Theme 1: Water & Catchments

Topic: Healthy Catchments

We all live in a catchment so keeping our catchments healthy is everyone’s responsibility.

Catchments are connected from top to bottom, so what happens upstream in a catchment has a large influence further down the catchment. This is why it is important to manage a catchment as a whole, rather than in parts. There are a number of factors that contribute to a healthy catchment, including:

• having waterways that have adequate, good quality water to maintain natural ecosystems
• helping to ensure there is minimal disturbance to native fauna flora and land, and
• trying to maintain low levels of weed infestation and feral animals.

Human activities that can affect the health of a catchment include:

• Urban and industrial development
• Farming
• Mining
• the combustion of fossil fuels
• river-channel alterations, and
• animal-feeding operations.

Water quality

Water is the vital link in all catchments, so good water quality is very important for overall catchment health. The more development that occurs in a catchment, the more we need to take care of the environment. The original creek network is often unable to cope with the enormous amount of extra water, and this contributes to flood damage. Stormwater run-off also contains a large number of pollutants. Irrigation for agriculture and horticulture, grazing stock, spraying chemicals and fertilisers, and dam construction also impact on the health of catchments.

Water quantity

Our rivers, creeks and groundwater systems need a certain amount of water to maintain natural ecosystems which are vital for healthy catchments.

Student Activity Ideas

• Read books such as 'Lester and Clyde' and use this as a springboard for students to write their own picture books about a catchment area becoming polluted.
• Identify a creek or other catchment area in your neighbourhood and develop a plan to help clean it up.
• Collect samples of water from different catchment areas and run simple tests for water quality such as pouring the water through filter paper, PH tests, examining droplets under a microscope.
• Grow plants and water some with good quality water and some with highly polluted water. Observe the differences in growth.

Enquiry Learning

• How are catchment environments interconnected from the top of the watershed to the sea?
• How is the health of ecological communities in catchments linked to the quality and quantity of water flowing through the system?
• How does the quality of water in a natural catchment depend on the interactions between physical, chemical and biological processes?
• Ecological communities across catchments are adapted to natural water flow patterns, whether it is in arid, tropical, temperate or any other climatic region. Why does the healthy functioning of catchments rely on appropriate flow patterns for any given region?
• What role do diverse ecological communities have in maintaining the quality of water in catchments?

Internet Resources

Type	Description	Resources Covering the Topic
Easy	What is Water Quality? Colour cartoon poster to print. Includes sketches and brief descriptions of water quality.	United States Geological Survey water.usgs.gov/outreach/poster5/ Poster5.html
	Environmental Flows Fact Sheets. Comprehensive summary of environmental flow issues.	NCC Water and Fisheries www.nccnsw.org.au/water/context/ flows_fs.html
	Is Flooding Good or Bad? All about floodplains and why they are important.	River Murray Urban Users www.murrayusers.sa.gov.au/ floodplains.htm
	Without Water We Cannot Live. Poster with a message about healthy water and why water is important. Open the links at the bottom of the poster for more information.	Kids for Saving Earth www.kidsforsavingearth.org/water/ water1.htm
	A Fact Sheet On Water Quality. Summary of main issues.	United States Geological Survey water.usgs.gov/pubs/FS/fs-027-01/
	Catchments and Water Quality. PDF download with summary of main issues.	Natural Resources and Mines (Qld Government) www.nrm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/ pdf/water/W72web.pdf
	State of the Environment 2000. Summary of water quality issues.	NSW EPA www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/soe2000/ cw/cw_waterquality.htm# cw_waterquality_h035
	Comprehensive look at water quality in the Murray.	River Murray Urban Users www.murrayusers.sa.gov.au/
	Clean Water - Life Depends On It!	Environment Canada www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/manage/ poll/e_life.htm
	Explains activities that impact on water quality via stormwater pollution.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ programs/about_catchments/4.htm
More Comprehensive	Catchment plans give an overview of the central themes of catchment health. Navigate through the Catchment Board websites and look at catchment plans.	SA Catchment Water Management Boards www.catchments.net/
	The system of interconnected water bodies.	NSW EPA Backgrounder www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/ soe2000/bw/bw_1.htm#bw_1_h003
	What makes up a Healthy Catchment? Work your way around the site to find interesting maps, explanations and environmental monitoring strategies.	Healthy Waterways Qld EPA www.healthywaterways.org/
	What is Water Quality? Broad overview of major issues.	EPA NSW www.epa.nsw.gov.au/envirom/ waterqual.htm
	Water quality and pollution.	US Geological Survey water.usgs.gov/pubs/FS/fs-027-01/
	Causes of poor water quality set out in an easy to read table format.	The Upper Parramatta River Trust www.uprct.nsw.gov.au/ water_quality/facts/ causes_of_poor_wq.htm
	14 good reasons to care for rivers. Includes overall water quality and others.	Land and Water Australia www.rivers.gov.au/training/ramblers/ rivram_reasons_goodreasons.htm

