Steady on there. It's not all doom and gloom along the poor polluted waterway that is The Cooks River (though the sacks of plastic litter we gather on clean up days can be disheartening). There are plenty of remediation projects happening. Everything from raingardens in local streets to full scale restoration of native riparian vegetation along the river banks. Local councils, volunteer groups and even Sydney Water have taken responsibility for a variety of projects; each of which has the aim of restoring the river to something approaching its former health.
The Cooks River catchment encompasses some of the most densely populated urban areas in Australia. Stormwater run off, from paved surfaces in the catchment, pollutes the river with chemicals and rubbish from the streets. In an attempt to prevent the worst of this, local councils have installed litter booms to catch the plastic bottles, plastic bags, polystyrene, takeaway cups and containers, and other pieces of rubbish washed into the river through drains. Volunteer groups such as the Mudcrabs spend many weekends during the year fishing yet more rubbish out of the water, and collecting plastic trapped in the mangroves. Councils are also building raingardens to slow the stormwater down and filter out oil, chemicals, sediments and even dog excrement from the roads, pavements and driveways before it reaches the river.
The Cooks River catchment encompasses some of the most densely populated urban areas in Australia. Stormwater run off, from paved surfaces in the catchment, pollutes the river with chemicals and rubbish from the streets. In an attempt to prevent the worst of this, local councils have installed litter booms to catch the plastic bottles, plastic bags, polystyrene, takeaway cups and containers, and other pieces of rubbish washed into the river through drains. Volunteer groups such as the Mudcrabs spend many weekends during the year fishing yet more rubbish out of the water, and collecting plastic trapped in the mangroves. Councils are also building raingardens to slow the stormwater down and filter out oil, chemicals, sediments and even dog excrement from the roads, pavements and driveways before it reaches the river.
Litter boom on The Cooks River
The Cooks River is twenty-three kilometres long, and is fed by several smaller creeks. In the upper reaches, the river and these creeks are little more than concrete culverts and stormwater channels. These channels were constructed almost eighty years ago on what was then the understanding that they would help to prevent flooding. In the last decade, the concrete walls have degraded to the point where they need replacement, and Sydney Water, in cooperation with the relevant council and local communities, has begun to replace the concrete with sandstone and native plants to naturalise the river banks.
On this side of the bridge, The Cooks River is little more than a stormwater channel
On this side of the bridge, the river banks are being naturalised
The naturalised banks should help in the struggle to restore the rivers health, should promote biodiversity, and should actually be more effective in preventing flooding.
A naturalised section
Transition between a naturalised section and the 1940s concrete walls
Sydney Water have also installed educative signs in passive recreation spots, to help the local community to understand the rationale behind, and the process undertaken for, bank naturalisation.
Interpretive sign at the site of one of the naturalisation projects
No comments:
Post a Comment