Local organisations efforts rehabilitate waterways
Fri 05 November 2010
Christie Lenz, Bachelor of Journalism
The health of local Sunshine Coast waterways had declined in recent years, but it is comforting to know that local organisations are doing something about it.
Greening Australia stated that continued growth of industry and agriculture, population growth, a warming climate and lower than normal rainfalls over the past decade had had an impact on river health.
Due to these factors, Greening Australia stated that “there has never been a more critical time to invest in the health of the country's rivers and wetlands”.
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC) stated that the six river catchments within its jurisdiction were the lifeblood of the region. 
“The coastal rivers flow east into Moreton Bay or the Coral Sea, while the Mary River flows north into the Great Sandy Strait,” Council said.
Maroochy Waterwatch and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council formed a partnership as the result of the Council’s Maroochy River Recovery Program, initiated in 2004.
The partnership was established in response to an alarming decline in the ecosystem health of the iconic Maroochy River.
The South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Partnership managed the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP), which released annual report cards, highlighting “where the health of our waterways is getting better or worse”.
EMHP delivered a regional assessment of the ambient ecosystem health for each of South East Queensland's 19 major catchments, 18 river estuaries, and Moreton Bay.
Report card results for the Maroochy River indicated that the river began to slowly decline between 2001 and 2004.
Freshwater results slipped from steady C’s between 2000 and 2003 to a C- in 2004, and Estuary results slipped from steady C’s between 2000 and 2003 to a D+ in 2003 and a D in 2004.
The Council stated that the decline in health was the result of elevated nutrients, poor dissolved oxygen, elevated sewage nitrogen signals and poor riparian cover across most of the system.
The riparian zone separated land from water and was defined as of or relating to or located on the banks of a river stream.
“Nutrients from treated sewage discharge (point sources) and agricultural and urban runoff (diffuse sources) are major pressures on the Maroochy River estuary,” Council said.
Maroochy Waterwatch manager Cerran Fawns said that the past poor health of local Sunshine Coast river systems were due to development, inappropriate land use, land owners clearing land all the way to the waterline and stock access to waterways.
“Historically sewerage treatment plant outfall to the river was a major problem,” Ms Fawns said.
In 2006-07, the SCRC completed a $34 million upgrade of the Maroochydore Sewage Treatment Plant, which improved the quality of treated effluent discharged to the Maroochy River by reducing concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
This resulted in decreased levels of nutrients present in nearby waterways.
The Maroochy River covered 2800 kilometres of stream network, and had a boating area 30 kilometres in length, with the majority of the river being in the hinterland.
Maroochy Waterwatch was “an organisation which is primarily responsible for the strategic planning activities for the broader Maroochy River issues”. 
Maroochy Waterwatch described itself as “a non-profit community organisation consisting of a network of dedicated people who operate to maintain and improve the health of our local waterways, and to secure high levels of water quality for present and future generations".
The organisation operated two commercial entities, being Maroochy Catchment Services and the Coolum Community Native Nursery.
The organisation also ran several projects vital to ensuring the health of local catchment areas and waterways.
Maroochy Waterwatch monitored the health of water, mangrove and fauna systems, promoted catchment education, as well as overseeing the employment of people who work on the physical waterway environment doing work such as revegetation on land and riparian zones.
Water monitoring was one the programs used by Maroochy Waterwatch to measure the health of local catchment areas and waterways, and was also one of the many projects where the organisation was able to employ the help of volunteers from the community.
Water monitors measure various indicators of waterway health including temperature, pH (alkalinity or acidity), dissolved oxygen and turbidity (measure of light scattered by suspended particles in the water column, providing an indirect measure of light penetration), each of which played an important part in ecosystem health of waterways.
The Maroochy Shire State of Waterways report stated that chemical attributes such as oxygen solubility and pH, and biological processes such as algal growth, were sensitive to changes in water temperature.
Through high amounts of suspended particles, turbidity could also contribute to environmental damage including “reduced light penetration through the water column, smothering benthic organisms, the irritation of fish gills and transportation of contaminants”.
The ecological impact of changes in these health indicators could result in adverse impacts on plant and animal life and even change the type of environments these life forms thrive in.
Ms Fawns said that volunteer work was a huge part of what the organisation does, and involved people from all different backgrounds.
“Without volunteers we would not be in existence,” Ms Fawns said.
Ms Fawns also stated that volunteers needed to know that their contribution was making a difference.
Maroochy Waterwatch revegetation officer and volunteer water monitor Scott Rillie stated “I know that over a long period my efforts and that of others will benefit future generations and the planet as a whole”.
“I have learnt a great deal about the importance of healthy waterways from my superiors, work colleagues and other staff and have seen first-hand the damage that is done and the time and effort it will take to restore."
The River Patrol was another partnership operation, which involved a group of volunteers who removed rubbish from the banks of the navigable part of the Maroochy River.
“Being located in a populated catchment, the Maroochy River has a high litter problem,” Maroochy Waterwatch stated.
Ms Fawns said that in the Maroochy River alone a skip full of rubbish was emptied twice a week.
Ms Fawns explained that one simple scientific way to determine the health of a waterway was to ask “if you were a fish could you live in it?”.
Ms Fawns said another way was with the Litmus test, where in simple terms “the amount of rubbish that is in a waterway is a fair indicator of how looked- after a waterway is".
Ms Fawns said that it was important to have healthy river systems because “without a healthy river you don’t have a healthy environment and if you don’t have a healthy environment you don’t have a healthy community”.
Image(s) designed by Christie Lenz