Lockhart River Confluence to Hyden
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Government of Western Australia Department of Water Waterway assessment of the Camm River: Lockhart River confluence to Hyden Water resource management series Report no. WRM 57 Looking after all our water needs December 2009 Waterway assessment of the Camm River: Lockhart River confl uence to Hyden This project is funded by the Avon Catchment Council and the State and Australian governments through the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. AVON RIVERCARE PROJECT Department of Water Water resource management series Report no. WRM 57 December 2009 Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000 Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Facsimile +61 8 6364 7601 www.water.wa.gov.au © Government of Western Australia 2009 December 2009 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Department of Water. ISSN 1326-6934 (print) ISSN 1835-3592 (online) ISBN 978-1-921637-26-1 (print) ISBN 978-1-921637-27-8 (online) Acknowledgements The Department of Water would like to thank the following people for contributing to this report: • Penny Butcher and Lyn Atkins (Ecoscape), co-authors • Martin Revell Shepherd Chipfunde and Bernard Kelly ,(Department of Water), report review • Lyn Atkins and Natalie Randall (Ecoscape), field survey and photography. For more information about this report, contact Program Manager Avon Disclaimer This document has been published by the Department of Water. Any representation, statement, opinion or advice expressed or implied in this publication is made in good faith and on the basis that the Department of Water and its employees are not liable for any damage or loss whatsoever which may occur as a result of action taken or not taken, as the case may be in respect of any representation, statement, opinion or advice referred to herein. Professional advice should be obtained before applying the information contained in this document to particular circumstances. Cover photo: Lake Gounter near Hyden. Photograph by Claire Hamersley. Waterway assessment of the Camm River: Lockhart River confluence to Hyden Water resource management series, no. WRM 57 Contents Summary .....................................................................................................................xi 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................1 1.1 Avon River basin............................................................................................1 1.2 Managing natural resources in the Avon River basin ....................................1 1.3 Aims of the Camm River waterway assessment ...........................................3 1.4 Nature of the Camm River study area ...........................................................3 Camm River study area .................................................................................3 Nature of the Camm River landscape ............................................................4 Hydrology and water quality ..........................................................................8 Land tenure ..................................................................................................11 Post-clearing changes to naturally saline waterways ..................................12 2 Waterway assessment methodology ...................................................................15 2.1 Site selection ...............................................................................................15 2.2 Recording of survey information ..................................................................15 Floodplain features ......................................................................................15 Description of the riparian vegetation ..........................................................16 Links to protected remnant vegetation .........................................................18 Aquatic vegetation .......................................................................................19 Water quality data ........................................................................................19 Management ................................................................................................19 Fauna species .............................................................................................19 2.3 How is the information that is collected used? ............................................20 3 Main findings and management recommendations .............................................21 3.1 Vegetation condition ....................................................................................21 3.2 Management issues ....................................................................................22 3.3 Salinity and waterlogging .............................................................................23 Engineering options .....................................................................................23 Revegetation ................................................................................................27 Recommendations for the management of salinity and waterlogging .........30 3.4 Flows being impeded by road crossings .....................................................30 Recommendations for the management of flood flows ................................31 Department of Water iii Water resource management series, no. WRM 57 Waterway assessment of the Camm River: Lockhart River confluence to Hyden 3.5 Tributaries ....................................................................................................31 Recommendations for tributary management ..............................................32 3.6 Management of remnant vegetation ............................................................32 Recommendations for remnant vegetation management ............................33 3.7 Riparian vegetation ......................................................................................33 Recommendations for riparian vegetation ...................................................34 3.8 Fencing and stock access ...........................................................................34 Recommendations for fencing .....................................................................35 3.9 Pest species ................................................................................................35 Recommendations for the management of pest species .............................36 3.10 Flora and fauna ...........................................................................................36 Recommendations for flora and fauna conservation ...................................37 3.11 Fire risk ........................................................................................................38 3.12 Rubbish .......................................................................................................38 Advice for rubbish management ..................................................................38 Glossary .....................................................................................................................39 References .................................................................................................................43 Appendices 1 Site survey reports ...............................................................................................47 2 Standard survey form .........................................................................................134 3 Vegetation condition photographs ......................................................................141 4 Examples of local native species suitable for revegetation ................................142 5 Examples of species suitable for saltland pasture .............................................146 6 Flora and fauna lists ...........................................................................................148 Tables 1 Water quality results for the 2006 and 2007 Avon River basin water quality snapshot ...............................................................................................................10 2 Crown reserves close to the floodplain in the study area.....................................11 3 Vegetation condition rating scale, as adapted from Keighery (1994) ...................17 iv Department of Water Waterway assessment of the Camm River: Lockhart River confluence to Hyden Water resource management series, no. WRM 57 Figures 1 Annual rainfall at Graham Rock from 1934 to 2007 ...............................................9 2 Average annual rainfall at Graham Rock for each decade (1940s to 1990s) .....10 3 Estimated area of vegetation surveyed within each vegetation condition rating ....22 Maps 1 Location of the Camm River study area within the Avon River basin ....................2 2 Camm River study area.........................................................................................5 3a Camm River survey site locations (CR01-CR05) ..................................................6 3b Camm River survey site locations (CR06-CR12) ..................................................7 A1 Vegetation condition for survery