UMDR Newsletter - Autumn 2019

Improving fish habitat and river health in the Upper Murrumbidgee

Autumn Highlights

Adventurous Volunteers Update
Rivers of Carbon Upper Bidgee Phase II
Homes for Cod- Fish Habitat Action Grant
Latest CHIP report launched
2018 Platypus Survey Program results
Platypus Talk - in Cooma April 29

This newsletter aims to let you know the latest news and keep the river of information flowing.

For an overview of the Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach, details on plans, features, threats and projects, head to our website

Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach

We hope you enjoy this autumn edition of UMDR news.
Thankyou to Sarah Essex for producing this newsletter.

ADVENTUROUS VOLUNTEERS UPDATE

The health of the upper Murrumbidgee River is being improved thanks to some very special people with an adventurous spirit, a love of paddling and a wish to make a positive difference to our rivers.

As part of the Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach (UMDR) Adventurous Volunteer program over 30 volunteers have undertaken a two day paddling skills course, run by Paddle NSW, to ensure they have the capacity to undertake their restoration adventures. Volunteers are working to protect the home of our iconic native fish species such as Trout cod, Murray cod and Macquarie perch, as well as Murray River crayfish, Eastern long necked turtles, Water rats (also known as Rakali) and Platypus.

To date the volunteers have mapped weed infestations along the river downstream of Scottsdale to the ACT border, including assessing the need for follow up control in project sites which we have already treated by our previous projects. Such ongoing maintenance is essential to ensure the long-term effectiveness of weed programs. The mapping has found that Box elder (Acer negundo) numbers are rapidly expanding, and in some areas is now the predominant weed.

With the mapping complete, the volunteers have been paddling in to work sites to control Willows and Box elders using bush regeneration techniques. In some areas the volunteers are also paddling in bucket loads of native plants to stabilise bare banks and prevent sediment movement and improve biodiversity and native shading vegetation.

The UMDR adventurous volunteer program is proudly supported by The Australian River Restoration Centre, Bush Heritage Australia, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) and via funding from the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust via their Fish Habitat Action Grant program. We welcome additional volunteers, so if this program sounds like your thing, or you just wish to find out more please get in touch with us by emailing upperbidgeereach@gmail.com

Adventurous volunteers at work along Murrumbidgee River.

RIVERS OF CARBON UPPER BIDGEE
PHASE II

The Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) and the UMDR are delighted to have received $99,550 of funding from the NSW Environmental Trust’s Restoration and Rehabilitation grant program for the Rivers of Carbon (RoC) Upper Bidgee Phase Two project.

The project will build on the works of RoC Upper Bidgee Phase One which focused on improving connectivity and river habitat along the upper Murrumbidgee River through the Bumbalong Valley. This part of the river has been historically cleared, and heavily impacted by erosion and large amounts of sand deposition. By working in this stretch we will be improving connectivity between the high quality habitats of the Bredbo and Colinton Gorges which lie upstream and downstream of Bumbalong. In Phase One we worked with a fantastic group of landholders to treat woody weeds, control erosion, fence off the river corridor from stock, establish offstream water, and plant back the native vegetation to protect the rivers banks and improve native species diversity. Our plantings include Ribbon gums (Eucalyptus viminalis) which were at one time common on the floodplains of the upper Murrumbidgee River south of the ACT, providing shade and shelter for both land-based and riverine species and ecosystems.

In Phase Two we will work with new landholders at adjoining sites to fence the river corridor, replant native vegetation, and improve in stream vegetation to lock up mobile sand. We will fence, stabilise erosion and replant native vegetation along sections of tributary streams of the Murrumbidgee which reduce erosion and protect water quality inputs to the river. We have a few sites already chosen for Phase Two, including one along the Strike-a-Light River, where we will stabilise the upstream catchment to reduce inputs of sand sediment at source, addressing the cause of the problem rather than remediating it downstream.

Another site, is at Bush Heritage Australia’s Scottsdale Reserve, where we will re-establish an area of river tussock (Poa labillardieri) grassland. Such grasslands are naturally found along the valley floors and have important stabilising, filtering and habitat values. Unfortunately these grasslands have now been extensively cleared on alluvial floodplain areas of the upper Murrumbidgee and so their protection and future restoration is essential.

Above: Poa tussocks are an important part of riparian zones. Left: Young Murray River Crayfish found downstream of Bumbalong

Homes for Cod- Fish Habitat Action Grant funding

The UMDR and Bush Heritage Australia (BHA) have successfully gained a Fish Habitat Action Grant valued at almost $30 000 to enhance the river health and habitat to benefit Murray cod in the upper Murrumbidgee River adjacent to BHA's Scottsdale Reserve. Funding is provided by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust and NSW Department of Primary Industries- Fisheries sourced from recreational fishing fees.

The Murray cod population in the upper Murrumbidgee is nationally significant and is listed in the species National Recovery Plan. Supporting natural breeding is critical to sustain this population. Fish surveys have detected young cod fingerlings at this site and locals are reporting catches of Murray cod (up to 45cm) in this area. The fish hotels will enhance breeding by providing refuge for small fish and is estimated to have a positive impact along at least 6km of downstream reach of the river, extending through the Bumbalong valley, into areas which are accessed by locals and visitors for recreational fishing.

