Daintree Estuary

The area of the Daintree estuary reporting zone can be defined by the pre-cleared extent of mangrove and saltmarsh remnant vegetation which is characterised by species that require periodic inundation of sea water. This area extends approximately 5.5 km northeast and 6.4 km south-west of the river mouth along the coastline and extends approximately 12 km inland.

The area includes several coastal tributaries that drain into the Daintree River. The assessment area of riparian extent extends further up the river than the mangrove and salt marsh communities to the upper tidal limit and includes vegetation types that are more typical of freshwater environments.

Land use within and adjacent to the Daintree estuary area is dominated by cropping with some grazing and residential development. The Daintree village is approximately 16 km north-west of the river mouth. The lower Daintree River is listed in the Directory of (Nationally) Important Wetlands.

The Daintree estuary grade has remained ‘good’ in 2022-23 and the score decreased from 69 to 68 since the previous year.

Key results

The water quality grade for the Daintree estuary remained ‘good’ and the score decreased slightly from 79 to 78, with very similar scores for nutrients, pesticides and turbidity since the previous year.

Chlorophyll a improved from ‘moderate’ to good’ and the score increased from 55 to 62,

Dissolved oxygen (DO) declined from ‘very good’ to ‘good’ and the score decreased from 90 to 78, since the previous year.

The diagram below shows the detailed results for each indicator by year. Click on the timeslider to see data from previous years.