DWER scientists share their knowledge on the banks of South West waterways at Healthy Rivers workshops

A team of scientists from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation have been sharing their knowledge on the banks of South West waterways.

The DWER scientists met a group of interested locals on the banks of Station Gully — one of several sampling sites across the region — to share their expertise at a recent Healthy Rivers workshop.

The event was organised by GeoCatch’s sustainable agriculture co-ordinator Jenelle Schult, with attendees welcome to explore their curiosity about the waterways’ numerous resident aquatic species.

“Workshops like these are a great opportunity for farmers and those interested in our waterways to meet and hear directly from DWER scientists,” Ms Schult said.

“It was fantastic to see local farmers in attendance showing their interest in how to improve waterways on their properties.”

DWER environmental officer Gina Marino said the event was an opportunity to show off the South West Index of River Condition, a toolkit developed by DWER to generate data on river health that evaluated aquatic biodiversity, vegetation, hydrology and water quality.

“The long-term collection of data is important as it enables us to understand the ecology of the system, assess impacts from various land uses and or stream alterations, as well as aid in making management decisions,” she said.

Ms Marino said it was always a highlight for her and her team to connect with people who were passionate and interested at these workshops.

“It’s a great experience for us to be able to share what we do with the attendees, and to see them get excited about the fish and aquatic macroinvertebrates we caught,” she said.

“We found all species expected at this site, including three native freshwater fish, western minnow, western pygmy perch and nightfish, two native freshwater crayfish, gilgie and smooth marron, and one non-native freshwater species eastern gambusia.

“Juvenile western pygmy perch and gilgie were observed, suggesting successful recruitment for both species.”