Ecosystem Health in the Canning River, Focusing on the Influence of the Kent Street Weir Assessed December 2009 – September 2011
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Government of Western Australia Department of Water Ecosystem health in the Canning River, focusing on the influence of the Kent Street Weir Assessed December 2009 – September 2011 Looking after all our water needs Water technicalScience series Report no. WST 50 May 2013 Ecosystem health in the Canning River, focusing on the influence of the Kent Street Weir Assessed December 2009 – September 2011 Looking after all our water needs Department of Water Water Science Technical Series Report no. 50 April 2013 Department of Water 168 St Georges Terrace Perth Western Australia 6000 Telephone +61 8 6364 7600 Facsimile +61 8 6364 7601 National Relay Service 13 36 77 www.water.wa.gov.au © Government of Western Australia April 2013 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 1836-2869 (print) ISSN 1836-2877 (online) ISBN 978-1-921992-95-7 (print) ISBN 978-1-921992-96-4 (online) Acknowledgements The Department of Water would like to thank the following for their contribution to this publication: Naomi Hellriegel, Sarah Evans, Georgina Evans, Krish Seewraj, Dr Shaun Meredith and Dr Steeg Hoeksema for technical review; Dr Tarren Reitsema for contribution to risk analysis; Lynette Galvin for analysis of macroinvertebrate data; and officers from all funding agencies for monitoring support, particularly Matt Grimly from the South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare (SERCUL). This study was funded by the Department of Water, Swan River Trust and SERCUL. Citation Storer, T, Robb, M, Norton, S, Kilminster, K & Nice, H 2013, Ecosystem health in the Canning River, focusing on the influence of the Kent Street Weir, Water Science Technical Series, report no. 50, Department of Water, Western Australia. For more information about this report, contact Dr Tim Storer, Water Science Branch, Department of Water. Cover photograph: Kent Street Weir, 2011. 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. This publication is available at our website <www.water.wa.gov.au> or for those with special needs it can be made available in alternative formats such as audio, large print, or Braille. Water Science Technical Series, report no.50 Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................ iii Preface .................................................................................................................................viii Summary ............................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Kent Street Weir ................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and history ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Associated values .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Weir management ................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 A history of intervention ....................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Objectives of this study ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.4 Stakeholders ......................................................................................................................................... 8 2 Scope and general approach ............................................................................................. 9 2.1 Reference condition: establishing a management benchmark ...................................................... 9 3 Aquatic fauna: 2009–11 ................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Reference condition for finfish and decapods .................................................................................................. 14 Fish Health Index ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Fish sampling ....................................................................................................................................................... 17 Reference condition for aquatic macroinvertebrates ...................................................................................... 18 Aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling ................................................................................................................. 18 Supplementary information ................................................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Results: finfish and decapods ........................................................................................................... 19 Spatial variability .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Temporal dynamics ............................................................................................................................................. 23 Size-class distribution .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Reproductive condition ........................................................................................................................................ 31 Additional comments ........................................................................................................................................... 31 3.3 Results: aquatic macroinvertebrates ............................................................................................... 32 3.4 Results: other aquatic fauna ............................................................................................................. 34 4 Phytoplankton: 2009–11 .................................................................................................. 37 4.1 Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 37 5 Hydrology: 2009-2011 ...................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Flow data ............................................................................................................................................. 39 5.2 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 39 2009–10 (before the decision not to remove weir boards in 2010)............................................................... 39 2010–11…………... ............................................................................................................................................. 40 Weir integrity ......................................................................................................................................................... 42 Mixing and flushing in the weir pool .................................................................................................................. 42 6 General water quality: 2009–11 ....................................................................................... 45 6.1 Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 45 6.2 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 47 Saltwater/freshwater dynamics .......................................................................................................................... 48 Temperature ........................................................................................................................................................