Water Nitrate

AUS-TSR-URB-WNI General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

0.015 mg/L

Direction: Lower is desirable ↓

Form: MinimumOnly

Scoring Curve

This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context. The scoring engine uses 13 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 12 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

OptimalRange Primary MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard MaximumOnly Guard Point Guard Point Guard MaximumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

Eutrophication Risk (> 0.015 mg/L): Any sustained concentration above the reference-derived benchmark of 0.015 mg/L represents an anthropogenic addition of nutrients.

Metric Definition:

Threshold for eutrophication risk due to nitrate concentration exceeding natural baseline.

Benchmark Definition:

This benchmark marks the threshold above which nitrate concentrations pose a risk of eutrophication, indicating nutrient enrichment beyond natural levels.

Justification:

Represents the first and most sensitive detrimental threshold for nitrate enrichment.

Sources (3)

Black ross (townsville) - water Quality improvement plan Journal

Black ross (townsville) - water Quality improvement plan

View Source

Land-use effects on water quality in an intensively managed catchment in the Australian humid tropics | Request PDF - ResearchGate, accessed July 30, 2025, Journal

Land-use effects on water quality in an intensively managed ...

View Source

Townsville basins - Queensland Environment Department, accessed August 2, 2025,

Environmental Protection (Water and Wetland Biodiversity) Policy 2019 - Schedule 1 (referencing WQOs for Black River Basin)

View Source

Context

Region Australia
Biome Tropical & Subtropical Rainforests
Land Use Urban & Developed Use
Assessment Not Stated
Evidence Type DegradationThreshold

Lifecycle

Status Active
Version 1
Effective From 3 Jun 2026

Notes

Any concentration above this level initiates a gradient of ecological risk, beginning with eutrophication. No upper detrimental threshold — higher values are always worse beyond this point. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.

Related Benchmarks

Other benchmarks in the AUS-TSR-URB-WNI family.