Welcome to the Peel Catchment Safari. This document provides a complete self-guided tour of the Upper Peel subcatchment, from Swamp Creek Reserve (near the top of the subcatchment) down to Tamworth. Even if you have little experience and knowledge of rivers, this document and the associated materials provide all the information you need to take a group of students on the safari. Contents Introduction___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Acknowledgements_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Preparing for the safari___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 The safari_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Reflections from the safari____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25 Appendix 1 – Background information__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Appendix 2 – Work sheets____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30 Appendix 3 – Links to syllabus______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 38 Appendix 4 – Approximate timing of the safari and summary_______________________________________________________________ 40 Acknowledgements Further Assistance Namoi Catchment Management Authority (CMA) is grateful for the guidance from the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, and for their assistance at key points of the project. In particular, we greatly appreciate guidance from Steve Auld, Rosemary Clifton, and Judi Thoms. If you require assistance in running your Peel Catchment Safari with equipment, training or editing of materials contact please Namoi CMA. To continue to improve the Peel Catchment Safari we welcome all feedback. For any of these matters please contact Namoi CMA, tel: 02 6764 5907. 1 Aim and target group The aim of the safari is to help students to learn how rivers function, and how various factors (including people) can affect rivers and the quality of water they carry. your group. You can also adapt the materials to suit your group; for example, you can scale the activities up by adding other information, or scale them down by removing sections. The safari, which is suitable for Years 5–11, is flexible – you can choose do as much or as little as you want, depending on the size, capability and motivation of The key learnings of the safari have been mapped to the new school syllabus. Details can be found in Appendix 3. 2 Activities The safari involves a mix of activities, all of which can be completed in a single school day: Note that all of the areas accessed on the tour are on public land. • Before the safari itself, you can prepare your students by working with them in class. For example, you could run activities about water and its behaviour, and what this means for water quality and the way we manage our catchment. Pre-tour activities are covered in the following sections: Sampling sites. At three sites, all within an hour of Tamworth, students can leave the bus to collect water samples; observe particular features of the landscape; and collate, analyse and interpret their data. The three sites – Swamp Creek, Woolomin and Jewry Street, Tamworth – represent the top, midpoint and lower part of the subcatchment, respectively. • Pull-off chat points. At six points along the way, there are opportunities for the bus to pull off the road so that students can observe the landscape and discuss particular features. • The Upper Peel subcatchment– a description of the subcatchment in terms of the landscape, land use and major issues. • Riverine structures – information on how water behaves and the factors that affect the behaviour of rivers and the quality of water they carry. • Peel Catchment Safari students work sheet – a set of questions that students can work through (with answers supplied for teachers). Discussion. As they travel on the bus, students can make observations and discuss various issues related to the catchment (i.e. the land that drains into the river) and water quality. Back in the classroom they can graph data, continue to analyse results, draw conclusions and record their findings. Some of the activities include advanced steps – these are optional activities that you can chose to include where appropriate. Outcomes By the end of the tour, students will have: function, and of the factors that affect river function and water quality; for example, students can compare observations about changes in land use with water-quality data they collect from different • • used sample techniques and scientific equipment followed the scientific method for investigation and analysis, and used mathematics, technology and interpretation • gathered a set of water-quality data that they can work with later • gained a better understanding of how rivers parts of the subcatchment. 3 Getting prepared Before your visit, you can become familiar with the route of the Peel Catchment Safari using Google Earth or Google Maps on any devices that can connect to the internet. To do this, simply download a file from this hyperlink: Safari maps and site information. Namoi CMA staff cannot accompany you on the safari, but they can loan water-quality monitoring equipment and provide instructions for its use. If you would like to use the equipment, make sure you ask for it in plenty of time – details of how to do this are given below. Structure of the document The main part of this document provides information on preparing for the safari, going on the safari and reflecting on it afterwards. In addition, a set of appendixes provides: • background information on the subcatchment and riverine structures (Appendix 1) • work sheets for students, with answers for teachers (Appendix 2) 4 • a summary of how the learnings from the safari map to the new school syllabus (Appendix 3) • a summary of the times for arriving at each point on the safari, and a summary of what to do at each point (Appendix 4). Preparing for the safari Equipment Smart devices To test water quality, students will need a Waterwatch Community Water Monitoring Kit; many schools have such a kit. Although Namoi CMA staff are not available to facilitate the day, the organisation is happy to loan kits and extra equipment and also extra training for your safari. Contact Namoi CMA on 6764 5907 for more information (but do not leave this until the last minute). The instruction manual for the Waterwatch kit is a useful resource, and it is a good idea to download it before taking the safari. It is a good idea to use internet-enabled smart devices (eg tablets and phones) in class, in preparation for the trip, and to download the Safari maps and site information mentioned above. Students can then follow the journey on Google Earth or a similar program. They can use the latitude and longitude of the different locations (eg the sampling sites and pull‑off chat points) and the photos given in The safari to follow the route. REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD THE MAPS AND SITE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU