Avon Region community groups

What's going on in Phillips Brook?

Many of the landowners in the Phillips Brook Catchment, located in the Shire of Toodyay, have long recognised the environmental value of their local waterways as important habitat for birds, fish, invertebrates and other aquatic fauna.

In 1999, concerned landowners formed the Phillips Brook Catchment Group, aiming to protect the health of the brook by carrying out measures to alleviate land degradation and stream erosion and to enhance stream biodiversity.

The group sought regional Ribbons of Blue/Waterwatch WA support for the initial design and implementation of a catchment monitoring program. The group envisages long-term monitoring to identify trends in water quality following their revegetation and river restoration works.

Turbidity, temperature, electrical conductivity and pH levels continue to be monitored on a monthly basis at six selected sites as a baseline record of the health of the Brook.

The water quality data shows that the water flowing into Toodyay Brook is brackish, has an average pH of 7.3 and water clarity is good. Bank erosion and high sediment levels can be a problem during major rainfall events.

Landowners along the Phillips Brook can also use water quality monitoring data to see if the water in the brook can be utilised for various agricultural practices, such as stock watering.

On-ground advice from the Department of Environment and Bushcare Australia was sought in conjunction with Ribbons of Blue/Waterwatch WA to prioritise sites along the brook for creek line revegetation.

Group members prepared a riparian revegetation trial site, to combat the problem of bank erosion and consequent high sediment levels.

Weed control measures were implemented and the group also planted trees native to the region.

Log walling has been constructed with tree branches and logs secured to sections of the bank to dissipate stream energy and protect the newly revegetated embankments.

Several rock riffle structures have been created to arrest the erosive power of the stream flow, reducing scouring and the transportation of sediment downstream. At present, the results of the success of the river restoration activities are inconclusive but more should be known in the future.

As a component of the school's environmental education program, students from the Toodyay District High School assisted by planting native sedges and rushes, which will help to minimise further erosion.

The school has also sampled the macroinvertebrate communities as a part of the National Macroinvertebrate Snapshot. These activities can develop the students active citizenship role in the community, which could in turn lead to higher levels of environmental responsibility and action.

The restoration of Phillips Brook will be continued into the future under the scope of the Avon Natural Resource Management Strategy as a Local Area Plan (LAN).

Since formation, the Phillips Brook Catchment Group have endeavoured to consolidate their stream restoration plans within a framework that uses water quality indicators of environmental health to evaluate the on-going success of their projects.

Phillips Brook Catchment Group continues its stream restoration work on the brook as a demonstration project of immense value to other regional landowners.