Activities

Band	Activity	Contact
Early Years	What About Catchments? Sandpit activity.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch Curriculum Resource www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ teacher/catchments.pdf
	What is a catchment - discussion ideas, plans and hands on activities	Onkaparinga Catchment Water Management Board www.onkaparinga.net/education/ folder_1.shtml#catch
Primary Years	What is a Catchment? Explanation and web interactives.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/programs/ about_catchments/index.htm
	For maps, definitions, plans, community projects and local catchment information.	SA Catchment Water Management Boards www.catchments.net/
	Catchment Crusaders. Interactive web activity.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ interactive/cc/index.htm
	What About Catchments? Sandpit activity.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch Curriculum Resource www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ teacher/catchments.pdf
	What is a catchment? Discussion ideas, plans and hands on activities	Onkaparinga Catchment Water Management Board www.onkaparinga.net/education/ folder_1.shtml#catch
	The River Murray Story. Classroom session looking at catchments and land uses. Follows a story about the river as it travels from the source to the sea. Offered in Upper and Lower Murray Regions.	River Murray Waterwatch www.rivermurray.sa.gov.au/work/ curric_resource.html
Middle Years	Catchment Crusaders. Interactive web activity. Many interactive activities to explore catchments.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ interactive/cc/index.htm
	For maps, definitions, plans, community projects and local catchment information.	SA Catchment Water Management Boards www.catchments.net/
	Map and interactive tour of the Murray-Darling Basin.	Murray Darling Basin Commission www.mdbc.gov.au/tour/tour.htm
Senior Years	Catchment Crusaders. Interactive web activity. Many interactive activities to explore catchments.	KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc/ interactive/cc/index.htm
	For maps, definitions, plans, community projects and local catchment information.	SA Catchment Water Management Boards www.catchments.net/

Who Can Help?

Organisation	Who Can Help?
Catchment Water Management Boards	Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): North Adelaide & Barossa Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): Onkaparinga Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): Torrens Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): Patawalonga Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): River Murray Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): South East
Community Action: Local Action Planning Committees	Catchment Water Management Boards (CWMB): River Murray
Gould League	Gould League
Mount Lofty Ranges Watershed Protection Office	Mount Lofty Ranges Watershed Protection Office
Our Patch/ Catchment Care	Our Patch - Patawalonga and Torrens CWMBs Our Patch - Onkaparinga CWMB Catchment Care - North Adelaide and Barossa Catchment Water Management Board (CWMB)
Urban Forest Biodiversity Program	Urban Forest Biodiversity Program
Waterwatch SA	Waterwatch State Office Waterwatch: Broughton Wakefield Waterwatch: KESAB Patawalonga & Torrens Waterwatch: North Adelaide & Barossa Waterwatch: River Murray (Upper) Waterwatch: River Murray (Lower) Waterwatch: South East Onkaparinga Waterwatch Network

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