START! Student numbers If possible, enable ‘Your Location‘ on the internetenabled devices before the trip. Some areas of the trip may not provide mobile reception; however, any lack of reception will only be temporary. The number of students attending is limited only by the staff and equipment available. A single standard Waterwatch kit is suitable for five people. If your group has more than five students, you will require extra kits or supplementary equipment. Checklists This section provides some checklists. Complete these checklists to ensure that you and your students are fully prepared for the trip. 5 Prepare yourself Done Print a set of student record sheets. Secure sufficient equipment for the group. Make sure that all your Waterwatch kits are fully functioning, and that all teachers accompanying the group know how to operate the equipment (download the instruction manual mentioned above). Check weather reports for the day. Ensure that you are familiar with the sites and locations that you plan to visit on the trip. This may require a reconnaissance trip. Complete a safety analysis for the trip. This should include making sure that you: have a first-aid kit and extra water are able to communicate via mobile phone (noting that some areas of the park are out of mobile range) are aware of any allergies and disabilities among your students are aware of all the potential hazards of the sites you plan to visit (bearing in mind that river conditions and sites change over time). Read this document, including the background information, which may be useful in class work that you undertake to prepare for the trip. Prepare your students Done Go through the Peel Catchment Safari students work sheet and the pre-exursion activities with the students, and make sure that students know how to operate the equipment. Instruct students to bring their own clip board, pens, lunch and water. Let students know that toilets are available at several stops along the way (but not at every stop). Ask students to wear sturdy closed-in shoes and appropriate outdoor clothing for the expected weather conditions (e.g. hats, sunscreen, raincoats and jumpers). 6 Class work before the safari Method Compare water quality by testing three distinct sites; at the top, middle and lower parts of the subcatchment. The Waterwatch kit includes tests for salinity, turbidity, temperature and pH. The Peel Catchment Safari students’ work sheet also includes observation questions and a Stream condition assessment procedure. Other estimates to complete are: • water depth • water flow rate (slow, medium, fast) • description of whether the river or creek bed sits on bedrock or alluvium ((i.e. loose soil or sediment). As explained above, you can use Google Earth to become familiar with the route of the Peel Catchment Safari, and with riverine features such as meanders (bends), erosion and deposition. Activities that you might undertake with students include: • looking for riverine features and structures by zooming in and out on the smart device • running a lesson on the Upper Peel subcatchment and riverine structures, and asking students to answer the comprehension questions from these sections • coaching students on the use of the Water Watch equipment. Other relevant activities that could be included if time allows are a water-bug survey, a river-reach plan and cross-sectional sketches. Report Before the excursion, students should start to prepare a report in the form of a scientific experiment, using the following headings: Date of trip, Aim, Hypotheses and Method. Later, they can add Results and Observations, Discussion and Conclusion. The rest of this section provides suggestions on what some of these sections might cover. Results By the end of the day, students will have a complete set of data and a range of field observations. It is useful to interpret the data by comparing it to field observation, to draw conclusions. Graphing data will help the students to see trends, as illustrated in Image 1. Aim To learn about the ways rivers function, what factors affect water quality in rivers, and how best to manage rivers. Hypotheses • Water quality declines between the top of a subcatchment and the lower parts. • Groundcover and other factors affect water quality. • The Upper Peel subcatchment is in good condition. 7 students may see some bare paddocks near the river. Recent rain events may have washed soil from these paddocks into the river, causing an increase in turbidity. A conclusion they could draw from these findings is that insufficient groundcover may be causing erosion and thus leading to increased water turbidity in the Upper Peel subcatchment. To make sense of their data, students Turbidity (NTU) 16 14 12 10 8 Turbidity (NTU) 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 Image 1: Turbidity at three sampling sites should graph the raw data for each sampling site. They can use the interpretive information in the sections on The Upper Peel Subcatchment and Riverine structures. This image shows turbidity increasing between each of the sampling sites, from the top of the catchment to the bottom; this is a common finding. During the day, 8 The safari • • • • • • This section provides details about how to get to each site on the safari, and what you should be looking for at each location. Appendix 4 provides an approximate timing for the safari, and a summary of the information given in this section. There will be opportunities along the way to discuss various aspects of the safari. The six pull-off chat points are: Nemingha Cement Plant Piallamore, where a prior stream is marked by trees Mullock Piles, above Chaffey Lake Swamp Creek (accessed from Sampling site 1) Chaffey Dam Lookout Wallamore Anabranch (near Sampling site 3). As you travel, ask students to count the number of different types of irrigation systems they see on the safari. Image 2. Tour map. 9 Starting out Directions: From Tamworth, head to Nemingha, taking the Nemingha Bridge across Cockburn River. Set the odometer for 47 km for your first stop (about 1 hour). • Ask students to follow the journey on the smart devices. Also ask them to combine what they can see of land use and river structures from the bus window – such as meander bends, point bars, crop paddocks and quarries – with observations on their smart devices. Finally, ask them to locate the six pull-off chat locations and the three sampling sites. Discussion points: On the way to your first chat point, discuss topics such as the effects of: • • urbanisation of Tamworth • • litter from streets • sedimentation and turbidity (mudiness) Nemingha industrial area, including some areas once used to extract sand and gravel for the manufacture of concrete. stormwater and nutrient loads from parks and gardens Directions: From Tamworth, travel towards Chaffey Dam. Beyond Chaffey, do not turn right over the bridge to Nundle; instead, continue straight ahead. excessive watering, which contributes to increased salinity through leaching 10 Pull-off chat 1: