The work of local Landcare groups has been applauded for a number of years. The removal of noxious weeds along our waterways, such as broad-leaf privet and camphor laurel trees, has led to the planting of native rainforest seedlings to improve the environment and water quality.

Shaen Springal and Stephen Nelson have been involved in the Tucki Tucki Creek and Just Street Landcare Groups, which include parts of the Birdwing Butterly Walk. The hard work of Shaen, Stephen and their team is paying off.

In mid-2023, Lismore-based environmental consultancy Ecoteam generously agreed to monitor the health of the Tucki Tucki Creek bi-annually over a period of three years on a pro bono basis to the two groups engaged in riparian rehabilitation.

The first monitoring occurred in December 2023. The Lismore App covered Ecoteam’s second monitoring took place on June 28 of this year. The Lismore App news article can be viewed here.

The objectives and methodology of the tests carried out by Ecoteam included sampling and analysing water and other indicators from two monitoring points within Tucki Tucki Creek in accordance with Australian Standards and using both in-situ and laboratory analysis methods to establish a record of the creek's water quality for future monitoring and comparison.

The company set out to identify any toxicants that may be present in the water and also conducted a general stream health assessment in relation to aquatic macroinvertebrates and the presence of native or introduced fish species. Macroinvertebrates are aquatic creatures including insects, worms and crayfish. It is heartening to learn that traces of pesticides in the water are almost non-existent at present, and no oil slicks or grease were observed on the surface of the water during the two tests.

For consistency, Ecoteam is carrying out its tests on Tucki Tucki Creek at the same two sites. The first (upstream) test site is not far from the Birdwing Butterfly Gully, and the second (downstream) is adjacent to the major stormwater retention basin bordering intensive residential building development on Just Street.

A Stream Invertebrate Grade Number Average Level or ‘SIGNAL’ Score provides information on the health of a waterway by assessing the abundance and types of macroinvertebrates present. The first assessments found overall species abundance (fish and macroinvertebrates) were very low, indicating urban pressures have impacted the types of fish species present.

Ecoteam environmental scientist Ana Assis explained that the macroinvertebrates SIGNAL scores for both upstream and downstream test sites in the first round were identical: 3.3. However, in the most recent testing round, the upstream site’s SIGNAL score improved to 4.2 and the downstream site’s to 6.0 – almost double the original reading.

(Ecoteam environmental scientist Ana Assis collecting samples at the downstream site. Photo: supplied)

“This improvement is a positive indicator of healthy waterways,” Ana explained. “In the downstream site below Just Street, we found more macroinvertebrate species that are deemed ‘sensitive’, which means the water quality must be healthy in order for them to survive and reproduce.” Ana cautioned that more rainfall in the summer months can lead to lower SIGNAL scores when floods and high rainfall events can wash away macroinvertebrates and their habitats.

“It is important that we continue to test bi-annually because then we will find out next summer that if the macroinvertebrate scores remain high it will be a sustained improvement from the same conditions. This is why Ecoteam has offered to carry out the tests over three consecutive years,” Ana said.

In the most recent wintertime testing, laboratory results showed that Aluminium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus were slightly elevated. Nitrogen and Phosphorus in water are normally a result of stormwater flowing into the creek. Especially in urban areas, all the water flowing through the streets and other concrete surfaces and then into the creek could cause higher levels of Phosphorus and Nitrogen. These may also be higher during summer when there is more rainfall. However, there is ongoing awareness within Lismore City Council to improve our waterways and reduce polluted water from entering them.

Both Landcare groups have expended a great deal of time and energy improving the condition of major stormwater retention basins administered by Council along the length of the Tucki Tucki. Just Street Landcare has focussed on two stormwater outfalls flowing down steep banks into the creek below, which are subject to massive surges and occasional pollution after major rain events.

($6,000 state-of-the-art Aquatroll monitoring device is equipped with sensors that measure nine separate aspects of water quality simultaneously. Photo: supplied)

In the last week of August, Just Street Landcare member Chris Ashton filmed a healthy platypus swimming vigorously across the very pool that Ecoteam used for its second downstream testing three months earlier. This sighting caused great excitement among Landcare members and Just Street residents, validating community-based efforts to improve the Tucki Tucki Creek’s ecosystem health.

Ana advised that platypuses like eating the smaller macroinvertebrates that live in the leaf litter and creek bed: it makes sense that there would be more platypus once there is more macroinvertebrate life available.

“The near 100% improvement in the SIGNAL score for macroinvertebrates in this stretch of water is very likely the reason for the most recent addition to a wide-ranging group of fauna that call the Tucki Tucki Creek home,” she concluded.

Mark Dunphy is the managing director of Firewheel Rainforest Nursery, president of the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, and is known for his leadership and advocacy for bush regeneration in the Northern Rivers and elsewhere. Mark works closely with Goonellabah Tucki Landcare principals Doug Blythe and Shaen Springall and has observed their approach to riparian rainforest rehabilitation firsthand.

Commenting on the results of Ecoteam’s most recent tests, Mark highlighted the role that revegetation can play in improving water quality.

“Normally, the process of improving the quality of water on a creek like Tucki Tucki would take a very long time. However, Doug and Shaen’s work of planting high diversity and advanced tree stock in close spacings has led to the fast-tracking of the establishment of riparian vegetation. Within a few years, the creek banks are stabilised, there is shade over the water, and the “pool and riffle” system is quickly re-establishing,” Mark said, adding that it was critical to control and improve the quantity and quality of storm surges coming from urban sources such as Goonellabah into Tucki Tucki Creek so that improvements to the waterway’s health can’t be undone.