Over two days, the Western Murray Land Improvement Group (WMLIG) hosted Charles Sturt University for a series of public events presenting the latest research and monitoring in our local rivers and creeks.
The events were open to any members of the public who wanted to learn more about the Mid-Murray Flow - Monitoring Evaluation Research project covering the mid-Murray river system.
The interactive forums held in Barham, Deniliquin and Wakool attracted a wide range of participants to discuss the purpose and early learnings from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder funded project.
John Trethewie from CSU talked about long-term changes in numbers of fish and their patterns of spawning and movement in rivers and creeks in the Mid-Murray.
There was also a lot of interest in the water quality monitoring and research undertaken by Dr Shasha Liu in collaboration with the Kolety Werkul River Rangers from Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre.
Each session included a call to action from WMLIG to join a citizen science network and contribute to river monitoring, by Professor Robyn Watts (CSU) and WMLIG environmental project officer Belinda Wielinga (WMLIG).
The next step in the project will be training citizen scientists how to record the water level on gauges that are located around the Mid-Murray.
The project will also provide opportunities for citizen scientists to participate in water quality monitoring and collect water samples for environmental DNA testing.
“Environmental DNA surveys provide a snapshot of the animals using a waterway, from shrimp to fish, birds, reptiles and mammals,” attendees heard.
“The endeavours by local citizen scientists will contribute to knowledge about how water moves through the landscape and the health of the river ecosystem.”
If anyone is interested in joining the Citizen Science project, it’s not too late to get involved. Contact Ms Wielinga at belinda.wielinga@wmlig.org for more information.
