Waterwatch (Waterbug training)
A 'new' Waterwatch group has been collecting water quality and flow information in the Marne Saunders catchment for the last two years.
This combined with historical Marne Saunders Waterwatch records and the results of two spring Waterbug Bioblitzes has been published in a catchment summary report. This is comprehensive baseline data that can be used to monitor the impacts of changes within the catchments, particularly change created by the use of low flow bypasses as part of the Flows for the Future Project.
The report will be available on our website here in the next couple weeks. If you can’t wait that long, email Sylvia to request a copy.
Upcoming events:
Marne Saunders Waterbug Bioblitz
Tuesday 22 October 2019
time: 9:45 am to 4 pm
Keyneton Rec Grounds.
Angas Finniss Waterbug Bioblitz
Friday 8 November 2019
time: 9 am to 4 pm
Strathalbyn Natural Resource Centre.
Please email Sylvia Clarke know if you would like to attend either of these events.
A very new catchment group is also forming in the Bremer catchment in the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges, with support from Goolwa to Wellington LAP. The catchment includes the towns of Mount Barker, Callington, Nairne, Woodchester, Harrogate and Langhorne Creek. It has a long history of being monitored by Waterwatch volunteers and it is very pleasing to see a new cohort of people taking up the challenge. It is an important time to be keeping an eye on the state of this waterway as many changes are occurring within this catchment. These include stormwater run-off from development, waste water management in the rapidly growing Mount Barker area, and the installation of low flow devices on dams through the Flows for the Future Project.
Waterbug survey training was held on a rather wet day at Laratinga Wetlands on 4 September 2019 for landholders in the Bremer catchment, as part of the National Waterbug Blitz project. We have a kit at the Mount Barker office if anyone would like to undertake their own survey and submit the data through the Waterbug App. There is also a kit available for loan at the Berri office.
If anyone would like to get involved in Bremer catchment Waterwatch please contact Jacqui Wilson at Goolwa to Wellington LAP on 8536 5600.
We have also been offered the opportunity to get involved in a national citizen science project; Pesticide Detectives. Managed through the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), volunteers will collect sediment samples from selected sites across Australia surrounded by different land uses such as urban development, horticulture and pasture. Some samples were taken in September and subsequent sampling rounds will occur in November/December and May. In return we will receive pesticide analyses for our waterways. If anyone is interested in getting involved for the next round and has a site in mind on any waterway, please contact Sylvia Clarke.
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