Myponga River

Water quality links:

Home

What is water quality?

Direct to data

Monitoring program & assessments

Major threats & issues

Legislation & programs

Other resources & initiatives

Publications

Glossary

Introduction

This site on Myponga River is upstream of the Myponga reservoir and is surrounded by dairy farming land. It is located at the Myponga gauging station, where stream flow data are available from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. A diverse range of aquatic plants grow in the channel of this fresh stream and eucalypts and exotic grasses line the banks. Elevated turbidity and nutrient levels are the most likely water quality problems. >> Map (766KB PDF)

Water quality assessment

Water quality is assessed as being in good, moderate or poor condition by interpreting ecological health and water chemistry data in the context of protecting environmental values. >> More

Ecological health is assessed in spring and autumn using the AUSRIVAS model. 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	Moderate

The edge habitat at this site in the Myponga River usually has a high diversity and generally rates in a good condition. The riffle section is not often present but has been rated in good to moderate condition in the past.

The most common macroinvertebrates in the edge and riffle habitats were hydrobiid snails (including the introduced Potamopyrgus antipodarum) and oligochaete worms. Several other types of snails were also observed at the site indicating that it receives considerable nutrient loads, which promote the growth of a large range of aquatic macrophytes. Other common macroinvertebrates included several types of mites, chironomid midge larvae and caddisflies.

The presence of the introduced lymnaeid snail Pseudosuccinea columella is notable because this species is considered to be a potent carrier of the sheep liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica).

Download ecological health data

• Macroinvertebrate summary for the Myponga River
• All the macroinvertebrate data for the Myponga River

Water chemistry

The indicators that are measured in the Myponga 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	Good
Total Nitrogen	Good
Soluble Phosphorus	Poor
Total Phosphorus	Moderate
Turbidity	Good

The results in this monitoring period were generally consistent with previous results for this site.

The nutrient levels in the Myponga River are often elevated in the winter months, coinciding with higher rainfall flushing animal wastes into the river. The elevated nutrient concentrations tend to support quite extensive aquatic macrophyte growth in the river. The nutrient concentrations in this period were slightly lower than previous results. This is likely to be because the catchment runoff was lower than normal due to the drought. Nutrient levels in the Myponga catchment are being addressed by the EPA through a Myponga Watercourse Restoration Project. This is an on-ground works project; fencing off watercourses to exclude stock, constructing stock crossings, installing off-stream watering points, and undertaking revegetation works.

>> Archived results

Download water chemistry graphs

• Oxidised nitrogen in the Myponga River
  
• Total nitrogen in the Myponga River
  
• Total phosphorus in the Myponga River
  
• Soluble phosphorus in the Myponga River
  
• Turbidity in the Myponga River
  
• Salinity in the Myponga River

Download raw chemistry data

• All chemistry data for the Myponga 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

Reports

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

This page was last modified 25-09-2007