The funding will be used to build up to four log crib style fish 'hotels' at the downstream end of the Bredbo Gorge, engage local school groups to learn about Murray cod and habitat improvements and provide spatial habitat information to assist UMDR and local landholders protect the instream habitat in the larger reach upstream and downstream from the fish hotels. This reach has been the focus of instream and riparian habitat restoration projects (such as the Rivers of Carbon Upper Bidgee project) and the fish hotels will complement our ongoing effort to improve river health and fish habitat.

The above photo shows the willow control and riparian plantings that have already been carried out, and where our fish hotels will be installed. It looks upstream into the Bredbo Gorge where high-quality fish habitat and Murray cod are found.
Photo credit: Annette Ruzicka Photography

This photo shows Scottsdale Reserve Manager Phil Palmer and ACT Government's Conservation Research Unit staff with Murray cod fingerlings found at Scottsdale Reserve. These fish will benefit from the fish hotels which will be installed.
Photo credit: Annette Ruzicka Photography

Waterwatch Annual CHIP Report Launched

Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch launched its latest Catchment Health Indicator Program (CHIP) Report on World Water Day this year. The report summarises waterway health across the upper Murrumbidgee catchment for 2018 based on 2,081 water quality surveys, 192 waterbug surveys and 220 riverbank vegetation assessments collected by over 200 volunteers!
The report looks at health of waterways on a ‘reach by reach’ basis, giving a separate report card for each. The report is in its fourth year, but some sites in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment have been monitored since 1995.

Mick Gentleman, member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, enjoying "chips" at the launch of the CHIP report.

The report has found that out of 94 report cards, 5 are in ‘excellent’ health, 37 were ‘good’, 49 presented as ‘fair’ and 3 were a 'poor' rating. Overall, 55% of reaches fell into the fair/poor range which is a rise from 47%. This trend is most likely a result of it being the driest Autumn since 2004 and the driest Winter since 1994 for the ACT region. This is backed by the anecdotal reports of any of the volunteers who have been monitoring for more than ten years have been saying they’ve never seen their sites so dry. Overall the downward trends were related to factors such as water quality showing higher electrical conductivity and lower dissolved oxygen, water bugs being caught in lower numbers and riparian assessments highlighting increases in bare ground.
Platypus surveys also showed a reduction in numbers, which can be expected during drought years. Interestingly, records showed a marked increase of Platypus in areas where they are only occasionally seen such as Lake Burley Griffin. This is actually a cause for concern because it is a sign that resources in their current home range are getting scarce and Platypus are pushing into more marginal, built up areas in search for further food resources.
Waterways with intact catchments in upland reserves were found to have the best health, while urban wetlands and adjacent streams such as Lyneham Wetland and parts of the Tuggeranong catchment within Canberra, fared the worst. Given the stress our aquatic systems have demonstrated during 2018, the Waterwatch data highlights that it is more important than ever for us to build resilience in our waterways and their surrounding catchments to maintain healthy waterways. Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch is proudly supported by Icon Water and the ACT Government's Healthy Waterways Program.

The full CHIP report can be accessed via the Waterwatch website.

Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch Platypus Survey Program- 2018 summary

The Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch Platypus Month Census (held every August) consisted of 24 surveys conducted by over 100 enthusiastic volunteers at six ‘river reach’ sites across the ACT region in 2018. Despite an increase in the number of surveys conducted, numbers were consistently down over all sites, compared to previous years. A total of 11 individual platypus were sighted over the six reaches with last year’s (2017) count producing 16 individuals. Likewise, Rakali (Water rat) numbers, which are also counted during the surveys, totalled six individuals in 2018 down from 11 in 2017. Bush Heritage Australia is a great supporter of the annual census in our region, holding six surveys on the Murrumbidgee River at their Scottsdale Reserve each year.
Antia Brademann, the Cooma Waterwatch Coordinator, noted that the conservation status of the platypus has now been recognised as ‘Near Threatened’ by IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature), and emphasises the need to act now to get a good idea of how this special species is faring in our region so that we can plan timely conservation action.
The platypus is an excellent indicator of the health of our waterways, so monitoring its numbers also contributes to assessing changes in our rivers and creeks. Nationally, our understanding of platypus numbers and population dynamics is quite limited, which this recent article can attest, and that’s certainly the case in this region. So every survey conducted adds to the picture and better enables us to manage these marvellous monotremes. Many thanks to all the volunteers who braved the winter conditions and took part in this year’s surveys.
Volunteers who are able to monitor on their private land are especially welcome. Monitoring once or twice a week has been shown to be very effective at tracking platypus numbers, but ‘one off’ sighting are also helpful. Sightings in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment can be reported to Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch by emailing waterwatch@act.gov.au.

Geoff Williams an expert on Platypus will be giving a free seminar on the Platypus, in Cooma on 29th April - everyone is welcome to attend.
Geoff has been studying platypus since 1994, he is the founder of Australian Platypus Conservancy, was Director of Healesville Sanctuary for five years and, was Assistant Director of Sydney's Taronga Zoo from 1985 to 1988. Geoff has presented numerous public talks at venues throughout Australia.
See information below.

One of the Platypus that were sighted during our Platypus Month Census.

Contact us

UMDR Facilitator: Antia Brademann
mob: 0429 778 633
e: upperbidgeereach@gmail.com
web: www.upperbidgeereach.org.au

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Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach · c/- Local Land Services PO Box 26 · Cooma, NSW 2630 · Australia