Tenterfield Creek on the road to repair after bushfires and flood damage
Tenterfield Creek is bouncing back after a series of weather events caused widespread damage to the area and massive disruptions to the town’s water supply.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the OzFish Northern Tablelands Chapter, a series of restoration activities is underway to restore the waterway to its natural state.
Tenterfield Creek was one of the many rivers across Australia which suffered damaging effects from the 2019/20 bushfires.
The devastation was made worse when the area was flooded soon after, which led to Tenterfield’s water supply being shut off for nine months.
A hailstorm caused further damage before more bushfires hit the area in 2021/22.
OzFish members, with support from the Habitat Action Grants by the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Recreational Fishing Trusts and the local Gunimma Native Nursery has begun restoration work in the area.
Earthmovers have started repairing the riverbank to fix an erosion problem which is putting a massive sediment load in the waterway.
Thousands of native grasses are being planted to filter the water and three tonnes of rocky habitat is being installed in deeper spots in the creek to provide shelter and spawning areas for the native fish populations.
The waterway is home to a variety of fish including golden perch and Murray cod.
“We’ve had one environmental disaster after another,” said Harry Davey, OzFish Project Officer – Northern Basin, who is a local resident.
During the 2019/20 bushfires, a blaze raged through the southern end of town. It jumped the dam and raced through Dairy Mountain and then along the Timbarra ridge where it burned all the way through to Long Gully for as long as four months.
Houses and infrastructure were lost and two people were badly injured. By the time the fire had passed, Dairy Mountain was a ghost-like landscape without a tree or shrub left. This left an eerie red dust to settle on the blackened mountain.
In the rain event of December 2, 2019, almost 320mm fell on the hills above Dairy Mountain. While this was a welcome relief for the ongoing fire threat, it proved to be an environmental disaster for Tenterfield Creek.
During this period, members of OzFish Northern Tablelands Chapter were involved in rescuing and relocating native fish into refuge pools further downstream.
“After the fires, we had 324mm of rain in nine hours which fell right at the head of Dairy Mountain where rain flows directly into Tenterfield Creek. It’s 118km long and we had a fish kill that went for 38km,” Mr Davey explained.
“The impact from Dairy Mountain made Tenterfield’s water supply undrinkable for nine months with the amount of ash, dirt and fire retardant coming down into the main water supply.
“Water was trucked into the town. It was a pretty bad situation. It had a massive impact to the community.”
In August the following year there was a massive hailstorm and the creek in the town had solid blocks of hail in it for three weeks before it melted.
“It was so thick, frozen solid, it was incredible,” Mr Davey recalled.
“You could walk across the creek like you were stepping on a solid surface.”
Mr Davey said the current restoration work is a special one as it is being done to honour the memory of local landowner Merv McCasker, who was integral to helping the project get up and running.
Sadly, he passed away earlier this year and at his funeral in May, his wife, Jan Goodwin, asked Mr Davey if the work was still going to be done and he replied, “you bet, we’re going to do it”.
“I’m happy to say we’re finally there and it’s happening,” he said.
“It’s all about Merv. That’s why it’s being done in his memory. All the work we’ve done out on the site, he would always engage the Traditional Owners and employed young workers from BackTrack Youth Works at Tenterfield and the Moombahlene Local Aboriginal Land Council.
“He’s the kind of landowner we wish we had for every project. He would donate machinery and wouldn’t take money for the fencing, insisting on paying for it himself.”
Ms Goodwin added: “We are so happy to be involved in trying to fix some of the damage done by this horrendous string of events and bring back some habitat to the precious breeding grounds of the small fish that populate this part of the creek.”
The project is part of many undertaken by OzFish to improve the habitats of local fish species and it will ensure the health of Tenterfield Creek will be upgraded and revitalised for generations to come.
This is a joint project by OzFish Unlimited and the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts’ Habitat Action Grants, with support from BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.