Nemingha Cement Plant Location: Look to the right when driving on Nemingha Road from Tamworth to Nemingha helps to protect the riverbank against the effects of major events, such as floods and erosion. Discussion points: Until the mid-1990s, gravel could be extracted from this quarry for concrete production, under a licence from the New South Wales (NSW) Government. The concrete industry has changed dramatically since then, and gravel is no longer taken from the river. However, the river bank is still affected by the gravel extraction that happened in the past. Is this cropping land at risk of significant erosion? How would you manage this area? Rivers are dynamic; for example, grains of sand and other sediment move within the river. If you dig a hole in a river channel, it will be filled with sediment from upstream. However, that sediment will often come from the base of a river bank, and the loss of sediment puts that bank at risk of collapsing and being washed downstream; if this happens, it causes more turbidity and further sedimentation. The Riverine Structures section provides more detail on these effects. Look at the satellite picture of the quarry, and compare this site to the farm blocks to the right. Although there is a considerable strip of vegetation (known as a buffer) between the industrial area and the river, there is no such strip for the farmland to the right of the quarry – crops have been sown right up to the bank, on an outside edge to the channel, where erosion is most likely to happen. A buffer is an area where groundcover or remnant vegetation (i.e. native trees) is growing. It Image 3. Nemingha cement factory from the road. What effect might large-scale sediment removal by the cement plant have had on the river over a long period? Image 4. Cement factory and surrounds on Google Earth Latitude, longitude: –31.1172165954775, 150.964236147842 11 Nemingha to Woolomin Directions: Drive 29 km from Nemingha to Woolomin. Look at the river structures and the use of agricultural land use. How might land use have affected water quality and the river itself? Look at the floodplain as you travel up the subcatchment. The floodplain at times extends up valleys on both sides of the road. Why is it so large in these areas? Discussion points: Some of the topics you could discuss on this part of the journey are: • land use on floodplains (irrigated areas are used mainly to grow feed, such as lucerne) 12 • the wisdom of growing lucerne, a thirsty crop, in a valley where agricultural water is a a valuable commodity • the effects of growing floodplain crops up to the river bank, with no buffer • • what is best practice for grazing near rivers • the cost effectiveness of buying hay when feed is low, and the alternatives to doing this • how nutrient leached from paddocks to waterways might affect water quality. the value of native perennial pastures in relation to agricultural profits and biodiversity benefits Pull-off chat 2: Piallamore, prior stream Latitude, longitude: –31.1710414057888, 151.066194037116 Location: View to the right when travelling up the valley towards Woolomin near Piallamore. Discussion point: Stream channels can change dramatically on a floodplain. The trees (shown in image right) mark the bank of a stream that once flowed through this area. Trees in the distance mark the current channel. See Riverine Structures for a summary of how rivers function. Views: Near Piallamore Image 5. Prior stream marked by row of trees Location: A range of land-use issues are visible from the window upstream from Piallamore. Discussion points: As you drive beyond Piallamore, look for areas where floodplains (and crops) have been eroded in the past. Where there are no vegetated buffer zones, or the buffers are inadequate (as shown in image right), there is a risk of soil erosion during heavy rain events. Erosion increases the turbidity and salinity of river water, and may show up in water-quality tests. Image 6. Irrigation of fodder crops Do you think that irrigation for fodder crops such as lucerne is the best use of water, or would that water be better used for growing food or fibre? Image 7. River bank exposed by lack of buffer zone from bare ground 13 Pull-off chat 3: Mullock piles Location: Between Chaffey Dam and Swamp Creek Reserve (do not take the Nundle turn-off after Chaffey Dam Lake) the rocks, little grew on these piles. In addition, when the miners sluiced, finer particles of soil were returned to the river, increasing the turbidity of water. Discussion points: Between Chaffey Dam and The discovery of gold created an economic boom Swamp Creek Reserve, the landscape starts to change. The valley narrows and the width of the floodplain is dramatically reduced. (the ‘gold rush’), and thousands of people lived and mined here. Some people still prospect for gold in the area today, but only on a recreational level – a process known as ‘fossicking’. Nundle is famous for its ‘Go for Gold’ Chinese Cultural Festival, which celebrates the town’s heritage. Mullock piles are heaps of rocks covered with brambles and other weeds. These piles date from the 1850s, when gold was first discovered in the area. Early gold miners sluiced and panned most of the banks and river bed. They stacked unwanted rocks, cleaned of soil or dirt, in mullock piles. Because the soil had been removed from Describe the effect large-scale prospecting might have had on the Peel and its environment back in the 1850s. Image 8. Mullock piles – waste from 1850s gold mining Latitude, longitude: –31.3960260199675, 151.14018294043 14 Pull-off chat 4: Point bar Location: Upstream from mullock piles on the way to Sampling site 1, Swamp Creek. Latitude, longitude: –31.4096942218313, 151.142807901046 Discussion points: The river is constricted at this point and has deposited a coarse alluvium (i.e. loose soil or sediment). As the river meanders or bends, alluvium is deposited on the inside bend or shorter edge of the stream, forming ‘depositional point bars’. In looking at the river here, you can clearly see the point bars and the meandering of the river. The Riverine structures section has more information about these features. Being dynamic, rivers change shape as part of a natural process. However, human actions that affect the flow of water can speed up this natural process. For example, people may protect a road by building expensive structures such as retaining walls (see image opposite). A retaining wall will stop a river from changing shape and thus stop its banks eroding. In this area, gold mining may have accelerated the natural movement of the river, leading to a need for retaining walls. Image 9. The view upstream, river meanders Image 10. The view downstream, retaining wall 15 Sampling site 1: Swamp Creek Reserve Latitude, longitude: –31.43645, 151.14264 Access directions: Turn right into the gate before the bridge; the gate is unlocked and you should drive right in off the road. This is the first sampling site, so get off the bus and get ready to take