Macleay Catchment, and in Excellent Condition Condition Excellent in and Catchment, Macleay the Across and for All Freshwater and and Freshwater All for And

in Five Day Creek and Nulla Nulla Creek in particular. in Creek Nulla Nulla and Creek Day Five in estuarine sites. estuarine

across the Macleay catchment, and in excellent condition condition excellent in and catchment, Macleay the across and for all freshwater and and freshwater all for and

Freshwater fish communities were in good condition condition good in were communities fish Freshwater river system, subcatchment, subcatchment, system, river

then also awarded for each each for awarded also then

improved water quality and habitat availability. habitat and quality water improved the site. Overall grades are are grades Overall site. the

potentially recover quickly as new colonists respond to to respond colonists new as quickly recover potentially overall grade is awarded to to awarded is grade overall

or diversity. However, these sites with lower scores would would scores lower with sites these However, diversity. or average of these grades, an an grades, these of average

lower scores at sites that did not have such high abundance abundance high such have not did that sites at scores lower brates and fish. Based on the the on Based fish. and brates

observed in the Northern Rivers bioregion. This led to to led This bioregion. Rivers Northern the in observed - macroinverte aquatic dition,

richness and abundance of aquatic macroinvertebrates macroinvertebrates aquatic of abundance and richness - con geomorphic condition,

Reference sites in the Macleay catchment had the greatest greatest the had catchment Macleay the in sites Reference en for water quality, riparian riparian quality, water for en

- giv is grade a where system,

an important ecological role in regulating water quality. quality. water regulating in role ecological important an shows the Ecohealth grading grading Ecohealth the shows

beds of aquatic macrophytes in the Macleay River play play River Macleay the in macrophytes aquatic of beds The diagram to the right right the to diagram The

quality in the catchment. It is likely that the extensive extensive the that likely is It catchment. the in quality

Interpreting the results the Interpreting the Macleay River consistently recorded the best water water best the recorded consistently River Macleay the

concentrations. Freshwater reaches of the main stem of of stem main the of reaches Freshwater concentrations. tific review process. review tific

oxygen, elevated pH and exceptionally high nutrient nutrient high exceptionally and pH elevated oxygen, - scien a to subject been have program Ecohealth the in

recorded very poor water quality driven by low dissolved dissolved low by driven quality water poor very recorded team has ensured that the selection of indicators used used indicators of selection the that ensured has team

particularly in the Tablelands where the majority of sites sites of majority the where Tablelands the in particularly there are stresses to the habitat as a whole. The Ecohealth Ecohealth The whole. a as habitat the to stresses are there

Water quality was poor across the Macleay catchment, catchment, Macleay the across poor was quality Water of particular components of an ecosystem to indicate if if indicate to ecosystem an of components particular of

Scientists and natural resource managers use the health health the use managers resource natural and Scientists

important role of riparian restoration in the catchment. catchment. the in restoration riparian of role important

Ecohealth indicators Ecohealth (and other positive Ecohealth grades), identifying the the identifying grades), Ecohealth positive other (and

freshwater tributaries had high quality riparian vegetation vegetation riparian quality high had tributaries freshwater

remnant vegetation, and damage from livestock. The The livestock. from damage and vegetation, remnant

disease, viruses or our ability to harvest shellfish or fish. or shellfish harvest to ability our or viruses disease, and isolated riparian vegetation from large patches of of patches large from vegetation riparian isolated and

if it’s safe for swimming, heavy metal contamination, contamination, metal heavy swimming, for safe it’s if vegetation clearing that has reduced riparian connectivity connectivity riparian reduced has that clearing vegetation

health issues in the rivers such as drinking water quality, quality, water drinking as such rivers the in issues health sites. The main issues were dominance of invasive weeds, weeds, invasive of dominance were issues main The sites.

Ecohealth does not comprehensively assess human human assess comprehensively not does Ecohealth Riparian condition was poor across the 44 Ecohealth Ecohealth 44 the across poor was condition Riparian

reporting requirements. reporting channel stability. channel

grade, and to help show improvements over time. over improvements show help to and grade, and evaluation monitoring, state and local meet to of maintaining healthy native vegetation to promote promote to vegetation native healthy maintaining of

+ and - are included to provide greater resolution within a a within resolution greater provide to included are - and + agencies Government State and Councils helps also poor geomorphic condition, highlighting the importance importance the highlighting condition, geomorphic poor

to the lowest possible score of an ‘F’. Secondary grades of of grades Secondary ‘F’. an of score possible lowest the to It activities. management environmental in invest to catchment and riparian vegetation in the reaches with with reaches the in vegetation riparian and catchment

high of ‘A’, through intermediate ratings of ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’, ‘D’, and ‘C’ ‘B’, of ratings intermediate through ‘A’, of high where and stress under are rivers our where determine four subcatchments have been significantly cleared of of cleared significantly been have subcatchments four

format of a school report card, with ratings ranging from a a from ranging ratings with card, report school a of format to managers resource natural enables information This Salisbury Waters, Bakers Creek and Nulla Nulla Creek. All All Creek. Nulla Nulla and Creek Bakers Waters, Salisbury

