Random Audit of Historical Water Quality Monitoring Data and Associated Operational/Landscape and Climate Data
First Report
Submitted to Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage
Prepared by Professor Ian Rae
5 January 2007
PDF file
Executive summary
An audit of selected water monitoring data and associated operational and landscape details held by Forestry Tasmania and relating to pesticide spraying in forestry plantations was undertaken on 3 and 4 January 2007.
The data were examined for completeness and compliance with the sampling protocol established by Forestry Tasmania. The only major discrepancy between practice and the protocol was the time between spraying and first sampling, which always exceeded often by a considerable margin the recommended time of 30-120 minutes. The discrepancy is not expected to have had a significant effect on the relevance of the sampling data, and it is recommended that the protocol be reassessed to see if more reasonable expectations could be met.
All of the compiled data were subject to careful examination, and three cases are presented in some detail to show the way the data were assessed.
Finally, the complete data set was examined and recommendations made that data from 15 spray events involving 40 pesticide sprays, resulting in approximately 80 analytical results would be suitable for use in the PIRI modeling program.
