Photo: Australian
Water Quality Centre |
Introduction
Mt Chambers Creek is in the northern Flinders Ranges and flows
to east to Lake Frome. Land use in the catchment is grazing natural
vegetation. The climate is arid, so stream flow is uncommon, although
the monitoring site is a waterhole that is fed by saline groundwater.
Monitoring at Mount Chambers Creek began early in 2005. There
is insufficient data at this stage to classify the water quality
at this site. >> Map
(2.7MB 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
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
show 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 May 2006
| Habitat |
Ecological health
|
| Edge |
Habitat not available
|
| Riffle |
Habitat not available
|
Mt Chambers Creek was dry in autumn 2006. Results have only been
available from this ephemeral stream in November 2005, when the
site was rated in a good ecological condition.
Download ecological health data
Water chemistry
The indicators that are measured in Mt Chambers Creek 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
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|
|
ID
|
|
|
ID
|
|
|
ID
|
|
|
ID
|
|
|
ID
|
Notes ID = insufficient data available
for this period to allow classification
This site is a recent addition to the monitoring program. There
was only one sample collected (during August) in this monitoring
period due to dry conditions. This sample indicated that water
quality at Mt Chambers Creek is relatively saline, which may be
due to the high evaporation rate and/or saline groundwater. The
oxidised nitrogen concentration was elevated and this may have
been due to native and feral animals. The site is sampled every
three months because of its remote location.
>> Archived results
Download water chemistry graphs
- There are insufficient results to warrant the presentation
of graphs for this site
Download raw chemistry data
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 18-12-2007
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