A Software Tool for the Estimation of Pollutant Loads in Rivers and Streams Using Time Series Data

The determination of constituent loads or loading rates from rivers and streams is an essential element in environmental and ecological management. There has been a change in the focus of water quality target setting from the traditional focus on ambient conditions for in-stream biota to the development of load-based targets. The interest in load-based targets is particularly prevalent where the focus is on the receiving waters, such as the Great Barrier Reef catchments. Whilst there has been a general increase in urgency to set load-based targets, there has only been limited discussion to date as to the appropriate methods and procedure