Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne

• Want to help your rivers and creeks? Become a Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Member
• Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Training
• Nineteen years of waterway health information now available online
• The Darebin Froggers
• Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Newsletter
• Teacher PD Sessions and Education Kits
• Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Water Quality Reports
• Further Information

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne is a free river health education and monitoring program, which aims to increase community understanding, participation and ownership of local river health issues. It involves schools and the community in the assessment and monitoring of water quality in our streams and wetlands. This is done via a number of activities including water testing and water bug identification. Waterways provide enjoyment to people but are also important for the conservation of a great many rare or threatened species, including native fish, frogs, aquatic invertebrates and the platypus, which is responding well to recent improvements in water quality.

Our Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne team provides talks on freshwater ecology to schools and groups, provides free training and events and co-ordinates the volunteer’s monitoring program.

Want to help your rivers and creeks? Become a Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Member

• Information on Waterwatch activities in your local area     
• Regular updates and newsletters from your local Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Coordinator 
• Invitations to attend Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne events
• Information on the health of your local waterways
• Meet others who are interested in protecting and improving the health of our waterways   
• Become a Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne monitor, regularly water testing a local waterway. All training and equipment is provided.

How to join

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Training

Interested in learning what's really going on in your local creek, wetlands or river? Can frogs, platypus or even native fish survive in your waterway?

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne run FREE river health training sessions for teachers, community groups and individuals wishing to help improve their river health monitoring skills by regularly testing the water. You will learn the different sampling techniques, including aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification, how the data you collect is used and how to develop a monitoring plan. Its fun, free and very easy to do!

Please book your place online by clicking on the date you want to complete the training, and emailing the bookings officer stated, at Waterwatch’s online events calendar, located at: http://www.waterwatchmelbourne.org.au/content/activities_and_events/activities_and_events.asp

The training dates highlighted in orange are in or close to the Banyule region. Please contact Julia Vanderoord, Banyule Waterwatch Coordinator to book your place Julia.vanderoord@banyule.vic.gov.au, phone 9457 9885

Nineteen years of waterway health information now available online

River, stream and creek water quality information collected by Waterwatch volunteers over the past 19 years is now available to the public following the launch of the new online Waterwatch Victoria Data Management System.

Waterwatch Victoria spokesperson Sarah Greenwood-Smith said the Waterwatch Victoria Data Management System will provide Victorians with easy online access to information about the health of their local waterways.

“Almost 600 volunteers collect regular water quality data from over 1500 monitoring sites across Victoria,” Ms Greenwood-Smith said.

“Through this online system the public can now access data about their local waterway, including historical data for 6,200 sites across Victoria and current data for 1,521 sites.

“The type of information includes physical and chemical data such as dissolved oxygen (essential for aquatic life), salinity, pH levels, phosphorus (can encourage excess growth of plants including algae), turbidity (cloudiness of water) and water temperature.

“The data is used to help waterway managers, such as DSE and catchment management authorities, understand the long term trends in the health of waterways.

“The information can be used to flag a decline in water quality so it may be investigated further.”

Waterwatch is a volunteer community engagement program that helps monitor the health of waterways across the state.“Waterwatch Victoria successfully connects local communities with river health issues and management, empowering residents to take responsibility for monitoring the health of their local waterways,” Ms Greenwood-Smith said.

“Volunteers are key to the success of Waterwatch, putting in countless hours of monitoring, communicating and caring for their local creeks, wetlands and rivers.”

To access the Waterwatch Victoria Data Management System or find out more about becoming a volunteer, visit www.vic.waterwatch.org.au or call the DSE Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

A video outlining how the online data management system will work is available at www.youtube.com/DSEVictoria.

The Darebin Froggers

Banjo (Pobblebonk) Frog, Photo taken by Julia Vanderoord

The frog is one of the most iconic and amazing creatures living in our waterways.  In fact, they are labelled by scientists as an "ecological indicator" because their very presence can indicate that a river, creek or wetland is healthy.  Unfortunately the numbers of frogs in our waterways are declining, due to factors impacting their habitat such as reduced water quality and plant life, changes in land use, human activities and more increasingly, climate change. 

Come and join the Darebin Froggers on our regular frog romps at a number of wetlands and on the Creek itself throughout the Darebin Creek Catchment.

The Darebin Froggers have been participating in the Melbourne Frog Census in the Darebin Creek catchment for the last 4 years and have discovered many species in the area. We meet for an hour, usually in the evening and in our sessions we cover:

• How to identify different frogs and go out and find them!
• Learn about the local populations of frogs,
• How to participate in the Melbourne Water frog census
• The ultimate health of our local waterways.

Our outings are appropriate for the whole family! By participating in the Frog Census you will:

• Help increase our understanding of where frogs are found
• Learn about our local frogs and how to identify them from their call
•  Help raise community awareness about the health of their local rivers, creeks and wetlands
  

Events are currently being developed for 2012 . 

Please click here to join our email list to be kept up to date of events as they are organised

For more information on the Melbourne Water Frog census, visit: http://frogs.melbournewater.com.au/

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Newsletter

Click on the link below to download Northern Waters - the Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne newsletter of the north east waterways of Melbourne.

Teacher PD Sessions and Education Kits

Please click here for information on upcoming professional development Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne worskshops and education kits.

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch Melbourne Water Quality Reports

Further Information

www.vic.waterwatch.org.au/index.php (Waterwatch Victoria website)

www.waterwatchmelbourne.org.au (Melbourne Water’s Waterwatch Education website)

www.platypus.asn.au/ (The Australian Platypus Conservancy)

frogs.org.au/frogs/state_frogs.php?state_key=64 (Victorian Frog Group)

frogs.melbournewater.com.au (Melbourne Water frog census)

www.freshwater.net.au  (Community portal information hub)