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

Hunt582 - Pages River above Murrurundi

Site Condition Summary
Sampling Data and Assessments
Site report cards

Site Condition Summary

This site on the Pages River was near the top of the Hunter River Catchment and was surrounded by pastoral land. The riparian zone was heavily degraded. Little native vegetation remained, having been cleared to permit cattle access to the river.

The instream habitat and hydrology had been modified by the construction of a small concrete wall which has created a small dam for water extraction. Cattle access to the stream had also altered the character of the substrate and filamentous algae was noted on each sampling visit. Oxidised nitrogen (NOx) concentrations were high in Autumn 1999. Other water quality variables were within expected ranges.

Macroinvertebrate communities were all close to those expected under reference condition. O/E-Taxa values were all greater than 0.96.

Location Map

Location Details
Map Name	Murrurundi 9034-2-N
Map Zone	56
Map Scale	1:25000
Easting	291100
Northing	6481500
Distance from source (m)	7695
Elevation (m asl)	520
Average Annual Rainfall (mm)	850

Single Season Assessments

Edge
	Autumn '99	Spring '99
	7-May-99	13-Dec-99
O/E Taxa	0.96	1.25
Band	A	X
O/E SIGNAL	1.00	0.99

Riffle
	Autumn '99	Spring '99
	7-May-99	13-Dec-99
O/E Taxa	0.99	0.99
Band	A	A
O/E SIGNAL	1.07	1.02

Combined Season Assessments

Edge
Seasons	AUT99SPR99
Model	Eastern
O/E Taxa	1.24
Band	X
O/E SIGNAL	1.02

Riffle
Seasons	AUT99SPR99
O/E Taxa	0.98
Band	A
O/E SIGNAL	0.97

Taxa Collected

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

Taxa Collected - Edge
			Autumn '99	Spring '99
Phylum	Class/Order	Family	7-May-99	13-Dec-99
Annelida	Hirudinea		+
Annelida	Oligochaeta		+
Arachnida	Hydracarina		+	+
Crustacea	Decapoda	Atyidae	X	X
Crustacea	Ostracoda	Ostracoda	+	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Dytiscidae	X	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Gyrinidae	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Hydraenidae		+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Hydrophilidae	O	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Psephenidae	+	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Scirtidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Chironominae	X	X
Insecta	Diptera	Dixidae	+	+
Insecta	Diptera	Orthocladiinae	O	X
Insecta	Diptera	Stratiomyidae	+	+
Insecta	Diptera	Tanypodinae	O	X
Insecta	Diptera	Tipulidae	+	+
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Baetidae	X	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Caenidae	X	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Leptophlebiidae	X	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Corixidae	X	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Gerridae	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Notonectidae	X	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Veliidae	X	O
Insecta	Megaloptera	Corydalidae	+
Insecta	Odonata	Aeshnidae		+
Insecta	Odonata	Corduliidae		+
Insecta	Odonata	Gomphidae	O	X
Insecta	Odonata	Megapodagrionidae	+
Insecta	Odonata	Synlestidae	+	+
Insecta	Plecoptera	Gripopterygidae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Calocidae		+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Ecnomidae		+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydrobiosidae	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydropsychidae		+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydroptilidae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Leptoceridae	X	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Philorheithridae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Polycentropodidae		+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Limacidae	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Physidae	+	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Planorbidae	+
Platyhelminthes	Turbellaria	Dugesiidae	+

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

Riffle
			Autumn '99	Spring '99
Phylum	Class/Order	Family	7-May-99	13-Dec-99
Annelida	Hirudinea		+
Annelida	Oligochaeta		O	+
Arachnida	Hydracarina			X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Elmidae	X	X
Insecta	Coleoptera	Hydrophilidae	+	+
Insecta	Coleoptera	Psephenidae	+	+
Insecta	Diptera	Ceratopogonidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Chironominae	X	X
Insecta	Diptera	Dixidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Muscidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Orthocladiinae	X	X
Insecta	Diptera	Simuliidae	X	O
Insecta	Diptera	Stratiomyidae	+
Insecta	Diptera	Tanypodinae	X	O
Insecta	Diptera	Tipulidae	+	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Baetidae	X	X
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Caenidae	O
Insecta	Ephemeroptera	Leptophlebiidae	X	X
Insecta	Hemiptera	Corixidae	+
Insecta	Megaloptera	Corydalidae	X	X
Insecta	Odonata	Aeshnidae		X
Insecta	Odonata	Gomphidae		O
Insecta	Plecoptera	Gripopterygidae	X	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Calocidae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Conoesucidae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydrobiosidae	X	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydropsychidae	O	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Hydroptilidae	+	+
Insecta	Trichoptera	Leptoceridae	+	O
Insecta	Trichoptera	Philopotamidae	+	X
Insecta	Trichoptera	Polycentropodidae	+	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Physidae	+
Mollusca	Gastropoda	Planorbidae	+
Platyhelminthes	Turbellaria	Dugesiidae	+	+

Water Quality Data

	Autumn '99	Spring '99
Variable	7-May-99	13-Dec-99
Water Temperature (°C)	13.4	22.1
Conductivity (µS/Cm)	494	328
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)	10.5	5.9
Alkalinity (mg CaCO₃ /L)	200	140
pH	8.51	8.28
Turbidity (NTU)	0	1.5
Low Total Phosphorus (µg/L)	190	180
Free Reactive Phosphorus (µg/L)	59	140
NOx Nitrogen (µg/L)	270	60
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (mg/L)	<0.3	<0.3
Ammonia (µg/L)	8	<3
Nitrate (µg/L)	270	59
Nitrite (µg/L)	2	<1

Key

Links to another web site
Opens a pop-up window

Water

Publications