Molonglo Waterwatch Reports

On hearing that Geof Hall has handed in his kit,  Molonglo Waterwatch Coordinator, Bayne Geikie, said "In commending Geof, I have to say that he was more than ably assisted by his gracious and charming wife Beryl, plus his daughter (from time to time). Both Geof and Beryl are considered as Waterwatch stalwarts - faithfully doing it for for over 12 years. Geof was doing Waterwatch before I had even heard of it."

Indeed, ever since Waterwatch got kicked in the ACT, Geof has been integral to the testing of Sullivans Creek generally and his particular favourite, the David Street Wetland, forever.  He can take his place as one of the movers that ensured the construction of the first off-line wetland in the ACT.

Let us review Geof's environmental exploits...

• Geof began Waterwatch by collecting water data for the Friends of Tidbinbilla Park Care Group, which led to the exposure of filthy wild pigs as a main contributor of phosphorus to the creek;
• He took part in the first pilot of the CHiP program (developed by Jinnie Lovett back in the late 90's) for the Sullivans Creek Catchment Group;
• Swiftly and seamlessly, he moved into the SWAMP-CHiP project for the eastern tributaries of the Molonglo river in the earlier part of this new century;
• With equal enthusiasm Geof has been contributing to the M-CHiP more or less ever since it began, with some punctuation with a soil-borne illness picked up during his work with at Tidbinbilla Reserve; and
• Finally, Geof has won acclaim from his fellow environmental volunteers and allied agencies by taking out a landcare award or two; not only that but his kindly and wizened visage has graced the odd ACT environmental publication and brochure.

"From this point, I can only say a large and long thanks to Geof and Beryl for their huge contribution to Waterwatch and to the environment ethic in general. His work lives on as immortal water quality data ... Temperature, Turbidity, Salinity, pH, etc." Bayne concludes.

Geof helping out with a waterbug survey. (Image from Waterwatch Australia Website.)

Autumn 2008
Spring 2008

Molonglo Waterwatch extends an invitation to all Landcare, Parkcare, Schools and other interested community groups in the Molonglo River catchment to participate in the Waterwatch Waterbug Survey for Autumn 2008 and/or Spring 2008.  The survey matches the abundance and diversity of the waterbug populations to produce a stream water-quality rating.  This survey is used to give you and the Molonglo catchment community an idea of the general health of the Molonglo River catchment and the impacts of the drought on the waterbug populations and stream ecology. 

The Autumn survey will start in February 2008 and is open until the end of Term 1 school holidays. There is also the Spring survey starting October 2008 and is open until end of school Term 4.

If your group works on or near a waterway or dam, or if your school would like to know more about water, then this is an easy, fun activity and a great way to increase our landcare capacity and build local knowledge.

More info?  Drop me a line...

Bayne Geikie
Molonglo Waterwatch Coordinator
waterwatch at molonglocatchment.com.au & 6242 1191

Download flyer ( 247KB)

Download a flyer describing the various learning opportunities available through the Molonglo Catchment Group and Molonglo Waterwatch.

( 137KB)