Swan River Trust - Protecting our waterways for the future No.3 THE SWAN AND CANNING RIVERS CLEANUP PROGRAM NEWSLETTER Sept/Oct 1995 INSIDE Landcare in the Avon Valley e Community action: the River DECLINING water quality is one of the main problems facing Conservation the Avon and Swan Rivers. This year's Landcare Pavilion at Society the Royal Show (30 Sept - 7 Oct) focuses on the challenges facing Western Australians concerned about improving the e Ecotourism: health of the Avon catchment and its river system. Avon Ascent self­ The Avon River Management Authority (ARMA) -the community-based man­ drive tour agement arm of the Waterways Commission - with the support of the Swan River Trust, is putting on a displa:)l.-WJS.hin the pavilion that highlights the is­ e Significant sites: sues of salin_ity, exc~ss nutrient~ ~~t~ri q g~~~ir~~Y.~ ;~ · fnd · the)oss of river pools Yenyenning Lakes, through sed1mentat10n. "!.l~+T C'·F cc , .......... ~ ; Gwambygine Pool The Avon Ri~er becomes the s t a~i iPIYi<s ~tl~~;~·~i6ti ort.' Of ;Wooroloo Brook in Walyunga Nat10nal Park about ~ 30 k'ilometn::!1s\inot.th·:'.~~~t qf central Perth. At e Education: Great this time of year, the river's rush1ng wa~r(~ c;:JfJ1¥ <.de.£~; d of salt, nutrients (mainly places for schools phosphorus) and sediments fr<).in a catchment'llfge\- than :rasmania. and teachers Across the catchments feeding t11-~ . ~von and Swan Rivers·; people are getting together to battle land degrada~iort;Vi.riipt~Y~ yyate:r_qua\ity , r-------~. ~. --------------, . and restore river habitats. The ' tandcare · vFa¥1Hi1H ~ ~.( ' the , Sa,,·.ng Northam's 1995 Royal Show is a record of their achievements and a . .v taste of things to come. • Last yearover100,000peoplewentthroughthe Landcare White swans· continued page two [> THE Northam Town Pool is central to ooooeo••••••••••••••••••••••••••• the identity of Northam and the white Nutrients from the 120,000 square swans that live on the pool are one of the main attractions for visitors to the kilometre -Avon catchment are a part of the area. The problems now affecting the cause of algal blooms in the Swan River. health of the pool may mean the loss of The Avon represents about 62% of the these birds from Northam unless actions streamflow of all rivers entering the Swan underway to improve conditions are and it carries 2 8% of the phosphorus. On successful. average that's 362 million cubic metres of Although the · swans are not water each year carrying 26 tonnes of continued page three p hosp horus either attached to sedimen t or dissolved l.n water . ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Tjlttl Tjlttl the Willy Wagtail - the symbol of the Avon Ascent. The Landcare Pavilion at this year's Royal Show replicates the path of this self­ guided drive tour through the Avon re.gion. See story back page for more· on this unique driving adventure. ~A I ·\\ '( Jt< \ \( I :'< I RiverView ISSN : 1324-0404 the Shire of York, Rivet typica.Jly River Conservation Society ns as the boundary en private agricul­ - making the changes count tural properties. Clearing to the river's edge anc;l stock Identifying the problems in our rivers is the easy access over many years part. We can all see the effects of erosion, have taken their toll on the salinity, siltation and excessive nutrients. Doing banks. something about it is another thing. Putting in the In March 1990, the River on-the-ground hours to improve the condition of Conservation Society . (RCS) was formed in York to tackle a 3 8-· our rivers and wetlands takes dedication and kilometre stretch of river running passion - qualities which the members of York's through the Shire. They surveyed River Conserva.tion Society have in bucket loads. and mapped the river channel, banks, vegetation and fences and identified the owners of each parcel of adjoining land. Dr Cicely Howell, one of the group's founding members, was pleasantly surprised to find the landowners very cooperative when it c ame to the question of fences and stock enter­ 'ing the stream. "So long as the stock had access to the river there was little point in doing anything at all to stabilise the banks, revegetate and so on," Dr Howell said. "So we approached those land­ holders whose fences along the river were non-existent or in poor shape and offered to apply for funding to protect their stretch." With two exceptions the owners agreed to fence and also to pull back their fences from the high water mark in order to allow a buffer strip of veg­ etation between stock aild riverbank. Pulling back the fenceline kick­ started the g:roup into a revegetation program with the support of Greening Western Australia. - Gwambygine Pool is one of the few along the Avon River are now