Yarra River - Questions and Answers
- Is the Yarra River healthy?
- Is the Yarra safe for swimming?
- What is E. coli?
- What causes pollution in rivers such as the Yarra?
- What can the community do to help?
- What is Melbourne Water's role?
- How does Melbourne water conduct its water quality monitoring?
- What is Melbourne Water doing to improve the Yarra?
Q. Is the Yarra River healthy?
A.
In general, the condition of the Yarra River is excellent in the upper reaches, where it flows through forested, mountainous areas reserved for water supply purposes, but it progressively declines in condition due to agricultural and urban pressures in the middle to lower reaches.
As with many rivers flowing through major cities, the Yarra River has been historically degraded by polluted discharge from industrial premises (such as tanneries, abattoirs and breweries etc) unsewered areas, sewage treatment plants, sewer overflows, landfills and urban stormwater.
Over the past 20 years, however, there has been a general improvement in the river's water quality resulting from the increased sewering of catchments and the diversion of industrial discharges into the sewerage system.
In addition to water quality improvements in the Yarra River, other significant environmental changes in recent times are the wider distribution of platypus and a range of migratory native fish species. Platypus are now know to occur in the Yarra River at Kew, less than 10 kilometres from the city centre. Melbourne Water is a major sponsor of the Australian Platypus Conservancy program to identify and monitor platypus.
Melbourne Water's removal of barriers to fish migration, such as weirs and pipes, has allowed fish to utilise more sections of the Yarra. Since 1999, Melbourne Water has worked with landholders to fence over 160km of stream frontages in the Yarra catchment. This work has resulted in improved weed control and revegetation with over 300,000 plants.
Melbourne Water's Rivers and Creeks 2004 report (PDF 1376kb) provides a comprehensive review of the condition of Melbourne's rivers and creeks. Click on the following links for more information on the:
The following graphs illustrate the improvement in E. coli levels of the Yarra River over the past 30 years.
Q. Is the Yarra safe for swimming?
A.
The State Government does not advise primary contact such as swimming in the Yarra after heavy rain as this is the time when bacterial indicator levels from stormwater are highest.
The Yarra is generally safe for secondary contact (boating, canoeing, rowing etc) but again, it is advisable, not to undertake these activities for five days after heavy rainfall.
Health authorities, such as the Department of Human Services, recommend that people should avoid ingesting untreated water from creeks, rivers or the bay at all times.
A.
E. coli (or Escherichia coli) is a bacteria found in the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals and is used as an indicator of recent faecal contamination.
E. coli is the water quality measure of public health risk used by the Department of Human Services and the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA Victoria).
Q. What causes pollution in rivers such as the Yarra?
A.
The major causes of pollution in rivers and creeks in urban areas, such as the Yarra River are:
- litter
- oil from roads
- animal and bird droppings
- sewage from leaking sewers
- overflows
- illegal connections and septic tanks
- pollutants carried in stormwater.
Litter is a major source of pollution in Melbourne's rivers and creeks, and the situation can only be improved through a coordinated approach.
We work with EPA Victoria and councils to educate the community about the impact litter has on our rivers and creeks.
People need to be aware that what they put in the gutters and on our streets - whether it's grass clippings after mowing the lawn, chemicals they're trying to dispose of or dog poo washed off the streets - ends up in the waterways along with the rainwater and can have a negative impact on the environment.
The stormwater system is designed to take rainwater into the closest waterway. Unlike sewage it isn't treated before it enters our waterways - in most cases it flows directly into our creeks, rivers and bays.
For more information please read the Stormwater pollution fact sheet.
Q. What can the community do to help?
A.
When it rains, any rubbish left on our roads, nature strips or in gutters is washed into stormwater drains. These drains carry this rubbish to the creeks and rivers before it ends up on our beaches and in the bays.
Everyone can help reduce pollution in rivers and creeks. View our tips on how to safely dispose of grass clippings, motor oil, paint and other pollutants.
Q. What is Melbourne Water's role?
A.
Melbourne Water's main responsibility is to manage and monitor the long-term health of Melbourne's rivers and creeks. We regularly publish our results in our annual Social and Environment Report and in our Rivers and Creeks 2004 report (PDF 1.3mb).
Melbourne Water's water quality monitoring program is designed to assess broad-scale, long-term trends in water quality (typically over eight to ten years). It is also used to assess progress against State Environment Protection Policy (SePP) objectives, which are established and monitored by EPA Victoria.
The EPA's responsibility as the regulatory body is to set long term water quality objectives, licence discharges, to investigate any pollution incidents and take enforcement action if necessary.
The EPA has a pollution hotline, which allows members of the community to contact them if there is an incident. EPA's Pollution Watch Line number is 9695 2777 and 1800 444 004 for regional callers.
Q. How does Melbourne Water conduct its water quality monitoring?
A.
Water quality monitoring tests are collected and assessed by independent laboratories on behalf of Melbourne Water.
While monitoring is increased over the summer months to test for E. coli and blue green algae, regular monitoring occurs monthly throughout the year.
Samples are taken and tested for the following water quality indicators:
- Water temperature
- Dissolved oxygen
- Salinity (conductivity)
- pH
- Nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Kjeldahl nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus)
- Faecal contamination (E. coli)
- Metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc).
E. coli levels are generally elevated after heavy rainfall due to run-off from stormwater. Research indicates that it takes about five days after a storm before E. coli levels return to normal.
Community groups and individuals also play a part in monitoring and testing water quality through the Melbourne Waterwatch program. Melbourne Water is a major sponsor of this program. Melbourne Waterwatch publishes the results of this community testing annually.
Q. What is Melbourne Water doing to improve the Yarra?
A.
We are strongly committed to improving the Yarra River catchment. In the past six years, we have invested $36 million on works to improve waterway and stormwater quality, maintenance and grants to volunteers and property owners with river frontage.
In 2004/05, we invested $653,000 on the middle and lower Yarra River. This includes nine improvement projects, including work on the weir and fishway at Dights Falls.
Managing the impacts of stormwater has been identified as a key priority over the next five years for managing the middle and lower sections of the Yarra River in the draft Regional River Health Strategy.
Melbourne Water and the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority have worked with state and local government authorities, environment groups and the community to develop the five year Port Phillip and Westernport Regional River Health Strategy, which covers some 62 rivers and creeks in the Port Phillip and Westernport region.