program

Is it safe to go swimming? Monitoring has shown that wet weather, and resultant

contaminated stormwater, can adversely affect local

water quality for both swimming and boating.

Council has developed a ‘real time’ swimming risk

indicator system based on water salinity data collected

from five water quality monitoring buoys.

Check out the swimming risk indicator

at hornsby.nsw.gov.au/waterquality

Help prevent stormwater pollution!Do your bit … STOP car wash detergent, paint, excess

garden fertilisers and pesticides, grass clippings,

cigarette butts and any other litter from ending

up in our gutters, stormwater drains and local creeks.

Remember... the drain is just for rain

Natural Resources BranchHornsby Shire Council 296 Pacific Highway, HornsbyPO Box 37, Hornsby NSW 1630

Telephone 9847 68748.30am-5pm Monday to Friday

hornsby.nsw.gov.au/water

Ph

oto

by: Daniel N

olan

What is a Catchment?A catchment is the area of land from which stormwater

drains into a creek, estuary or river system. Whatever

happens in that catchment affects the waterways within it.

There are four main catchment areas within Hornsby Shire:

�� Cowan Creek

�� Berowra Creek

�� Hawkesbury River

�� Upper Lane Cove River

Do you know where your stormwater flows to?

your guide to ourcreek and estuary

water quality

Water quality report card 2012

Findings (see centrefold Water Quality Report Card)

�� National Park ‘reference’ creeks (test sites 36 and 37) and estuarine test sites have the best water quality

�� Generally fair to poor water quality is found just downstream of our developed urban and rural areas

�� The most polluted water is sampled around our industrial estates (test sites 10, 12 and 13)

�� During heavy rain, water quality decreases because water becomes contaminated with suspended solids, nutrients and bacteria washed off the catchment

�� Wet weather can cause a higher incidence of sewer overflows

�� Very few creeks within Hornsby Shire are not impacted in some way by human development

Why is water quality important?

Water is the lifeblood of our planet.

Water quality is therefore one of the best indicators

of overall environmental health.

Waterway health is an issue

of concern for Hornsby

Shire Council, particularly

following algal blooms,

fish kills, muddy water

and sewage contamination

within Berowra Creek during

the late 1980s early 1990s.

Testing the waters

Since 1994 Council has

regularly tested the Shire’s

waterways and compares results to clean

‘reference’ creeks in local National Parks.

A multi-sensor probe is used to monitor water,

with collected samples sent for lab analysis.

419 pollution traps (stormwater quality

improvement devices) are installed and

maintained throughout Hornsby Shire catchments.

Since 1996, these pollution traps have captured

enough waste material to fill the equivalent of

66,500 Hornsby red-lid garbage bins or almost

four Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Council manages 5 monitoring buoys in the lower

Hawkesbury estuary, which deliver real-time data

on water quality.

Water running southwards

off Pennant Hills Road will

eventually flow under

the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The total length of creek lines

within Hornsby Shire is 1,190 kms.

620,000 litres of sewage effluent was

collected from boats at Kangaroo Point

Pumpout Facility 2008–2012.

*

*

*

*

*

Monitoring water quality allows us to assess,

through time, the impact of land-use on waterways

and to ensure that works funded by the Catchments

Remediation Rate (CRR) achieve best possible

environmental outcomes.

Did you know...

The good news is that episodes of algal blooms are reducing – and that’s good for fish, oysters and people.

The bad news is that nutrients, including fertilisers, contaminate our creeks. Leaking septic tanks and sewage pipes are also contributing.

Oysters can filter up to five litres of water each hour.

Oysters are extremely sensitive to water quality and susceptible to coastal pollution.

The gonads of the oyster are considered to be the tastiest part.

A ‘spat’ is the name for a baby oyster.

Oysters are considered tastier during the months that contain ‘r’.

NSW oyster farmers produce more than 100 million oysters per year - a $35 million industry

Oyster trivia

*

WISEMANS FERRY

108

MARRAM

ARRA CREEK

EASTWOOD

EPPINGCARLINGFORD

CHELTENHAM

NORTH EPPING

BEECROFT

CASTLE HILLWEST

PENNANT HILLS

CHERRYBROOK

GLENHAVEN

PENNANT HILLS

THORNLEIGH

NORMANHURST

WAITARA

WAHROONGA

HORNSBY

DURAL

MIDDLE DURAL

GLENORIE

MOONEY MOONEY

SUNNY CORNER

LAUGHTONDALE

SINGLETONSMILL

HA

WK

ESB

URY RIVER

GALSTON

ARCADIA

HORNSBYHEIGHTS

ASQUITH

MT COLAH

MT KURING-GAI

BEROWRA

BEROWRA HEIGHTS

BEROWRA WATERS

BERRILEE

CALABASH POINT

NEVERFAIL BAY

COWAN

BROOKLYN

CANOELANDS

MAROOTA

COBA POINT

BEROWRA

CREE

K

WESTLEIGH

ONE TREEREACH

GENTLEMANSHALT

FOREST GLEN

BAR ISLAND

HA

WK

ES

BU

RY R IVE R

MILSONS PASSAGE

DANGAR ISLAND

JUNO POINTMUOGAMARRANATURE RESERVE

KU-RING-GAI CHASENATIONAL PARK

COTTAGEPOINT

MARRAMARRANATIONAL PARK

FIDDLETOWN

CO

LAH

CR

EE

K

GALSTONGORGE

PATONGA

FLINT & STEELPOINT

WEST HEAD

LION ISLAND

CREE

K

COWAN

KU-RING-GAI CHASENATIONAL PARK

BOBBIN HEAD

CROSSLANDSRESERVE

BER

OW

RA C

R EE

K

TUNKS CREEK

PYES C REEK

DEVLINS CREEK

S TILL CR

E EK

BROKENBAY

4837

103

104

105

106 3855

107

36

62

3961

60

8 46

6

5

4

12

10

23

1245

52

77

80

63

42

64

100

49 43 13

Bushland

Water test site number

Main roads

Creeks

Estuarine

Rural

Urban

Industrial

N

Your water quality

BB A+ B

BC A C

CC C C

BC A C

BC A C

DD D D

BB A B

BC A C

CC C D

CC C C

CC A D

FD F F

BB A C

BB B -

AA A+ A

BC A B

BB A C

BB A B

BA A+ C

CC C B

BC A+ -

DC C F

AA A+ -

BC A C

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

AB A A

Water monitoring buoys

BA B C

report card

Summary Waterway Health Grading

Physical &chemicalcondition Bacterial

contamination

Water bugs & microscopic plant life

What do the grades mean?

KEY

AREAS

Train stations

6

DC F -

CC B C

DC D F

DD C D

Grades are based on data collected by Hornsby Shire Council’s water quality monitoring program

For more information, including test site locations, see the Companion Technical Report and Annual Water Quality Reports

hornsby.nsw.gov.au/waterquality

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Fail

STP

Sewage Treatment PlantSTP

STP

STP

Indicates clean water and a healthy ecosystem

Implies water quality is always poor and the ecosystem severely impaired

} Increasingly degraded water quality and ecosystems

ABCDF