samples. If the bus driver is not getting off here, the driver can turn the bus around while the group is sampling, to be ready to set off for the next stop. One toilet is available at this site. To reach the sampling point, walk perpendicular to the road toward the river. You will see a small track that leads down to the river. Discussion points: Swamp Creek Reserve is surrounded by steep hills featuring some timbered country but also grasslands suitable for low-pressure grazing. In this location, the Peel River is set on bed rock. Swamp Creek is a small tributary that enters here and cuts through recent coarse-grained sediments. Image 11. Entry point to Sampling site 1, Swamp Creek. Groundwater is moisture in the ground; it moves slowly downhill in bands or aquifers of various depths. Recharge zones are porous areas where moisture enters the ground and thus recharges the groundwater. Discharge zones are less porous areas where groundwater is discharged. Sometimes, miniature aquifers can be seen on Swamp Creek; they are active over just a few metres, between zones of recharge to zones of discharge. Look for these aquifers when you are at the river. Image 12. Peel River sampling location, near Swamp Creek Reserve Can you see recent erosion from fossicking? Once you reach the Peel River, collect your first set of data on water quality and riparian (river bank) condition, record it on the student work sheet. 16 How might this erosion affect water quality? View of Swamp Creek at Sampling site 1 Directions: From the Peel River at Sampling site 1, explore the local tributary, Swamp Creek. Discussion points: This creek contains a range of fine sediments and larger cobbles, suggesting that it receives intermittent flows. A strong flow will push the larger stones around; during low flows, fine grains will fill in the gaps. Deposits of sediment have cut down the flow through the creek. Image 13. Swamp Creek cutting at Sampling site 1, looking up from the Peel River Advanced step (optional) When collecting your data, you might like to sample both Peel River and Swamp Creek. You can then compare the results from the two locations, and discuss any differences. What level of water quality did your results show? Features to note include: Discuss factors that may influence water quality here. After completing Sampling site 1, you can either stop here for morning tea, or have it on the bus as you travel to the next location. •bedrock • the size of sediment grains (cobbles) • pool and riffles • point bars • aquifers (these are not always evident) • bank re-enforcing that has been carried out to Directions: Depart no later than 11:15. Drive back down the valley, stopping for five minutes at the Chaffey Dam Lookout. secure the road (look upstream on the Peel River). 17 Pull-off chat 5: Chaffey Dam Lookout Location: On the return from Sampling site 1 Latitude, longitude: –31.34942 151.1383 Discussion points: Chaffey Dam construction began in 1976 and completed in 1979; it has a capacity of 62,000 megalitres (ML), equivalent to 62 gigalitres (GL). Its main wall is 54 m high and it has a catchment area of 42,000 hectares. The dam has two main purposes: regulating the flow of the Peel River and augmenting the water supply of Tamworth. Things to discuss while you are at the Chaffey Dam Lookout, or once you are back on the bus, include: • the dam wall upgrade – this is a major project that aims to: Image 14. Chaffey Dam, looking onto the Morning Glory Spillway improve the ability of the dam to withstand extreme floods on the Morning Glory Spillway. Overall, the works will increase the dam’s capacity from 62 GL to 100 GL, and will ensure it can withstand the maximum possible flood. improve environmental outcomes secure the water supply for Tamworth • the Morning Glory Spillway – this is like a large cement funnel; in high water, it prevents water from spilling over the dam wall, and instead directs water into a spillway • the effects on water quality of water being taken off at multiple levels • blue-green algae – why it might be here, and how to spot it. Chaffey Dam can release water for days at a time, saturating the river banks. When the banks are saturated they lose their strength; hence, when the water level drops, the river banks are sometimes unable to hold up and they collapse into the river. In turn, this increases water turbidity and nutrient and salt concentrations. To the left of the dam wall, look for the first stage of the upgrade – construction of a 35m auxiliary spillway with a release plug. In a later stage of the project, the dam wall will be raised by 8 metres, with related work 18 How might the collapse of river banks affect water? Latitude, longitude: –31.3048291532614, 151.148417657382 Blue-green algae can often be seen from the lookout. Look for something that resembles a green oil slick in a downwind corner of the lake. Blue-green algal blooms happen when still, warm water is combined with a nutrient load (e.g. sediment, and nitrogen or phosphorus in runoff from farms). Infected water is toxic to drink, and even just coming into contact with it can irritate the skin. By damming rivers and using inadequate farm-management systems, we have allowed sediments and nutrients to enter our waterways. These factors, combined with the natural cycles of drought and the seasons, lead to more frequent and extensive algal blooms. Image 15. Approaching the bridge (turn left here); Many landholders maintain vegetation buffers where their land adjoins creeks and rivers. Also, many have changed their grazing and farm-management systems, introducing strategies that reduce the risk of causing harm to rivers and creeks. Waterways are now regularly monitored for algal blooms. Image 16. Pull up by the river Sampling site 2: Woolomin access Directions: From Chaffey Dam, drive through Woolomin and over Duncan’s Creek Bridge, turn left after the shop and left again after 100m, before you reach the bridge. Image 17. Privet – noxious in much of North West NSW 19 Sampling site 2: Woolomin Access directions: Get off the bus. You will see a gap in the vegetation. Be careful! This entry is steep and narrow. Assess your students’ capacity and numbers. If it is too difficult to go down with the whole group, go down with just two or three able students to collect samples, make assessments and take photographs. compare the results from the three points, and discuss any differences between them. How might the tributary, Duncan’s Creek and the Chaffey Dam have affected this site? After you have completed this site, drive to the park (one minute away) for lunch. Collect a set of data on water quality and riparian condition, record it on the student work sheet and discuss how your findings compare to those for Sampling site 1. Directions: To reach the park, drive back to the road, keeping the bridge on your left. You will see the park ahead of you; it has a covered area and toilets. To ensure that you can complete the tour in a reasonable time, spend no more than 30 