Clarence River water quality project a small sample of the power of citizen scientists
OzFish Unlimited is harnessing the power of citizen scientists to help improve water quality in the Clarence River catchment area.
A dedicated team of 20 volunteers have been collecting water samples at 41 sites in the region as part of a 12-week project, which kicked off in August.
OzFish, Australia’s recreational fishing charity dedicated to restoring waterways, has partnered with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to launch the Water Quality Pilot Project.
Dr Shane White, OzFish Project Manager for NSW North Coast, said the project was designed to better understand the health of the Clarence River ecosystem after the devastating flooding of 2022.
“The Clarence River is significant to local communities and primary industries, but it faces several challenges, including erosion, nutrient inputs, acid sulphate soils, channel modifications and alterations to natural flows,” Dr White said.
“What we can do with data from this water quality monitoring project is understand where future work is needed in this huge catchment. We would like to focus on riparian restoration and fish habitat enhancement.”
The data collected from the project is being analysed, and Dr White said he is confident it will provide valuable insights into the health of the Clarence River ecosystem.
Dr White thanked the volunteers for their dedication and commitment to the project.
“We couldn’t have done this without the support of our volunteers,” he said.
“Their passion for the Clarence River and their willingness to give up their time is truly inspiring.”
Local rec fisher Dion Wedd was thrilled to be part of the project because the effects of urbanisation have had harmful effects on the local environment.
“Rec fishers have got a good feel for what’s going on in an environment and when you fish in a place for a long time, you get to see the changes and if you’re aware of the science behind it, you can really see the effects,” he said.
“It’s quite confronting in some places. You can look at the system and see it’s in a really bad way.
“Back in the day people didn’t know any better, they went out and cleared the land and didn’t really know of the consequences to the river systems or the fish that were in there. And now we’re starting to figure out what sort of damage that kind of land degradation has caused.
“This project is a good way to get a gauge on what’s going on simply by looking at water quality parameters like turbidity.
“To get this sort of uptake from rec fishers is a good indication of how they think about the environment. They see it how it is and they want to do what they can to help.
“It is a really community-minded way to help. The more the general public gets behind projects like this, it’s a really powerful thing over time when you get lots of people involved and things start to shift.”
OzFish Chapter member Wayne Ringland, who was also part of the citizen science testing group, said the impact of the floods in early 2022 not only caused devastation in the local townships but on the health of the waterways.
“They were pretty dirty for a while. It took a while to get back to normal. There was a lot of rubbish washed down into the mangroves,” he said.
“It’s clearer at the moment than you think for a river with a muddy bottom.
“When you do your turbidity test, you look at the water and think it’s going to be dirty but you pull your sample out and it’s a surprise how clear it is.
“It’s good to be involved in something like this to hopefully make a difference for the future.”
The findings of the project will be shared with the community in the coming months.
The project is being delivered through the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Flood Recovery Program for Water Quality Monitoring, in partnership with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment and supported by the Riparian Stabilisation Package. The Riparian Stabilisation Package is co-funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. This project is also supporter by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts and BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing.
Undertaking this project on Bundjalung Country, OzFish acknowledges and pays respect to the elders past, present, and emerging, recognising their invaluable connection to and care for the Country.
