River Health in the New South Wales Lower North Coast, Hunter and Central Coast Catchments

A report of AusRivAS assessments 1994 - 1999
Grant Hose and Eren Turak
Environment Protection Agency, 2004
ISBN 0 642 55099 9 ISSN 1447-1280

Hunt08 - Kiernans Creek off Dart Brook

Site Condition Summary
Sampling Data and Assessments
Site report cards

Site Condition Summary

This site was on the escarpment of the Liverpool range in the upper section of the Hunter catchment. The riparian zone was heavily vegetated by Casuarina sp. trees which shaded the stream. Grasses and weeds were common in the understorey. Visual assessments indicated some disturbance of the instream habitat which was attributed to cattle access.

Water quality at the site was generally good, although phosphorus concentrations were higher than expected for a stream of this type. Dissolved oxygen was low when sampled in Spring 1994.

AusRivAS assessments indicated both riffle and edge habitats contained a rich macroinvertebrate fauna, yielding O/E values greater than 0.95.

Location Map

Location Details
Map Name	Kars Springs 9034-3-S
Map Zone	56
Map Scale	1:25000
Easting	279100
Northing	6470800
Distance from source (m)	5859
Elevation (m asl)	1100
Average Annual Rainfall (mm)	750

Single Season Assessments

Edge
	Spring '95
	13-Dec-95
O/E Taxa	1.27
Band	X
O/E SIGNAL	0.98

Riffle
	Spring '95
	13-Dec-95
O/E Taxa	0.99
Band	A
O/E SIGNAL	0.95

Combined Season Assessments

Edge

Riffle

Taxa Collected

X= Taxa Predicted & Collected, O = Taxa Predicted & NOT Collected, + = Taxa Collected & NOT Predicted

Edge
			Spring '95
Phylum	Class/Order	Family	13-Dec-95
Annelida	Oligochaeta		+
Arachnida	Hydracarina		+
Crustacea	Decapoda	Atyidae	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Dytiscidae	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Elmidae	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Hydrophilidae	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Psephenidae	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Scirtidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Chironominae	X
Insecta	Diptera	Dixidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Orthocladiinae	X
Insecta	Diptera	Psychodidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Tanypodinae	O
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Baetidae	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Caenidae	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Leptophlebiidae	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Corixidae	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Gelastocoridae	+
Insecta	Hemiptera	Gerridae	+
Insecta	Hemiptera	Notonectidae	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Veliidae	X
Insecta	Odonata	Amphipterygidae	+
Insecta	Odonata	Gomphidae	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Calamoceratidae	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Helicopsychidae	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydrobiosidae	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Leptoceridae	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Odontoceridae	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Lymnaeidae	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Physidae	X

Riffle

Water Quality Data

	Spring '94	Spring '95	Autumn '96
Variable	18-Oct-94	13-Dec-95	1-Apr-96
Water Temperature (°C)	16.6	18.3	19.3
Conductivity (µS/Cm)	907	209	385
Alkalinity (mg CaCO₃ /L)	390	305	220
pH	7.62	7.4	7.54
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)	1.2		7.4
Turbidity (NTU)	2.1	5.5	3.2
Low Total Phosphorus (µg/L)	180	160	170
Free Reactive Phosphorus (mg/L)
NOx Nitrogen (mg/L)	40	20	90
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (mg/L)	0.30	<0.3	<0.3
Ammonia (mg/L)
Nitrate (mg/L)
Nitrite (mg/L)

Key

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