minutes on lunch, then continue on to Sampling site 3, which is in Tamworth. Advanced step (optional) When taking water samples, you might like to sample the Peel River water at a couple of points (one above and one below the Duncan’s Creek inlet); you could also sample water in Duncan’s Creek. You can then Image 18. Panoramic view up and downstream from the entry of Duncan’s Creek visible on the left to the bridge on the right. Latitude, longitude: –31.3048291532614, 151.148417657382 20 Sampling site 3: Jewry Street Weir, Tamworth Directions: The Jewry Street Weir is located on Munro Street. Drive along Peel Street , turn left onto Jewry Street, cross the bridge and, well before the round-about, turn right into Munro Street. At first glance, how does this site compare with the previous two sampling sites? • evidence of urban stormwater, and of the effects of this water • • • the effect of the weir the condition of the river structure how land use may be affecting water quality in different ways. Once you have completed the sampling at Sampling site 3, travel to Wallamore Anabranch. Collect a set of data on water quality and riparian condition, recording it on the student work sheet. Discussion points: Discuss your findings in relation to earlier sites and other observations from the day. Consider: Image 19. Tamworth Weir (Sampling site 3) Latitude, longitude: –31.0816422058559, 150.917539643264 21 Pull-off chat 6: Wallamore Anabranch Directions: From Sampling site 3, continue along Jewry Street, and turn right onto Britten Road at the round-about. Find a good viewing point. Latitude, longitude: –31.0823, 150.9077 The bottom right-hand corner of Image 21 shows the river diverging (i.e. the anabranch). The red dot is Jewry Street Weir, where you took the third set of samples. There is some distance before the anabranch again joins the main channel, as shown in the upper lefthand corner of Image 21. Use information from Google Earth to identify features such as the breakout point of the anabranch. Image 20. The view on the left Britten Road (near Tamworth Jockey Club); From your viewing point, can you see the breakout point in the distance? The anabranch causes damage, and there have been several attempts to stop it; for example, by installing a steel structure. Discuss causes of the Wallamore Anabranch, its effects and how it might be managed. From your knowledge of river systems, what would you do about this problem? Image 21. View of Wallamore Anabranch area on Google Earth 22 Reflections from the safari Water complies with a set of laws of physics, resulting in structures such as meanders and point bars, which you have seen on the trip. Graph, manipulate and discuss the water quality data you have collected in relation to field observations you have made on riverine structures, land use and land management. on the safari included gold mining from the 1850s, present day fossicking, and the presence of fallow paddocks on a floodplain immediately adjacent to the river (i.e. with no buffer zone). • Urban stormwater drains introducing nutrients, salt and silt. Review of the experimental hypotheses • Changing river shape (Wallamore Anabranch is a good example). Hypothesis 1 – Water quality declines from the top to lower parts of a subcatchment. • Tributaries introducing water that has been affected by the above factors in its own subcatchment. Graph your data to evaluate this hypothesis. It is quite normal, even for the most pristine stream, for water quality to decline as water moves downstream. Water at the top of our study site has travelled less distance than water lower down the study site. The further that water travels down the catchment, the more chance there is for it to be disturbed and thus to be of lower quality. However, it is not just the absolute values that matter in relation to water quality; the extent of changes is also important, as discussed below. Hypothesis 3 – The Upper Peel subcatchment is in good condition. When discussing the condition of the Upper Peel subcatchment, think about the figures in your results. For example, consider how your data compare to the ANZECC Guideline Standards; also consider how much the results changed from one site to another. The Upper Peel subcatchment is at the very top of the Murray Darling Basin. You will see that, as you travel down the catchment, changes in land use create Hypothesis 2 – Groundcover and other factors affect water quality. conditions that reduce water quality and riverine structure. If there are large changes in your results (e.g. if values double between the first site and the third), even if the actual amounts are small, this is of major concern to other communities lower down the catchment in the Murray Darling Basin. Compare your graphed data to your observations, paying attention to the different areas (urban, rural and low-intensity). Factors contributing to a decline in water quality include the following: • Disturbance of the ground and of groundcover on the river bank, or even in the catchment. This introduces nutrients, salt and silt to the system. Examples of disturbances that you would have seen 23 Appendix 1 Background information Issues within the subcatchment include soil erosion, biodiversity loss, urban encroachment, and management of water quantity and quality. The Upper Peel subcatchment The Upper Peel subcatchment covers an area of 347 km2, and lies between the subcatchments of Chaffey, Duncan’s and Dungowan Creek, and the city of Tamworth. The subcatchment has a steep slope as it travels through this area. Elevations within the subcatchment range from 950 m to 400 m above sea level. Chaffey Dam supplies town, irrigation and industrial water to the area below the dam. It is also part of a flood mitigation plan for the region. Currently, the dam is being upgraded to improve its flood mitigation capacity. The Upper Peel subcatchment is at the very top of the Namoi Catchment and the Murray Darling Basin. This means that most of the water here has fallen as rain in the area; it has not flowed from upstream. In contrast, at Gunnedah, most of water in the Namoi River has flowed in from tributaries above. Landscapes within the subcatchment range from alluvial floodplains to hill slopes and rugged ranges. The mid to lower slopes are dominated by deep red-brown earths, whereas the upper slopes are dominated by deep stony red clays. A massive blue-green algae bloom in 1991–92 affected the length of the Murray Darling System. Blooms establish in still, warm water containing a significant nutrient load. In high concentrations, blue-green algal blooms cause skin irritations on contact and can be toxic when consumed. The 1991–92 bloom had the capacity to cripple communities on the Murray Darling. Chaffey Dam still suffers from these algal blooms. Since then a range of strategies have been implemented to minimise the risk of such blooms; these include: Vegetation types range from grasslands through to riparian red gum woodlands and open box gum woodlands with patches of cypress pine on the mid slopes, through to forests on the ranges. The steeper uplands and slopes are used mainly for sheep and cattle production, with some small areas set aside for biodiversity conservation. The lower slopes and floodplains have mostly been cleared for agriculture. They are used to produce lucerne and fodder, some as dryland production and some irrigated. 