The Australian Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring and Reporting (the Monitoring Guidelines)  provides a comprehensive framework and guidance for the monitoring and reporting of the quality of  fresh and marine waters and groundwater. The document does not discuss drinking water, wastewater  and effluents; they are covered by separate NWQMS guidelines documents. It should be used with  other NWQMS documents, especially the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and  Marine Water Quality (the Water Quality Guidelines) technical paper no. 4 in the NWQMS series.  Standard reference works and documented in-house procedures should also be consulted and  followed, subject to strict attention to relevant criteria for quality assurance and quality control, and  any monitoring programs resulting from the use of this Guidelines document should be consistent  with relevant local and state regulations and by-laws. 

To be continuously relevant to its users, the Australian Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring and  Reporting (the Monitoring Guidelines), like other NWQMS benchmark  documents, will require ongoing review and revision. The present version was current up to October  2000. Users are invited to comment on the Australian Guidelines for Water Quality Monitoring and  Reporting by contacting the offices listed at left. These addresses can also receive comments on the  Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (the Water Quality  Guidelines), so users should name the document to which their comments apply.