Catchment Management
We all live and work in catchments (drainage areas) so it is everyone's responsibility to do the right thing to protect them. Our actions can help or harm the catchment. For example, if local native trees are planted near a waterway they will help to hold the soil together so when it rains the soil doesn't end up in the waterway. If we drop rubbish in the streets it can end up in our wetlands and waterways through stormwater runoff which can harm animals living in and using the waterway as well as polluting the water.
The continued flow of pollution to wetlands and waterways can lead to their deterioration. We can only see part of the problem. Some of the pollution can be invisible. For example, chemicals from fertilizers, dog droppings and detergents can dissolve in stormwater and be washed into wetlands and waterways. Here they can 'feed' the growth of waterweeds or poisonous blue-green algae.
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Dissolved pollution can help feed algae |
Stormwater pollution can be washed down drains into waterways and wetlands |
Illegal rubish dumpin in waterways |
Catchment management is everyone's responsibility. It must be a joint effort by all of the community to protect wetlands and waterways. Ways to manage the catchment include giving fines to polluters, building structures (eg trash racks, gross pollutant traps) to catch pollution and, most importantly, carrying out actions in our everyday life to help protect wetlands and waterways.
A trash rack to collect rubbish such as leaves or rubish from the urban area after to rain before it enters constructed wetlands
Gross Pollutant trapand trash rack
We can help protect wetlands and waterways by:
1. Carrying shopping in reusable bags (plastic bags can take a long time to break down and water animals can choke on them and get tangled in them)
2. Putting rubbish in the bin (rubbish takes a long time to break down and doesn't look very attractive)
3. Mulching gardens (soil run off can make the water murky reducing plant growth)
4. Picking up your dog's droppings (nutrients encourage excess waterweed and algae growth)
5. Using fertiliser only when necessary (nutrients encourage excess waterweed and algae growth)
6. Planting local native plants (reduces erosion and helps to maintain the original vegetation)
7. Washing vehicles on the lawn (nutrients encourage excess waterweed and algae growth)
8. Using phosphorous-free detergents (nutrients encourage excess waterweed and algae growth)
9. Sweeping paved areas instead of hosing (saves water and reduces soil and leaves from being washed into wetlands and waterways)
10. Composting garden waste such as fallen leaves and grass clippings (prevents the drains from becoming blocked and causing local flooding)
11. Obeying signs for the public eg no dogs, no cars or flood warning signs (protects wetlands, waterways and human life)
Public sign at Lorikeet Marsh at Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside
Location of Wetlands and Waterways within the Blacktown Local Government Area