Harden
Atmosphere & Weather | Biodiversity | Catchments | Resources Use
Community Stream Monitoring in the Harden Shire
This "snapshot" profile celebrates a recent environmental initiative within this LGA.
Monthly community water salinity sampling
The Harden Murrumburrah Landcare Group monitored salinity in Cunningham Creek monthly for a year. This was part of the Community Stream Sampling Framework Project supported by the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS), Harden Shire Council and the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority. Better data will allow effective targeting of salinity management projects in the Jugiong Creek catchment, leading to better water quality.
Ranking the ten sub-catchments within the Jugiong Creek catchment with respect to base flow water salinity, from freshest to saltiest, will allow management projects to be targeted to where impact is greatest. Ensuring that on-ground works occur in the most saline sub-catchments will speed achievement of the Murrumbidgee Catchment Action Plan’s targets for reducing river salinity. Works can also be designed to ensure no reduction in dilution flows from fresher sub-catchments.
The project identified and then established monitoring points in the Jugiong Creek sub-catchment for saline sampling. An accompanying report detailed the location and rationale for the selected points, the methodology and the type of data being sampled. As the community sampling proceeded, it was verified through four months of independent sampling.
Meetings to present the biophysical data,
trends and ranking data
There have been many positive outcomes, not the least in building the skill of community groups. This started via training on survey methodology, use of meters, sample collecting, taking surface flow and stream velocity measurements, and uploading data to the BRS web-based database. Skills were put into practice in the sampling itself and in accessing and interpreting the information, including monthly trends and maps interpreting the data. As well, meetings presented the biophysical data, trends and rankings to the catchment communities and management authorities.
All in all, there has been much ‘Hardening’ of the facts relevant to better water quality management in the Harden Shire.
