Despite a range of plans, strategies and actions, the Swan Canning river system is not adequately protected. Water quality in the middle and upper Swan and Canning rivers is declining, although some interventions are treating the symptoms of poor health. The lower estuary is in reasonable condition, but is still under threat.

The Trust has a difficult task to protect and enhance the rivers within a complex urban ecosystem and rural catchment. Often the Trust does not directly manage many of the broader scale threats affecting the rivers. Instead it must influence other agencies that are responsible for specific aspects of river management.

Long-term monitoring has provided useful information on trends in river health. However the Trust has not used this information to create a good understanding in the community and Parliament about the decline in the condition of the river.

The Trust’s draft RPS has still not been approved seven years after the Act was passed. Further, the draft RPS and other Trust plans do not identify which threats impact most on water quality and the highest priority actions to address these. The Trust has also not set out what needs to be done to return the river to a healthy state and the resources needed to do this.

The Trust has funded local programs to rehabilitate areas next to the river. While these programs will have some impact on nutrients and pollutants flowing into the river, strategies to manage key threats to water quality have been less successful.