24 • • changes to the way the dam is operated • landholders changing their grazing and farmmanagement systems, to reduce the risk of causing harm to rivers and creeks • regular monitoring of waterways for algal blooms. landholders maintaining vegetation buffers between their farmlands and adjoining creeks and rivers outside of river bends. Where a faster moving riffle slows to a pool, sediments are deposited. Such zones are known as point bars, scroll bars, or ridges and swales. Riverine structures All rivers behave according to physical laws that govern the behaviour of water and its substrate. For example, all water meanders, whether it be a river, a tiny creek or even water running down a pipe. Given the right conditions, waterways will, over time, build up sediments in a predictable way. Think about the physical functioning of rivers: What happens to water, floodplains and sediments when it rains or floods? What effect will a dam structure have on river geography? As water meanders, it creates shallow areas known as riffles, which are separated by pools, with the distance varying according to the width of the stream. Because riffles are shallow there is less space for a given volume of water, and the water therefore moves faster. In contrast, because pools tend to be deep, there is more space for a given volume of water, and the water therefore moves more slowly. Pools are found on the What happens when sediment is taken away? Stylised plan of riverine structures The way that a river flows depends on the characteristics of the land that drains into it; as Image 22. Stylised plan of riverine structures and cross sections. 25 mentioned above, this land is the river’s catchment. A catchment’s rainfall, slope, soil type and groundcover all combine to shape the river. When one of these things changes, the nature of the river also changes. Groundcover is usually the variable that changes most in the landscape, often as the result of a combination of drought or floods and human activity. Groundcover What do you think we have done to stop water coming onto the floodplain? How might this have changed the river itself? Increased water velocity increases the movement of sediment. Sometimes, increased velocity results in a bank failing creating a second channel. This is known as an anabranch. In turn, the anabranch increases the channel length, so water velocity declines. Wallamore Anabranch is an example of this effect. An anabranch results in unstable ground, erosion and deposition in times of high flood or flow. Due to the dynamic nature of the anabranch, it is difficult to manage this land. describes what is literally covering the ground. It includes things such as forests, grasses, crops, bare earth, roads and pavement. Different groundcovers affect the amount of rain that can enter the soil and drain into our rivers through the ground. The more rain that can enter our rivers by moving through the soil as groundwater, the more stable the river will be. How large an area is affected by Wallamore Anabranch? When a large amount of water runs off the surface of the ground into gullies and drains, the water moves much more quickly than it would do if it was moving through the soil. As a result, it is likely to cause erosion. Long grass will slow water down, allowing it to soak into the ground, to later ooze into rivers as groundwater. Floodplains are an important part of healthy rivers. In the Namoi, our rivers have evolved to have low banks; thus, when there is a lot of rain, the river comes over the top of the bank and spreads out across the floodplain. This means that water is shallow and slow moving, and hence less likely to cause erosion. SLOW + SHALLOW = STABLE FAST + DEEP = DANGEROUS Because people like to live and farm on floodplains, we have made changes to prevent rivers from flooding houses and farms. 26 The first human response to the anabranch had been to stop the anabranch with the use of engineering structures. Is this a good response, and if not, how can anabranches be best managed? does the stream’s capacity to move sediments. Sediments Match the photos shown in Images 21–24 with the locations listed in the table below. A fast flowing stream has the energy to move largesized boulders. As the energy or speed drops, so too Photo description Image number Sampling site 1: Top of catchment, Peel River near Swamp Creek Point at which the Peel flows into the lake above Chaffey Dam Sampling site 2: Woolomin Sampling site 3: Jewry Street Weir, Tamworth Images 23-26. Sediments photographed at different points along the Peel River study area 27 Appendix 2 Work sheets Peel Catchment Safari students’ work sheet Record all field data in the Field results section, below: 1. Name the river you are on?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Name the catchment?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Name the basin?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Give three reasons why water quality is so important? __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Give three benefits that areas of remnant vegetation bring, especially those along the river’s edge?__________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Name some of the natural and human-induced catchment factors that might influence the salinity of a water body? Natural: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Human-induced: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Turbidity measures light penetration through water; the more turbid water is, the less clear it is. What substances affect turbidity? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Why is water clarity important for biological processes in a river ecosystem? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Use the Stream condition assessment survey to evaluate the condition of the riparian zone at each site, and record your results in the Field results section. 