resource issues (eg. water quality) in relation to the use and management of other natural resources (eg soil management)
• Coordinating natural resource management activities of authorities, groups and individuals within a catchment
• Community consultation and participation