Kanyaka Creek

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Glossary

Introduction

Kanyaka Creek is a tributary of Willochra Creek, which drains towards Lake Torrens in the north of the state. Kanyaka Creek flows intermittently and is relatively saline due to local groundwater inflows. The Kanyaka monitoring site is located at a gauging station with a semi-permanent upstream pool. The main land use in the catchment is grazing, which has the potential to elevate turbidity and nutrient concentrations. There are some aquatic plants and quite good red gum cover up the banks. Stream flow data for this site is available from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. >> Map (739KB 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 every 3 months in Kanyaka Creek because of its remote location. We measure chemical indicators because when they reach a certain level they can cause stress or toxicity to animals and plants in an ecosystem. >> 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	Moderate
Riffle	Habitat not present

The edge habitat at this site autumn 2006 was assessed as moderate (i.e. slightly impaired), although it has often been rated in good condition. Riffle habitats in Autumn have only been observed previously at this site in 1995 and 2000so there has been limited surface flow in this stream during the current sampling program. It is possible that the moderate Edge classification was a result of reduced flows during the drought.

Only 8 different types of macroinvertebrates were collected in autumn 2006, with large numbers of only one non-biting, saline tolerant midge larvae (Tanytarsus barbitarsus) present. The other species collected were tolerant of high salinity. Many of the typical inhabitants of waterholes and edge habitats that were absent (e.g. oligochaetes, mites, worms, crustaceans, waterbugs, mayflies, odonates) are generally more sensitive to the range of salt concentrations occurring in Kanyaka Creek (i.e. total dissolved solids > 10,000 mg/L).

Download ecological health data

• Macroinvertebrate summary for Kanyaka Creek
• All the macroinvertebrate data for Kanyaka Creek

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in Kanyaka 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
Oxidised Nitrogen	Moderate
Total Nitrogen	Moderate
Soluble Phosphorus	Good
Total Phosphorus	Moderate
Turbidity	Good

Water quality results for autumn and winter 2006 were generally consistent with results from previous monitoring.

The nutrients and turbidity levels in Kanyaka Creek do not have any clear seasonal trends because creek flows are highly variable. The salinity (i.e. total dissolved solids) is naturally very high because of groundwater inflows. Moderate to high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the creek may be caused by livestock or feral animal waste being washed into the creek during storms and direct stock access to the creek.

A catchment study has been completed for the Willochra catchment (Department of Water Land and Biodiversity Conservation). The Northern and Yorke NRM Board are supporting landholders to restrict stock access to the creek and encouraging revegetation with local native species.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

• Oxidised nitrogen in Kanyaka Creek
  
• Total nitrogen in Kanyaka Creek
  
• Total phosphorus in Kanyaka Creek
  
• Soluble phosphorus in Kanyaka Creek
  
• Turbidity in Kanyaka Creek
  
• Salinity in Kanyaka Creek

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for Kanyaka Creek

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

Reports

SA's Rivers and Streams (Chemical and Physical Quality)-Report No 1 (554KB PDF)

This page was last modified 25-09-2007