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How healthy is your local waterway? Split into teams and choose an activity to assess your waterway. At the end combine your scores to come up with the overall health of your local creek, stream, lake or wetland. It's easy, doesn't take too much time or require complex equipment, and it will allow you to tune into a vital component of our environment.

Equipment

• Your eyes and nose!
• Clear container, scoop net, icecream container, and plant/animal books.
• Waterway Health score sheet and paper to write and draw. To obtain colour copies of the Waterway Health Check contact the Community information unit on 1800 803 772.
• Contact your local Waterwatch Coordinator who can assist in providing equipment and resources to do the Health Check.

Activities

1. Land Use: Walk around the area surrounding your waterway. Record land uses that you see or land uses you're aware of in your local area.
2. Litter: Make notes on the type of litter floating on or in the water or on the surrounding land. (Include natural litter such as leaves, sticks and animal faeces).
3. Pipes and drains: Look for pipes, drains, or trenches leading into your waterway. Examine what's coming out of them (by smell and sight: don't touch or taste), record how many there are and make notes on what you think they are there for.
4. Extra structures/modifications: In addition to pipes and drains, record the presence of other artificial structures such as weirs, concrete banks, piers or any artificial modification of the water flow.
5. Smell: Sit by the waterway and record any smells. Take a sample of water and record its smell (don't taste it). A strong natural smell in wetlands and estuaries should be recorded as 6 or more.
6. Water clarity: Collect a water sample in a clear container. Hold it up to the light. Record how clear the sample is.
7. Vegetation: Look at the banks and the land extending away from the waterway. Note if the vegetation is natural or introduced, and if the soil is eroded or stable.
8. Invertebrate animals: Sit by your waterway and look for invertebrate animal activity. Run a scoop net through the water and see if you can catch insects or other invertebrates.
9. Vertebrate animal life: Sit by your waterway and look for vertebrate animal activity. Note both the variety and number of birds. Look for fish, listen for frogs and record any animal tracks.

Each team should go out to their area. Write and draw about your activity. Give it a rating from 0 (bad) to 10 (great) - see the score sheet. Come back and present your results to the other teams. Everyone should put together all your activities (this could be a poster display or a book) and give your waterway an overall score (The score sheet could be blown up).

Your Score:

0 - 9: Very Poor.
10 - 39: Poor.
40 - 59: Fair.
60 - 80: Good.
81 - 90: Excellent.

What does this mean? If you have scored a very poor to poor your waterway needs your help. Contact your local Waterwatch person to work out the best way to clean up your waterway - you may need help from a group outside your school. If you have scored fair to good the next step is to identify ways that you can help improve your waterway. Some examples include helping your families to keep water in our drains clean or see if you can plant some trees (talk to your local Waterwatch person). If you have scored excellent you have a beautiful waterway and you should continue to look after your waterway so it stays that way. How about studying your waterway further to find out more about the biodiversity of waterways?

Extension

What now? Does your waterway need some help? Contact your local Waterwatch Coordinator who can help both with your health check (additional training, equipment and educational materials) and any further activities the class or school would like to undertake.

Waterwatch

Waterwatch is a national community water monitoring and environmental education program with the goal of school and community groups and individuals active in the protection and management of their local waterways. Visit our Waterwatch web site (and link to your state Waterwatch site) to find out more about Waterwatch.