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
HuntM1 - Hunter River downstream of Maitland
Site Condition Summary
This site was on the outskirts of the Maitland urban area. While there was some grazing in nearby paddocks, the primary local impact was from the surrounding urban development.
The riparian zone had been cleared of native vegetation and replaced with exotic species. Rubbish and algae in the river appeared to have degraded the instream habitat. Field observations reported of high turbidity and scum on the water surface. With the exception of nitrogen (TKN) concentrations which were above the expected range, most of the water quality variables were within the ranges expected for the mainstream Hunter River.
Assessments for single season models were unavailable due to environmental data being outside the range acceptable to the predictive models. Combined season assessments indicated the macroinvertebrate community at the site was severely impaired, having lost around 70 % of the expected taxa. Notably absent were the Ephemeroptera (may flies) families that are often considered sensitive to disturbance. In general, insect groups were poorly represented in the samples.
Location Map
| Map Name | Maitland 9232-4-S |
| Map Zone | 56 |
| Map Scale | 1:25000 |
| Easting | 367800 |
| Northing | 6378100 |
| Distance from source (m) | 371396 |
| Elevation (m asl) | 0 |
| Average Annual Rainfall (mm) | 1100 |
Sampling Data and Assessments
Single Season Assessments
| Spring '94 | Autumn '95 | Spring '95 | Autumn '97 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Nov-94 | 5-May-95 | 17-Oct-95 | 19-Apr-97 | |
| O/E Taxa | - | - | - | - |
| Band | - | - | - | - |
| O/E SIGNAL | - | - | - | - |
Riffle
Combined Season Assessments
| Seasons | SPR94AUT95 | AUT95SPR95 |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Eastern | Eastern |
| O/E Taxa | 0.21 | 0.30 |
| Band | C | C |
| O/E SIGNAL | 0.78 | 0.75 |
Riffle
Taxa Collected
X= Taxa Predicted & Collected, O = Taxa Predicted & NOT Collected, + = Taxa Collected & NOT Predicted
| Spring '94 | Autumn '95 | Spring '95 | Autumn '97 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phylum | Class/Order | Family | 3-Nov-94 | 5-May-95 | 17-Oct-95 | 19-Apr-97 |
| Crustacea | Amphipoda | Ceinidae | + | + | ||
| Crustacea | Amphipoda | Corophiidae | + | |||
| Crustacea | Decapoda | Atyidae | + | |||
| Crustacea | Decapoda | Hymenosomatidae | + | + | ||
| Crustacea | Isopoda | Cirolanidae | + | |||
| Crustacea | Isopoda | Sphaeromatidae | + | + | + | + |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Scirtidae | + | |||
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Staphylinidae | + | |||
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Corixidae | + | + | ||
| Insecta | Lepidoptera | Pyralidae | + | |||
| Insecta | Odonata | Coenagrionidae | + | |||
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Leptoceridae | + | |||
| Mollusca | Gastropoda | Ancylidae | + | |||
| Mollusca | Gastropoda | Lymnaeidae | + |
Riffle
Water Quality Data
| Spring '94 | Autumn '95 | Spring '95 | Autumn '97 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | 3-Nov-94 | 5-May-95 | 17-Oct-95 | 19-Apr-97 |
| Water Temperature (°C) | 22.4 | 20.7 | ||
| Conductivity (µS/Cm) | 700 | 780 | 907 | 10 |
| Alkalinity (mg CaCO3 /L) | 160 | 190 | 175 | 200 |
| pH | 7.88 | 8.14 | ||
| Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) | 9.3 | 7.8 | ||
| Turbidity (NTU) | 15 | 14 | 115 | 22.5 |
| Low Total Phosphorus (µg/L) | 110 | 180 | 130 | 160 |
| Free Reactive Phosphorus (µg/L) | ||||
| NOx Nitrogen (µg/L) | 50 | 40 | 10 | <10 |
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (mg/L) | 0.57 | 0.48 | 0.54 | 0.49 |
| Nitrate (µg/L) | ||||
| Nitrite (µg/L) |
Key
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