Released 22/03/2017
To celebrate World Water Day today, Wednesday 22 March 2017, locals are encouraged to do at least one thing that will help make a difference to the health of our waterways.
“World Water Day is a United Nations initiative to tackle water issues around the globe and, here in the ACT, we have a number of projects underway that are helping to protect our water sources,”
Woo O’Reilly, facilitator of the local community Waterwatch program, said today.
“The ACT Healthy Waterways Project is a joint initiative of the Australian and ACT governments to build water quality infrastructure on up to 25 sites around the ACT. The first of these projects is scheduled to commence soon. In addition, a new stormwater education program called H2OK: Keeping our waterways healthy, which was launched last month, encourages everyone in the ACT and region to make sure only rain goes down the stormwater drain.
“The theme of this year’s World Water Day – ‘wastewater’ or ‘why waste water?’ – provides an opportunity for us all to think about ways we can help make a difference to the health of our waterways.
“There are a number of simple things everyone can do to help improve the quality of water in our lakes and rivers. Everything that goes down the stormwater drain ends up in our waterways so it is important we pick up rubbish, sweep driveways, pick up pet poo and put cigarette butts in the bin instead of leaving them in the street.
“Autumn is now upon us and fallen leaves are a big problem when it comes to stormwater. They get washed down the drain and into the stormwater system where they break down and create high nutrient loads. This can cause all sorts of problems in our lakes including blue-green algae. Raking up leaves is one of the best things you can do at this time of year to help us improve water quality.
“During Autumn, ACT Waterwatch will be checking the health of our water catchments by conducting a ‘bug blitz. Waterwatch volunteers will collect and analyse bug samples at over 90 sites.
“Bugs are one of the best indicators of water health. Aquatic macro-invertebrates – like dragonflies, mayflies, true bugs, water beetles, freshwater snails, back swimmers, leeches and midges – have differing levels of sensitivity to disturbance and pollution. Sampling the water and working out which bugs are thriving and which ones are missing tells us how healthy a particular waterway is,” said O’Reilly.
“The results of our bug blitz – conducted in both autumn and spring – in combination with regular year-round monitoring of water quality, provide a benchmark against which the ACT Government can measure the success of education and infrastructure projects into the future.”
What will you do to improve water quality on World Water Day? Visit act.gov.au/h2ok for tips on how you can prevent contaminated water flowing into our lakes and waterways as well as information on the ACT Healthy Waterways Project. More information on ACT Waterwatch is available at www.act.waterwatch.org.au
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