Waterwatch Australia national technical manual

Module 1 - background
Waterwatch Australia Steering Committee
Environment Australia, June 2003
ISBN 0 6425 4856 0

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Compiling your waterway profile

Compiling a profile of your waterway is generally a one-time 'detective' investigation. It will yield valuable information about the cultural and natural history of the waterway and the uses of the land surrounding it. This profile will be helpful in:

Your Waterwatch group might choose to monitor these areas and activities more intensively in the future.

It is best to compile your profile of the waterway in the early stages of your Waterwatch activities. Use the information you uncover to help choose your goals, develop your monitoring plan and plan future activities (see Module 2).

The investigation can be done at any time of year and can take as little or as much time as you wish to devote to it.

Your profile might concentrate on the main concerns of Waterwatch group members or it might include all issues. In any case, rely on the interests of your group to establish what you want to know about your waterway.

Information to include in your profile

The types of information you need to collect, as part of the profile of your waterway, include geographical data, environmental uses of the water in your catchment, the value your community places on that waterway and the threats to that waterway. As a minimum, you should find out and record the size of the stream, its catchment boundaries, water uses, dischargers and the general land use in the area.

Geography and background information

Environmental values (uses)

Values

Threats

Other information

Any or all of this information will be valuable and you might also uncover other useful information in the process.

Sources of information

It is important to find out what is known about your waterway and if there are any projects already underway. This information may save you effort and money, help you identify good sites to study, and allow your activities to fit into the overall efforts to work towards healthy waterways in the catchment.

By dividing research tasks between members, you will quickly gain a rich picture of the waterway which will answer many questions of value to your group. Keep a written account (profile) of information for use by the group and for members who might join the group at a later date. Maps, photographs and other information on previous monitoring studies in the catchment will be of particular value to your group over time. The types of information you will need to include in your profile and the possible or typical places to seek out such information are provided in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Types and sources of information
Type of information
Possible source
Location of drains and pipes, including stormwater outlets, entering or discharging into your waterway Drainage maps at the local council or water authorities, local residents
Extent of vegetation cover Aerial photographs at the local council or with the local historical society, museum, library newspaper archive
Urban and industrial development (such as industries, sewage treatment plants, farms) Aerial photographs and drainage maps at the local council or with the local historical society, museum, library newspaper archive, telephone book
Geographic 'shape' of your catchment Contour or topographic maps at the local council or Commonwealth agencies (Geoscience Australia or Australian Surveying and Land Information Group)
History of the waterway, including past land uses, such as old rubbish dumps which can leach pollutants for years after closure Local council and/or local residents, historical society, museum, library and newspaper archive - look for historical photos of the area and stories about fishing contests, fish kills, spills, floods and other major events affecting the waterway and its catchment
When residential developments were built Council or town planning offices, library and newspaper archive, local residents
When streams were channelled or diverted Council or town planning offices, library and newspaper archive, local residents
When highways and bridges were built Commonwealth or State Departments of Transport, library and newspaper archive, local residents
 

History of your waterway

A very good way to learn about your river is to ask older people in the community to tell their stories of the river. Doing oral histories is a particularly good activity for local school students and builds a sense of connection with the past, and stewardship for the land and its water.

People who fished or swam in streams in their youth have probably witnessed how the stream has changed. They might remember industries or land use activities of the past, such as mines or farms, that could have affected the stream. They might have tales to tell about fish they once caught or floods that led to channelisation. Questions to ask include:

For many people, particularly the young, the waterway has always been as we see it now. It often comes as a surprise to learn that you could once see the stream bottom at the local swimming hole, or that the river used to flow by a different channel to the sea. Stories of the past can inspire the community to imagine what the river could be like again.

Mapping your catchment

A catchment base map is a convenient and useful way of recording the information you collect. It can include land uses and potential monitoring sites and show a variety of factors that could influence the health of your catchment.

Topographic maps are a useful starting point. They are available from camping shops, Government bookshops and information shops as well as some newsagents and tourist bureaux. There are many different scales of topographic maps. The two most commonly used are:

Each map has its scale printed in the margin. Whatever scale it is, one grid square will represent 1km by 1km. Thus, a 1:100 000 map shows a larger area, but with less detail, than does a 1:25 000 map.

Your local water authority, council, national parks or forestry office may generate a map from a GIS (Geographical Information System) computer database. Many GIS systems can add extra information to topographic maps such as different land uses, industrial, urban and commercial areas, mining sites, stormwater drainage, sewerage systems, sewage treatment plants, roads, railways, powerlines, parkland, golf courses and rubbish sites. The information available depends on what is in the database.

You should learn the basics of how to read a contour or topographic map. Figure 1.1 shows some basic terminology and how to translate it on a contour map.

Figure 1.1: Contour basics
Figure 1.1: Contour basics

Making your catchment base map

The steps you need to take to create a catchment-specific base map are:

  1. Obtain a topographic map of the catchment. You may need to cut and paste several maps together to show the whole length of your stream.
  2. Overlay your base map with a clear plastic sheet. Work up the stream tracing its course and the tributaries or drains that join it.
  3. Use your contour map to find the boundary of the catchment. The catchment boundary will be a line joining ridges of higher ground above the smallest streams which drain into your river or stream. Mark the boundary onto the map overlay.
  4. To work out the surface area of your catchment, count the number of one kilometre squares enclosed by the catchment boundary.

Adding information to the catchment map

You now have a base map on which you can record things that may influence the health of your waterway. See Land uses box for some of the major land uses within a catchment.

Using the notes gathered (discussed above) and your own general knowledge of the local area, build up a comprehensive picture by marking the location of all land uses that may have an influence on waterway health.

You could hold public meetings or workshops to give members of your community an opportunity to view the information collected and help you identify river uses, special attributes and problems. Make sure you explain your group's ideas at these workshops. Assemble topographic maps, or some other clear base maps, that cover your catchment. Invite participants to identify and locate stream use areas, special attributes and problem areas using labelled or colour-coded Post-it® notes. You can learn a surprising amount about your catchment through this exercise.

Such meetings provide a way for people to share their interests and thoughts and a way for all viewpoints to be heard. This respectful sharing of viewpoints and interests is the cornerstone to building a cooperative effort to work towards healthy waterways.

You can check the information recorded on your base map when you walk and/or drive the stream during the on-ground catchment survey (see Module 2 Getting Started: the team, monitoring plan and site). The next step is monitoring.

What is monitoring?

Monitoring is an essential part of Waterwatch. Monitoring means checking the condition of waterways; it is a way of gathering information about the health of waterways. It involves surveying aquatic life and vegetation surrounding the water body, and collecting, processing and analysing samples of water. This information is used to tell a story about changes to the health of the waterway.

Common indicators of aquatic health include the condition of the habitat, bacteria levels, nutrient concentrations, aquatic invertebrates, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen.

Monitoring can be as simple as a visual survey of your waterway or as complex as collecting and analysing numerous water samples to a high level of accuracy and precision. How and what you monitor depends on the issues affecting your water body and the purpose for gathering information about its health.

Land uses

(see Land uses and their impacts for details)

Why monitor waterways?

Water quality and the ecology of waterbodies are both influenced greatly by what is happening on the land. You may, through monitoring, be able to identify a particular land uses that is affecting or likely to affect water health and flows in your area.

Monitoring is important for a variety of reasons. For instance:

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