Little Para River

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Introduction

The Little Para River is a freshwater stream that flows west from the Mount Lofty Ranges near Upper Hermitage into the Barker Inlet. The Little Para is a water supply catchment, with the Little Para Reservoir near its middle. Land uses in the catchment are a mixture of broad-acre grazing, some perennial horticulture, forestry and the fringing residential area of the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Elevated turbidity and nutrient levels are the most likely water quality problems.

The monitoring site is located at the flow gauging station just downstream of the Little Para Reservoir. Stream flow data for the site is available from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. Extensive reed beds grow in the channel and the riparian vegetation is predominantly native with tall eucalypts and a grassy undergrowth. >> Map (192KB 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. Water chemistry is measured each month. >> More

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in the Little Para 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	Poor
Total Nitrogen	Poor
Soluble Phosphorus	Good
Total Phosphorus	Good
Turbidity	Good

The water quality results for this monitoring period were generally consistent with previous results, with elevated nitrogen concentrations (mainly due to oxidised nitrogen).

The oxidised nitrogen concentration in the Little Para River does not appear to follow a clear seasonal trend, although it is likely to be influenced by local groundwater inflows that may contain elevated nitrate concentrations.

The Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board is also developing a regional NRM Plan, which will address catchment management issues affecting the condition of watercourses such as the Little Para River.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

• Oxidised nitrogen in the Little Para River
  
• Total nitrogen in the Little Para River
  
• Total phosphorus in the Little Para River
  
• Soluble phosphorus in the Little Para River
  
• Turbidity in the Little Para River
  
• Salinity in the Little Para River

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for the Little Para 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