Broughton River

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Introduction

The Broughton River is a large brackish to saline stream in the Mid North of the state. It flows into Spencer Gulf. The monitoring site is at Cockeys Crossing in the lower section of the river, approximately 20 km from its mouth. The river is frequently dry in this section due to low rainfall and groundwater inflows. Land use in the catchment is a mix of broad acre cropping and grazing. Elevated turbidity and nutrient levels are the most likely water quality problems. A second monitoring site in this catchment is on the Hill River.

Stream flow for this catchment is available from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation at the Hill River and Mooroola. >> Map (2MB PDF)

Water quality assessment

Water quality is assessed as being in good, moderate or poor condition by interpreting water chemistry data in the context of protecting environmental values. >> More

The ecological health is assessed in spring and autumn. We use macroinvertebrates for this purpose because they provide a relatively simple way to assess the health of an aquatic ecosystem. >> More

Water chemistry is measured each month (or every 3 months in remote locations). We measure chemical indicators because when they reach a certain level they can cause stress or toxicity to animals and plants in an ecosystem. Some indicators can also indicate if the water is suitable for drinking water or for activities such as swimming. >> More

Ecological health

We collect two samples of macroinvertebrates, one from riffle (or flowing water) habitat and one from edge (still water) habitat. The diversity of the macroinvertebrate community is used to describe ecological health as being in good, moderate or poor condition.

Go here to find out how we classify ecological health in streams.

Ecological health assessment for June 2006

Habitat	Ecological health
Edge	Good
Riffle	Poor

The Broughton River at Cockeys Crossing was dry for most of 2004-2005 but both edge and riffle habitats were present when sampled in autumn 2006.

The edge habitat was in a good ecological condition for a brackish stream and consisted of a relatively rich community of 30 different types of macroinvertebrates. Various non-biting midges were the most common species, along with springtails.

The riffle was in much poorer condition, with 21 different types of macroinvertebrates, and was dominated by several flies and springtails that are able to quickly colonise newly wetted areas.

The site was notable for the absence of crustaceans, mayflies and caddisflies. The poor riffle rating may simply relate to poor habitat, partly due to the recent drought conditions. The only rare species collected from the site was the beetle Limnoxenus zealandicus.

Download ecological health data

• All the macroinvertebrate data for the Broughton River

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in the Broughton River are nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), turbidity and salinity. The concentrations of these indicators are used to classify the water chemistry as being in good, moderate or poor condition, according to the needs of aquatic ecosystem protection.

Go here to find out how we organise and classify the chemistry data.

Water chemistry classification for April to September 2006

Indicator	Classification
Oxidised Nitrogen	Good
Total Nitrogen	Good
Soluble Phosphorus	Good
Total Phosphorus	Good
Turbidity	Good

The Broughton River flows infrequently due to low rainfall in the catchment and as a result, relatively few samples have been collected from this site. However, the available data indicates that water quality has not been unduly affected by the surrounding dryland cropping and grazing landuses.

The Northern and Yorke NRM Board are implementing recommendations in the River Management Plan for the Broughton Catchment (2004) - refer to the Department of Water, land and Biodiversity Conservation. This management plan sets priorities for such as restricting stock access, revegetating creek lines, erecting and improving contour banks and preventing erosion.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

• Oxidised nitrogen in the Broughton River
  
• Total nitrogen in the Broughton River
  
• Total phosphorus in the Broughton River
  
• Soluble phosphorus in the Broughton River
  
• Turbidity in the Broughton River
  
• Salinity in the Broughton River

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for the Broughton River

What is being done to improve the condition of South Australian rivers and streams

Efforts to improve the condition of South Australia's rivers and streams are being driven by various Government agencies, primarily

The Environment Protection Authority
The Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation
Natural Resource Management Boards
Department for Environment and Heritage (SA)

Collaborative projects and programs being run by these agencies are based on the protection of environmental values, as explained in the National Water Quality Management Strategy. >> More

This page was last modified 25-09-2007