Mambray Creek

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Glossary

Introduction

Mambray Creek is a fresh stream located in the southern Flinders Ranges and flows to the coast north of Port Pirie. The site is downstream of a conservation park and therefore the land use upstream is predominantly native vegetation. Monitoring at this site began in early 2005. >> Map (1.3MB 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

We measure chemical indicators because when they reach a certain level they can cause stress or toxicity to animals and plants in an ecosystem. Water chemistry is measured in Mambray Creek every three months (rather than monthly) because of its remote location. >> 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 available

The moderate ecological health in Mambray Creek was consistent with previous monitoring at the site. The ecological condition for this site ranges between good and moderate, depending on the extent of water and available habitat.

The edge habitat had 27 different types of macroinvertebrates in autumn 2006, the most common being oligochaete worms. The site was rated as slightly impaired because of the lack of crustaceans, corixid waterbugs, mayflies and caddisflies. Numerous macroinvertebrates that burrow in the sediments or live on rocks and bark were present, as well as a diverse beetle fauna. The most interesting macroinvertebrate at the site was the planorbid snail Helicorbis victoriae.

Download ecological health data

• All the macroinvertebrate data for Mambray Creek

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in Mambray 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	Good
Total Nitrogen	Good
Soluble Phosphorus	Good
Total Phosphorus	Good
Turbidity	Good

This site is a recent addition to the monitoring program and has been monitored since May 2005. The creek is located in a Conservation Park, so there are few pollution sources within the catchment that could impact on the water quality.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

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

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for Mambray 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 through 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 in 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