Water Electrical Conductivity (EC)
Benchmark Value
Scoring Curve
The scoring engine could not generate a curve for this benchmark context. The primary form is CompositeFramework, but the benchmark data may be missing required fields (e.g., optimal range bounds for an OptimalRange benchmark). This is typically a data quality issue in the benchmark pipeline.
Evidence & Context
The upper detrimental threshold for ecosystem health is ~150 µS/cm; values exceeding this indicate a degraded state, long before agronomic limits for livestock (which can exceed 10,000 µS/cm) are reached.
Water Electrical Conductivity (EC) is a fundamental measure of the concentration of total dissolved salts, or ions, in water.
This benchmark marks the upper limit of Water Electrical Conductivity in surface waters for Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands under sustainable livestock grazing, beyond which ecosystem health is considered degraded.
The upper detrimental threshold is based on the 80th percentile of reference sites in the ANZECC & ARMCANZ (2000) guidelines and represents the ecological tipping point for tropical lowland rivers.
Sources (1)
ANZECC & ARMCANZ (2000) guidelines - Water Quality Australia
View SourceSupporting Sources (4)
Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.
Ecosystem Processes – Environmental Data Collection Methods - TERN Australia, accessed July 17, 2025
View SourceWater quality for livestock
View Source
Salinity Management Handbook - Queensland Government publications
View Source