28 10. In the table below, list any issues you see that are related to land use, noting possible effects on water quality and where you saw the issue. Issue 11. Possible effects Location(s) How do you think the health of the river could be improved? And which people and organisations could help to achieve this? In the table below, list two issues, your recommendations for resolving them, and the people and organisations that could help. Issue Recommendations 29 People and organisations Stream condition assessment 30 Field results Test Position in catchment Salinity Turbidity Temperature pH Riparian condition assessment Water depth Flow rate Bed description Other influencing factors Units Swamp Creek Reserve Woolomin Jewry St Weir, Tamworth NTU NTU, nephelometric turbidity unit Interpretation of water-quality results Increased turbidity can affect the working of the gills of fish and other animals (the gills become clogged by the mud and silt). Variation in pH can cause loss of native plants and animals. Temperature can affect the amount of oxygen dissolved in water; the colder the water, the more oxygen can dissolve in it. Salinity is measured by electrical conductivity. Increases in water salinity affect plant growth and can make water nonpotable (i.e. not drinkable) for animals. Upland rivers Turbidity (in NTU), muddiness Electrical conductivity, salinity (in µS/cm or micro-siemens/cm) pH, acidity 1–14 ANZECC standards Healthy Fair <10 10–25 <300 300–800 6.5–8.0 N/A Poor >25 >800 <6.5 acid >8.0 alkaline Adapted from Australian and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council (ANZECC) Guidelines 2000 These figures are an average for all waterways; they are not specific to a particular position in the catchment. Upper limit for salt tolerance People Lettuce Poultry µS/cm 781 1404 5460 31 Peel Catchment Safari comprehension questions Information for the following questions can be found in the Peel Catchment Safari document – The Upper Peel subcatchment, Riverine structures and Sediments. 1. 2. 3. How many square kilometres does the Upper Peel subcatchment cover, and what subcatchments does it lie between? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name three landscapes within the subcatchment? _______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What soil types dominate the upper slopes of the subcatchment? _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Name four vegetation types within the subcatchment? ________________________________________________________________________________ ? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What are the main types of agriculture on the lower slopes and floodplains? __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name four natural resource management issues within the subcatchment? ____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What affected Chaffey Dam in 1991–92? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is an anabranch and what does it cause? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is a riffle and what are riffles separated by? __________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. What is a river catchment and what combines to shape the river? __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 32 Peel Catchment Safari students work sheet – teachers’ answers 1. Name the river you are on? Peel River 2. Name the catchment? Namoi 3. Name the basin? Murray Darling Basin 4. Give three reasons why water quality is so important? It affects us and everyone downstream. Our health, ecosystems and industry relies on good water quality. Good water quality provides a pleasant environment. 5. Give three benefits that areas of remnant vegetation bring, especially along the river’s edge? • Plants and their roots help to prevent bank erosion and stream sedimentation. • The vegetation: provides shade to cool water in summer helps to slow down flood surges as they enter rivers provides habitat for native wildlife, which in turn provide services to us produces oxygen from carbon dioxide. 6. Name some of the natural and human-induced catchment factors that might influence the salinity of a water body? Natural: Amount of salt naturally found in soil and ground water, vegetation types in the area, climate, recent rainfall. Human-induced: Amount of disturbance, and vegetation removal close to the river and in the local area above the catchment. 7. Turbidity measures light penetration through water; the more turbid water is, the less clear it is. What substances affect turbidity? Mud and silt. 8. Why is water clarity important for biological processes in the river ecosystem? Clarity allows light to penetrate for photosynthesis. The gills of fish and other animals will clog in muddy conditions. 9. Use the Stream condition assessment survey on page 24 to evaluate riparian zone condition at each site. 33 10. 11. In the table below, list any issues you see that are related to land use, noting possible effects on water quality and where you saw the issue. Issue Possible effects Location(s) Gold mining Mullock piles, weeds, increased turbidity Near Sampling site 1, Swamp Creek area Chaffey Dam Blue-green algae Chaffey Dam Overgrazing, cropping too close to river Erosion and sedimentation, salinity, nutrient leaching and increased flood surges Near Pull-off chat points 1 and 2 Urban issues Blue-green algae, salinity, stormwater, litter Urban areas Record suggestions of how could the river be improved. Also, think about people and organisations that could help. Issue Recommendations People and organisations Gold mining Education program; restrict river access for miners Department of Mines, Namoi CMA Chaffey Dam Monitor and report State Water Overgrazing, cropping too close to river Education program; encourage installation of buffer areas and good groundcover with rotational grazing; consider crops with good groundcover Namoi CMA, Department of Primary Industry, Landcare Urban issues Education program; minimise use of fertiliser on lawns; minimise watering of lawns; encourage campaigns against litter; install trash racks at stormwater pipes Tamworth Regional Council, Namoi CMA, Tamworth Garden Clubs 34 Peel Catchment Safari comprehension questions – teachers’ answers Information for the following questions can be found in the The Upper Peel subcatchment, Riverine structures and Sediments 1. How many square kilometres does the Upper Peel subcatchment cover, and what subcatchments does it lie between? 347 km2 The subcatchments of Chaffey, Duncan’s and Dungowan Creek, and the city of Tamworth. 2. Name three landscapes within the subcatchment? Alluvial floodplains, hill slopes and rugged ranges. 3. What soil types dominate the upper slopes of the subcatchment? Deep stony red clays. 4. Name four vegetation types within the subcatchment? Grasslands, riparian red gum woodlands, open box gum woodlands, cypress pine and forests on the ranges. 5. What are the main types of agriculture on the lower slopes and floodplains? Lucerne (both dryland and irrigated), and fodder production. 6. Name four natural resource management issues within the subcatchment? Soil erosion, biodiversity loss, urban encroachment, and water quality and quantity management. 7. What affected Chaffey Dam in 1991–92? Blue-green algae bloom. 8. What is an anabranch and what does it cause? An anabranch is a bank blow out. It results in unstable ground, erosion and deposition in times of high flow or flood. 9. What is a riffle and what are riffles separated by? A riffle is a shallow area of water in a creek or river; riffles are separated by pools, according to the width of the stream. 