“The overall condition of rivers across NSW is moderate.”

- NSW SOE, 2021

Unlike the state average, Bellingen Riverwatch data (2017-2022) shows that the rivers of the Bellinger catchment and Kalang catchment are in very good health.

• Our water quality data catchment scores are 90% (Bellinger catchment) and 94% (Kalang catchment).

• Our Pesticides Detectives data tells us that no pesticides were detected in any of the seven Bellingen Riverwatch sites that were tested.

• Our macro data tells us that the sites we sampled have relatively healthy to very healthy macroinvertebrate communities. Results show a high abundance of known sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa collected at both Waterbug Blitz events which suggests that the instream habitat and water quality at these sites has been consistently good to very good.

• Our Platypus eDNA data tells us that this region is a stronghold for the platypus.

There are four main areas of concern that the Steering Committee would like

to highlight in Bellingen Riverwatch data (2017-2022) :

1. Upper Bellinger River (B1, B2, B2.1, B3, B3.1)

2. B5.1 Summervilles Road

3. B7.1 Caratti Creek

4. S1 Spicketts Creek

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1. Upper Bellinger RIver

In the upper Bellinger River sites (B1, B2, B2.1, B3, B3.1), water quality across the parameters is generally excellent. One anomaly we have found is around elevated available phosphate levels at B2.1, which is also influencing B2. Our partners have been intrigued by these results for many years. As the area is currently forested, past agriculture practices and/or poorly managed onsite management systems could be a likely cause of these poorer results, as could the underlying geological conditions of this area which may have a higher phosphorus content affecting the stream.

These phosphate levels seem to also be affecting dissolved oxygen too. Often if nutrient like phosphate is found in the water, some oxygen levels can be affected by eutrophication, as well as the decomposition of organic matter. Also in this case, B2.1 could have some groundwater intrusion which is causing some iron-precipitate to affect the stream, which can pull oxygen from the water. We recommend that funding be sought for further investigation into origins of high phosphorus at this site.

2. B5.1 (Summervilles Road)

In the mid Bellinger, there are turbidity issues presenting since the high rainfall events from May 2021 at B5.1 (Summervilles Road), most likely due to runoff and bank erosion issues upstream of this site.

3. B7.1 (Caratti Creek)

Samples collected at Caratti Creek (B7.1) often showed elevated levels of phosphate and turbidity and lower levels of dissolved oxygen. Turbidity caused by soil erosion and algal growth among other things is often related to urbanised streams that experience high amounts of stormwater. Further investigation is needed to determine potential sources.

4. S1 (Spicketts Creek)

The S1 site (Spicketts Creek) has continually presented with issues over our five years of data. S1 has dispersed soil types once the riverbed is degraded at a certain level. We recommend that further funding be sought for investigation into the cause of these continuing poor water quality results.