This scoring and grading system is based on the traditional traditional the on based is system grading and scoring This condition in four subcatchments: Commissioners Waters, Waters, Commissioners subcatchments: four in condition

and fish and macroinvertebrate (waterbug) communities. (waterbug) macroinvertebrate and fish and than one-third of the stream network was in poor poor in was network stream the of one-third than

corresponding grade (see below). (see grade corresponding shape), (channel geomorphology vegetation, (riverbank) was in good or moderate geomorphic condition. More More condition. geomorphic moderate or good in was

for healthy rivers. The condition scores were then given a a given then were scores condition The rivers. healthy for riparian quality, water including indicators environmental Most of the stream network in the Macleay catchment catchment Macleay the in network stream the of Most

measured values satisfied regional and national guidelines guidelines national and regional satisfied values measured key of condition baseflow the on reports Ecohealth

for each indicator at each site, based on how often the the often how on based site, each at indicator each for condition, followed closely by the tableland tributaries. tributaries. tableland the by closely followed condition,

course of 13 months. These were used to calculate scores scores calculate to used were These months. 13 of course them. in live that animals and plants the overleaf). The estuarine tributaries were in the poorest poorest the in were tributaries estuarine The overleaf).

from 44 sites across the Macleay catchment over the the over catchment Macleay the across sites 44 from for estuaries and rivers our of health the measures that an overall condition of C- for the Macleay catchment (see (see catchment Macleay the for C- of condition overall an

Information about each of the indicators was collected collected was indicators the of each about Information program monitoring ecosystem aquatic an is Ecohealth A total of 44 sites in 26 waterways were used to calculate calculate to used were waterways 26 in sites 44 of total A

What we found we What grading and scoring Ecohealth Ecohealth About

What action is happening? How can you be involved? The Kempsey Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) Contact your local Landcare group if you would like to be has been completed for the Kempsey LGA coastline, with involved in regeneration works. a number of recommended environmental programs Contact your Local Land Services or OEH office and speak initiated. The Macleay River Estuary CZMP was prepared to a river management professional for guidance on ways in 2012 and is in the process of being reviewed for to improve your riparian zone. certification. Estuary Management Plans for Killick Creek, Korogoro Creek, and Saltwater Creek and Lagoon have Control weeds and plant native trees along your stretch of been prepared and are about to be reviewed and upgraded. riverbank – Landcare can advise you on what to plant and what to remove. Make sure you get the relevant approvals. Local Land Services is working with stakeholders on a Take care not to trample or remove vegetation from strategy to improve the quality of water discharged from riverbanks unless it is a weed. the Clybucca Collombatti backswamp area into the lower Macleay estuary. Fence off the riverbank to protect it from trampling or damage from stock. Kempsey Shire Council (KSC) in partnership with NSW Please don’t litter – take all rubbish with you. OEH, Local Land Services, DPI Fisheries, Landcare and local landowners is implementing a number of riverine and Report any rubbish dumping to Council – dumping of estuarine rehabilitation projects. These include the Pelican garden waste spreads weeds. Island foreshore habitat improvement project, The Boyters Lane/Spencers Creek riparian improvement project and the Sherwood/Macleay River riparian rehabilitation project. Further information Visit KSC’s website for further information on the environment and KSC has recently completed a survey of aquatic plants of natural resources within the Macleay Catchment. www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/environment/index.html the Macleay River. KSC is currently preparing a Migratory and Threatened Shorebird management strategy and a To access the 2016 Macleay Ecohealth Technical Report or for more Biodiversity Strategy for the Kempsey LGA. information about the Ecohealth program, go to www.aerlabcomau. ipage.com and click on Coastal Projects. Follow us on Twitter @Wa- ter_UNE. Landcare groups are working on a number of riverbank and riparian improvement projects throughout the Macleay Project partners catchment. With support from Local Land Services, KSC continues to implement a series of weed control programs This project was jointly funded by Kempsey Shire targeting species such as Sharp Rush, Tropical Soda Apple, Council, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Estuary Management Program, and North Coast Cockspur Coral Tree and Senegal Tea. Local Land Services and Northern Tablelands Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and NSW Government’s Catchment Action NSW Program.

Macleay Catchment

Pelican Island rehabilitation project to improve foreshore habitat. Photo © R. Kemsley, KSC. REPORT CARD 2016 Antimony and Arsenic in River Sediment and Water

Antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) concentrations were measured in the water column and sediments at Bakers Creek (a historical point source of contamination) and at seven sites along the Macleay River from Georges Junction to Jerseyville.

Water column Sb at Bakers Creek ranged from 37 to 96 times the ANZECC guidelines for healthy aquatic ecosystems, but no site on the Macleay River exceeded the ANZECC Sb trigger value for healthy aquatic ecosystems.

Water column As at Bakers Creek ranged from 1.4 to 2.7 times the ANZECC trigger value for healthy aquatic ecosystems. The Macleay River at Jerseyville exceeded the ANZECC As trigger value for healthy aquatic ecosystems once (November 2015).

Bakers Creek

Sediment Sb at Bakers Creek ranged from 72 to 164 times the national sediment low guideline value. The national sediment low guideline value was exceeded at Georges Junction, Bellbrook, Kinchela and Jerseyville.

Sediment As at Bakers Creek ranged from 4.4 to 7 times the national sediment low guideline value. No site in the Macleay River exceeded the national sediment low guideline value during the study period.

The Macleay River Working Group comprises state and local government, industry, researchers and the community and provides a forum to discuss the As and Sb contamination issue. Derelict Mines has commissioned an assessment of historic workings of As and Sb in the Macleay Catchment and the final report is expected in early 2017.