Mosquito Creek

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Glossary

Introduction

Mosquito Creek is a fresh to brackish stream in the South East of the state. It originates in western Victoria and flows to Bool Lagoon. This section of the creek is one of the few natural creeks in the region. The main land use in the catchment is grazing, and the main water quality impacts are likely to be increased turbidity and nutrients. Many aquatic plant species grow in the creek channel at this site. However, the banks have little vegetation and are dominated by exotic grasses. Stream flow data for the site is available from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. >> Map (799KB 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. 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	Habitat not present

Since monitoring at this site began in 1994, flows have decreased markedly through Mosquito Creek. As a result, this site has changed from several deep pools with fringing macrophytes connected by shallow flowing riffle habitats to become a series of largely disconnected pools. Since 2002 the riffle habitat has been absent due to low flows. Biologically, this site has generally been rated as good, equivalent to other least disturbed reference sites in the State.

In autumn 2006 the edge habitat was rated as good, with a community of species that frequent disconnected pool habitats. The main pool included areas of shallow and deep water and several different types of aquatic plants were present. This complex habitat supports a wide range of macroinvertebrate species.

The most common species were the introduced snail Physa, amphipod Austrochiltonia australis and springtails from the family Hypogastruridae. Numerous types of fly larvae were collected from the pool, as well as several types of mites and beetles. The The adult dyticid beetle Megaporus howitti and stonefly Austrocerca tasmanica were the most notable rare macroinvertebrate species collected during the survey. The latter species in particular is commonly recorded in the Mt Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, but not regularly collected from the South East.

Download ecological health data

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

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in Mosquito 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	Poor
Soluble Phosphorus	Good
Total Phosphorus	Good
Turbidity	Good

The total nitrogen was considered poor in Mosquito Creek during this period. This is probably due to the livestock having direct access to the creek as well as diffuse runoff containing fertilisers. In recent years, the nitrogen levels have been highly variable, without a clear seasonal pattern. Reduced flows in the river over the past few years have also altered the habitat, with more reedy growth. This creek is, however, considered to be quite healthy and one of the few natural creeks in the South East.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

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

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for Mosquito 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