Iron Valley Project November 2015 Iron Valley Project Baseline Aquatic Fauna Survey: Weeli Wolli Creek Wet Season 2015 Prepared for: BC Iron Limited Level 1, 15 Rheola Street, West Perth WA 6005 T: +61 8 6311 3400, F: +61 8 6311 3449 by: Wetland Research & Management (WRM) 16 Claude Street, Burswood, WA 6100 T: +61 8 9361 4325 E-mail: [email protected] Final Report November 2015 ii Study Team Project management: Les Purves (BC Iron) & Adam Harman (WRM) Report: Chris Hofmeester Field Sampling (WRM): Adam Harman, Simon Ward & Kim Nguyen Field Sampling (BC Iron): Kristy Allan Macroinvertebrate Sorting & Identification: Simon Ward, Thomas de Silva, Bonita Clark & Kim Nguyen Macroinvertebrate QA/QC: Alex Riemer & Anton Mittra Map compilation: Kim Nguyen External taxonomic identification: Dr. Russ Shiel, University of Adelaide (microinvertebrates) & Dr. Don Edward, University of Western Australia (Chironomidae) Recommended Reference Format WRM (2015) Iron Valley Project: Baseline Aquatic Fauna Survey: Weeli Wolli Creek. Wet Season 2015. Unpublished report by Wetland Research & Management to BC Iron Limited. Final Report November 2015. Acknowledgements This project was undertaken by Wetland Research and Management (WRM) for BC Iron Ltd. WRM would like to thank Les Purves (BC Iron) for overall project management. Kristy Allan (BC Iron) is acknowledged for assistance in the field, and provision of surface water management plans. Department of Parks and Wildlife Species and Community Branch is acknowledged for provision of aquatic invertebrate species distribution data. Disclaimer This document was based on the best information available at the time of writing. While Wetland Research & Management (WRM) has attempted to ensure that all information contained within this document is accurate, WRM does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility to any third party for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information supplied. The views and opinions expressed within are those of WRM and do not necessarily represent BC Iron Ltd. Policy. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from BC Iron Ltd. And WRM. DOCUMENT HISTORY Version Date Reviewed by Date Draft v0 27/07/2015 Adam Harman (WRM) & Andrew Storey (WRM) 30/07/2015 Draft v1 10/08/2015 Adam Harman (WRM) & Andrew Storey (WRM) 11/08/2015 Draft v1 12/08/2015 Les Purves (BCI) & Chris Thompson (URS) 09/11/2015 Draft v2 10/11/2015 Adam Harman (WRM) 10/11/2015 Draft v2 10/11/2015 Les Purves (BCI) & Chris Thompson (URS) 10/11/2015 Final 11/11/2015 iii Iron Valley Project: Baseline Aquatic Fauna Survey: Weeli Wolli Creek. Wet Season 2015 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... VII 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Legislative framework .................................................................................................................. 9 1.3 Study objectives ......................................................................................................................... 10 2 STUDY AREA ............................................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Description ................................................................................................................................. 11 2.2 Climate and hydrology ............................................................................................................... 12 2.2.1 General ................................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.2 Rainfall prior to March 2015 sampling .................................................................................. 12 3 SURVEY METHODS .................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Compliance ................................................................................................................................. 13 3.2 Sites and sampling design .......................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Field sampling ............................................................................................................................. 16 3.3.1 Water quality.......................................................................................................................... 16 3.3.2 Habitat characteristics ........................................................................................................... 16 3.3.3 Invertebrate fauna ................................................................................................................. 17 3.3.4 Fish ......................................................................................................................................... 18 3.4 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.1 General analysis ..................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.2 Multivariate analysis .............................................................................................................. 19 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Water quality .............................................................................................................................. 20 4.1.1 Comparison against default ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) trigger values ................................. 20 4.1.2 Spatial patterns in water quality (multivariate analysis) ....................................................... 24 4.2 Substrate and habitat characteristics ......................................................................................... 25 4.2.1 Substrate characteristics ........................................................................................................ 25 4.2.2 In-stream habitat ................................................................................................................... 26 4.3 Microinvertebrates (zooplankton) ............................................................................................. 27 4.3.1 Taxanomic composition and species richness ........................................................................ 27 4.3.2 Microinvertebrate taxa of regional/scientific importance ..................................................... 28 4.3.3 Spatial patterns in microinvertebrate assemblages (multivariate analysis) .......................... 29 4.4 Hyporheic fauna ......................................................................................................................... 30 4.4.1 Taxanomic composition ......................................................................................................... 30 4.4.2 Hyporheic fauna ..................................................................................................................... 31 4.4.3 Short range endemics (SREs) .................................................................................................. 31 4.5 Macroinvertebrates .................................................................................................................... 32 4.5.1 Taxanomic composition and species richness ........................................................................ 32 4.5.2 Macroinvertebrate taxa of regional/scientific importance .................................................... 35 4.5.3 Spatial patterns in macroinvertebrate assemblages (multivariate analysis) ......................... 36 4.6 Fish ............................................................................................................................................. 37 4.6.1 Species composition ............................................................................................................... 37 4.6.2 Species abundance ................................................................................................................. 37 4.6.3 Age-class structures ............................................................................................................... 39 5 SYNOPSIS AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 42 5.1 General ....................................................................................................................................... 42 5.2 Water quality .............................................................................................................................. 42 iv Iron Valley Project: Baseline Aquatic Fauna Survey: Weeli Wolli Creek. Wet Season 2015 5.3 Microinvertebrates ..................................................................................................................... 43 5.4 Hyporheic fauna ........................................................................................................................