Mossman Basin

The Mossman Basin has an area of 479km² with Mossman (~1,700 people) and Port Douglas (~3,200 people) being the major population centres. The basin consists of 76% natural/minimal use lands, 3% grazing, 10% sugarcane, 4% urban and 6% other land uses.

Steep mountains and hills dominate the Mossman Basin, with a narrow coastal plain which has been cleared and developed with agriculture (predominantly sugarcane) and urban land uses.

The Mossman Basin grade has remained ‘good’ in 2023-24 and the score of 70 was the same as the previous year. 

Key results

• Water quality remained ‘good’ and declined from 68 in the previous year to 64. Water quality was monitored over the dry season only, and did not include monitoring during the extreme flooding events that occurred in December due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
• Pesticide risk was higher for 2023-24, due to increased contribution from insecticides, and the grade declined from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ since the previous year.
• Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) improved from ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’, whilst filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP) declined from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’.
• The flow indicator declined from ‘good’ the previous year to ‘moderate’ and this was due to higher-than-average rainfall events in July and December compared to years with more typical rainfall patterns.
• The fish index for the Mossman Basin improved in grade from ‘good’ to ‘very good’ reflecting an improvement in the proportion of expected native species caught.

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