Sydney's Northern Beaches Case Study

To investigate the various impacts of Water pollution on Prospect Creek in particularly if recreational activities affect the creek and how rubbish is managed.

The Cronulla beach environment features a variety of issues that are both physical and human related; the most prominent issues are erosion, inappropriate development and also pollution. However despite the many issues present at Cronulla, there are a variety of coastal management strategies being administered in order to combat these problems that have a potentiating threat on the beach biome. The predominant strategies used to counter these problems are Seabee walls, Seawalls, and also signage, bins and fences; and these five solutions each have advantages and disadvantages, which ultimately prove whether or not, the strategy itself is successful.

Hastings Point is a small coastal town located in New South Wales that is sounded by a national park. Hastings point has been a great location for tourists due to its marine wildlife, beaches and fishing. This destination is home to a magnificent rocky shore perfectly suited for a vast majority and wide range of marine wildlife. The rocky shore has a wide spread of both biotic and abiotic factors which provides a suitable ecosystem for all wildlife but unfortunately this unindustrialized location is becoming over developed. This takes a toll on Hastings point ecosystem immensely because the estuary, beach and the living organisms are slowly diminishing in

The sandy shores of beaches can be considered as a very harsh environment to live in (Ted Klenk, 1999). Survival in such a habitat requires an organism to withstand strong wave and current action, tidal rise and fall, unstable substrate, heavy predation and wide variations in salinity and temperature (The Otter Island Project). Any organism found in this type of harsh environment is specialized and highly adapted (The Otter Island Project).

Turbidity and nutrient levels occur within Australia’s river systems, generally coincide in Australia's river systems. A large proportion of the suspended sediment in Australian rivers results from vegetation removal, leading to gully and stream bank erosion and sheetwash. Phosphorus is overwhelmingly associated with such particulate loads (The National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2002).

Hervey Bay is a sub-tropical environment located along the east coast of Queensland. It is recognized for containing a variety of ecosystems, including the rocky shores, forests, mangroves, and sand dunes. Each ecosystem experiences hardships due to human interaction and impact, causing an array of issues. These issues have been investigated in depth through on location field data collection, and an array of online and offline literature references.

Fieldwork was conducted at the catchments of Third and Fourth Creek in the Adelaide Hills on dates ranging from the 17th of May to the 31st of May. Data was collected at the same six points along each creek

Broderick, K. (2008). Adaptive Management for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef Catchments: Learning on the Edge. Geographical Research, 46(3), 303-313. doi:10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00525.x

After taking samples, and running tests on the water of the U-Creek, the conclusion was made that the water quality of the U-Creek is excellent. Water quality is not excellent in all cases, but keeping good water quality is very important for life of the organisms in the water. One way that humans could change the water quality, or pollute the water is through runoff. Rivers are a very convenient place for the companies or farms to get rid of waste. For example, farmers put pesticides and fertilizers on their crops to protect them from bugs, or to help them grow better. Fertilizers contain nitrates and phosphates, if large amounts of these two things end up in the water it will lead to an overgrowth of plant life, and algae growth. Over time as the algae starts to rapidly grow, the algae will start to use up all of the dissolved oxygen in the water. Dissolved oxygen is very important to organism life so if it is all gone then organisms will start to die. Another way that humans pollute water is through chemical water deposits. Chemical waste is discharged from industrial processes, that can end up in rivers or streams. An example of a

The Reef catchments descriptively portray the community’s perspective and views on natural resource management in the area and what their values are. Their vision is made clear.

Recently, ecologists have begun the idea of a no mow zone. A no mow zone is letting areas of land grow on their own or without mowing. (http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/no_mow.htm) It was stated in the paragraph above that fertilizers and pesticides wash into the creek and bring down the water quality. With the no mow zones, the plants surrounding the body of water filter the runoff and also block liter from entering the creek.

The recent flood in Queensland have devastated much of the state’s landscape. A major issue that has been taken place is the health of waterways. The waterways have been significantly impacted. Many rivers, lakes and creeks has eroded, been contaminated and been littered with debris. An enormous amount of fish have died as the water has receded. Many marine animals are of particular concern since their natural habitat has been completely obliterated.

Curl Curl creek was dammed in 1892 to provide a continuing source of fresh water for the village of Manly. It was named Manly Reservoir and had a capacity of 68.2 million imperial gallons (310,043,338 litres). It was used as a source of drinking water for over 35 years. It was essential in the early days of water supply for the northern beaches.

The water quality of the UHS creek was found to be excellent, however, not all creeks have excellent water quality (42). One way humans have negatively impacted water quality is through sewage and garbage runoff. When sewage and garbage runs off into creeks and streams and other water sources, it raises the nitrogen and phosphorous levels of the water, which harms the animals and possibly humans if we consume it. Another way is through point pollution, such as a factory getting rid of excess chemicals by throwing them into a water source, and therefore hurting the water quality and the ecosystem of the water source. (http://www.creekfreaks.net/sources-pollution-point-and-nonpoint)

Advancement of technology has enabled us to manage and control the water resources in order to maximize the benefits gained through water. This is done by making dams, barrages and man-made streams. But this type of development also imbalances the different natural systems, eventually disturbing the sediment transport equilibrium which affects the system efficiency, reducing benefits derived from the dam construction. Bed aggradations on upstream of dams are seen as a result of such disturbance.