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
Tugg571 - Wallarah Creek near Main Northern Railway
Site Condition Summary
Wallarah Creek drains directly into Budgewoi Lake. On either bank, the site was surrounded by native forest.
All visual assessments of the site indicated it to be in relatively undisturbed condition, although water appeared tannin coloured. Water quality variables were within the ranges expected for a lowland coastal stream.
Assessments of the macroinvertebrate fauna indicated a rich macroinvertebrate community existed in the edge habitat. The community included a good variety of Odonata (dragon flies), Trichoptera (caddis flies) and Megaloptera (alder flies) families.
Location Map
| Map Name | Dooralong 9131-1-S |
| Map Zone | 56 |
| Map Scale | 1:25000 |
| Easting | 357700 |
| Northing | 6323400 |
| Distance from source (m) | 4510 |
| Elevation (m asl) | 10 |
| Average Annual Rainfall (mm) | 1100 |
Sampling Data and Assessments
Single Season Assessments
| Spring '99 | |
|---|---|
| 16-Dec-99 | |
| O/E Taxa | 1.14 |
| Band | A |
| O/E SIGNAL | 1.06 |
Riffle
Combined Season Assessments
Edge
Riffle
Taxa Collected
X= Taxa Predicted & Collected, O = Taxa Predicted & NOT Collected, + = Taxa Collected & NOT Predicted
| Spring '99 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Phylum | Class/Order | Family | 16-Dec-99 |
| Arachnida | Hydracarina | X | |
| Crustacea | Amphipoda | Talitridae | + |
| Crustacea | Cladocera | Cladocera | + |
| Crustacea | Decapoda | Atyidae | X |
| Crustacea | Decapoda | Parastacidae | + |
| Crustacea | Ostracoda | ||
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Dytiscidae | O |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Gyrinidae | + |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Hydraenidae | + |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Hydrophilidae | X |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Scirtidae | X |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Staphylinidae | |
| Insecta | Diptera | Chironominae | X |
| Insecta | Diptera | Culicidae | X |
| Insecta | Diptera | Orthocladiinae | |
| Insecta | Diptera | Tanypodinae | X |
| Insecta | Ephemeroptera | Baetidae | |
| Insecta | Ephemeroptera | Leptophlebiidae | X |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Gelastocoridae | + |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Gerridae | X |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Hebridae | + |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Hydrometridae | X |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Mesoveliidae | |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Notonectidae | + |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Veliidae | X |
| Insecta | Megaloptera | Corydalidae | |
| Insecta | Megaloptera | Sialidae | + |
| Insecta | Odonata | Aeshnidae | + |
| Insecta | Odonata | Coenagrionidae | + |
| Insecta | Odonata | Corduliidae | + |
| Insecta | Odonata | Isostictidae | + |
| Insecta | Odonata | Megapodagrionidae | + |
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Atriplectididae | + |
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Leptoceridae | X |
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Odontoceridae | + |
Water Quality Data
| Autumn '99 | Spring '99 | |
|---|---|---|
| Variable | 29-Mar-99 | 16-Dec-99 |
| Water Temperature (°C) | 18.7 | 17.3 |
| Conductivity (µS/cm) | 540 | 814 |
| Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) | 0 | 3.3 |
| Alkalinity (mg CaCO3 /L) | 21 | 32 |
| pH | 6.19 | 6.77 |
| Turbidity (NTU) | 34.4 | 67 |
| Low Total Phosphorus (µg/L) | 72 | 65 |
| Free Reactive Phosphorus (µg/L) | 5 | <2 |
| NOx Nitrogen (µg/L) | 26 | 17 |
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (mg/L) | 1.0 | 0.94 |
| Ammonia (µg/L) | 53 | 37 |
| Nitrate (µg/L) | 17 | 9 |
| Nitrite (µg/L) | 9 | 8 |
Key
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