35 10. What is a river catchment and what combines to shape the river? A river catchment is the land that drains into the river. A catchment’s rainfall, slope, soil type and groundcover all combine to shape the river. 11. Issue Possible effects Location(s) Gold mining Mullock piles, weeds, increased turbidity Near Sampling site 1, Swamp Creek area Chaffey Dam Blue-green algae Chaffey Dam Overgrazing, cropping too close to river Urban issues Erosion and sedimentation, salinity, nutrient leaching and increased flood surges Near Pull-off chat points 1 and 2 Blue-green algae, salinity, stormwater, litter Urban areas Record suggestions of how could the river be improved. Also, think about people and organisations that could help. Issue Recommendations People and organisations Gold mining Education program; restrict river access for miners Department of Mines, Namoi CMA Chaffey Dam Monitor and report State Water Overgrazing, cropping too close to river Education program; encourage installation of buffer areas and good groundcover with rotational grazing; consider crops with good groundcover Namoi CMA, Department of Primary Industry, Landcare Urban issues Education program; minimise use of fertiliser on lawns; Tamworth Regional Council, minimise watering of lawns; encourage campaigns Namoi CMA, Tamworth Garden against litter; install trash racks at stormwater pipes Clubs 36 Appendix 3 Links to syllabus The Board of Studies has released its new syllabus Science K – 10 Syllabus, Science and Technology K – 6. Familiarisation is planned from 2014, with implementation in 2015. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ The Peel Catchment Safari meets many of the requirements of the new and existing syllabus, as outlined in the table below. Stage 3 Year 5–6 Subject Section HSIE Environments Mathematics Data Science and Technology See below HSIE Environments Mathematics Data Collection and representation See below 4 7–8 4&5 7–10 Science (and Science and Technology) Stage Year Subject Strand Sub strand 3 5–6 Science and Technology K–6 (Values & Attitudes) N/A ST3–1VA ST3–2VA ST3–3VA (Skills) Working Scientifically (WS) (Skills) Working Technologically (WT) (Knowledge & Understanding) Natural Environment (NE) N/A ST3–4WS L (Literacy) ST3–4WT N (Numeracy) 37 N/A Outcome Learning across the curriculum CCT (Critical & Creative Thinking) PSC (Personal & Social Capability) Living World (LW) ST3–11LW Earth & Space (ES) ST3–9ES SE (Sustainability) Stage Year Subject Strand Sub strand 4&5 7–10 Science 7–10 (Values & Attitudes) N/A (Skills) N/A Working Scientifically (WS) Outcome ST4–1VA ST5–1VA ST4–2VA ST5–2VA ST4–3VA ST5–3VA ST4–4WS ST5–4WS ST4–5WS ST5–5WS ST4–6WS ST5–6WS ST4–7WS ST5–7WS ST4–8WS ST5–8WS (Skills) Working Technologically (WT) N/A ST4–9WT ST5–9WT (Knowledge & Understanding) Living World ST4–15LW ST5–15LW Natural Environment (NE) (LW) Earth & Space (ES) 38 ST4–13ES Learning across the curriculum CCT (Critical & Creative Thinking) L (Literacy) N (Numeracy) PSC (Personal & Social Capability) SE (Sustainability) WE (Work & Enterprise) Appendix 4 Approximate timing of the safari and summary Approximate timing 09:00 Leave Tamworth. It will take at least an hour to reach Swamp Creek Reserve (65km). Discuss the landscape as you go. Stop for about 2 minutes at each of the following pull-off chat points: 1. Nemingha Cement 2. Piallamore prior stream 3. Mullock piles near Bowling Alley 4. Point bar site. 10:15 Stop at Sampling site 1: Swamp Creek Reserve. Collect data and discuss. (1 pit toilet available) When data collection is complete, eat morning tea, either here or on the way to Chaffey Dam (14 km). Depart no later than 11:15 am. 11:30 Stop for 5 minutes at Pull-off chat point 5. Chaffey Dam Lookout. No toilet. 12:00 Stop at Sampling site 2: Woolomin (5 km). Collect data and discuss. No toilet. 12:30 Eat cut lunch at Woolomin. Toilets available. 1:15 Leave Woolomin for Tamworth. 1:45 Arrive Jewry Street Weir, Tamworth (50 km). Collect data and discuss. 2:00 Have a final discussion of what the data means and how you can use the data and observations collected. Depart for Wallamore Anabranch no later than 2:10 pm. 2:15 Stop for 5 minutes at Pull-off chat point 6. Wallamore Anabranch. 2:20 End. 39 Teachers summary The table below outlines the key features of the Peel Catchment Safari. Site Sampling site 1 – Swamp Creek Reserve Chaffey Dam Sampling site 2 – Woolomin Sampling site 3 – Jewry Street Weir, Tamworth Position in catchment Uppermost site for data collection Directions After Chaffey Dam do not take the Nundle Road; instead, continue straight ahead; travel through the village and just before a bridge on the right you will come to a small public park area Midway between Sites 1 and 2 Head back towards Tamworth. Pull off at the lookout. Midway site for data collection Head back towards Tamworth, passing through Woolomin; turn left onto Monaro Road (after the shop), then left off the road before the bridge Lowest site for data collection From Manilla Road, Tamworth, turn eft onto Jewry Street, go over the bridge and after about 100m turn right onto the road to the river Travel time 1 hour 20 mins from Tamworth 20 mins 30 mins 30 mins Stay time 1 hour 5 mins 1.5 hours 30 mins Safety Go through the gate and park the vehicle; coaches may need to stay outside; take care crossing the road; normal water safety applies If getting out be aware of traffic Access to the site is through the trees down a steep and slippery track; ask students to go slowly; normal water safety applies Fallen logs by the access point; water flowing fast; normal water safety applies; bring samples away from river for analysis Expected results Near-pristine conditions match good water quality No data collected Intensive agriculture will reduce water quality Water quality is a result of the combination of land uses seen 40 Site Sampling site 1 – Swamp Creek Reserve Chaffey Dam Sampling site 2 – Woolomin Discussion points Water quality high; note low-impact land use and bedrock in river; observe local aquifers, and look out for recent gold prospecting scars Upgrade –purpose and issues: Change in water Stream condition assessment result varies quality – note stormwater drain and from Sampling site 1 weir; discuss cause of • Effect of tributary anabranch • Effect of dam and other factors upstream • blue-green algae, • Morning Glory spillway with multi level off-take Sampling site 3 – Jewry Street Weir, Tamworth • Change in water quality Toilets One toilet available No toilet available Toilets available at lunch site Description Caravaners occasionally use site also Lookout over Chaffey Dam wall. Sample collection point is actually a small point bar Across the road from where you have parked is a covered area for lunch and toilets Other notes The gate may be closed but not locked; access is free; if using a coach, ask the driver to drop off the students then turn the bus around in preparation for the next stage of the journey 41 No toilet available If there is time, go to Wallamore Anabranch on Britten (Jockey Club) Road
© Copyright 2024