full. "It was not all plain sailing," Dr remaining river pools along the Avon Gwambyglne Pool has become the Howell said. "_Many areas were not ac­ ~iver that has not completely Infilled target of a battle to save the Avon's cessible to heavy machinery and hun­ with sediment. Between 1955 and 1972, river pool environment from extinction. the River Training Scheme was under­ "Which pool to save was a difficult dreds of holes had to be dl:lg by hand taken to combat flooding. The scheme choice," said the River Conservation into rock hard soil. meant bulldozers were used to remove ·Society's Dr Cicely Howell. "But in the "Summer foun d us watering at vegetation in the stream channel and to end we decided on Gwambygine Sam, a magic hour. deepen the channel bed. because it was upstream of other "But after the excitement of fenc­ The resulting increase in stream flow surviving pools." , ing and planting comes the humdrum velocity has eroded river banks and The project involves fencing and business of maintenance. Ownership shifted the river bed sediments down­ destocking along the banks of the river of riverside properties changes, stock stream ffl'ling the river pools. When and its tributaries, revegetation, and a water levels fall in the dry season, biological survey. reappears, damage continues to be tongues of sand are exposed where once The picture above shows students done." permanent pools existed. from York Primary School on the tongu The River Conservation Society's ac­ Half of the 20.naturally occuring pools of sand filling Gwambygine Pool. tivities· have grown since to include seed collecting and germination, hy­ drology, insect and fauna and flora from Alcoa's sponsored catchment Landcare Pavilion groups and Agriculture Department studies, and the creation of a landcare <J from page one centre. The RCS has three members st'aff will also be there to share their on the Avon River Management Au­ Pavilion making it one of the most experience of landcare farming. thority and works closely with schools popular attractions at the show. You will also find displays of: through the Ribbons of Blue water The scene inside this year's display * native birds of prey from the monitoring program. is a replica of the Avon region and, Margaret River Eagles Heritage Farm · The group's main focus now is on in particular, the Avon Ascent * CSIRO wheatbelt research saving Gwambygine Pool. landcare trail. Surrounded by the * revegetation information from "The Avon is not just a drain for calls of birds and the croaking of Greening Western Australia surplus salt and nutrients," Dr Howell frogs, you walk around the river: and * interactive demonstrations of said. "It is a superhighway teaming up through a lookout like the phosphorus from Scitech with microscopic life. A few pools are viewing tower at Gwambygine Park. * the City Kids landcare exchange not entirely filled but when they are, Next you walk through farm gates program much of that bustling life will be lost. into an area reminiscent of the * a miniature worm farm "The biodiversity of our rivers will Agri!=ulture Department's Avondale * and Alcoa's Frogwatch Program. be impaired even before it has been Discovery Farm. Here you can touch Men of the Trees will also be fully explored. We need a biological . the different crops on display and. giving away seedlings. survey; we need to stabilise the sand watch school children involved in the With all this, plus a free showbag, in the riverbed; we need· to save at Ribbons of Blue water monitoring the Landcare Pavilion will again be least one pool from extinction." • program show how river water is the must-see feature of the Royal analysed to test its health. Farmers Show. • Northam Town Pool ·Yenyenning: a-system in. from page one <J native to the area (they were intro- THE Yenyenning Lakes are an duced in the early 1900s), they are a extensive chain of lakes east of .demand good indication of water quality in the Beverley. They are particularly pool. If the water becomes choked with important because they re.ceive This community-based group has algae or the pool is lost through sedi­ water from the outer catchment the job of balancing all interests mentation, the swans will either die or of the Avon River Basin. in the area. The first task is to pre­ depart for healthier parts. · During winter, this water often dis­ pare a lakes management strat­ The poor as we know it originated in charges into the southern branch of the egy. Funding has been received 1901 with the contruction of a weir, Avon River. The lakes are naturally from the Gordon Reid Foundation although there was a naturally occur­ saline but have become more so since for Conservation and the National ring pool there previously.