The Autumn 2025 river health sampling was successfully completed in April.
Water Management and Assessment Technical Officer Kyle Weatherman said the water team in NRE Tas sampled over 80 sites across Tasmania.
“The sampling work contributed to the long-term River Health Monitoring Program and several important projects and initiatives,” he said.
“The following are some key highlights.”
River Health Monitoring Program
Fifty-three long-term sites were sampled statewide for waterbugs (macroinvertebrates), fine deposited sediment and riverbed algae (periphyton).
Water sites sampled for the Autumn 2025 program
Drivers of Change in Waterway Health Project
Thirty-one sites in the River Leven, Mountain River, Pipers River, and Ringarooma River catchments were sampled for macroinvertebrates, fine deposited sediment and periphyton.
This field season marks the end of sample collection for this important project, which includes research in the above case study catchments and investigations at a statewide scale. Datasets from Autumn 2023 to Autumn 2025 will now be analysed and reported on.
Pipers River - streambank erosion
Water Temperature Study
Water temperature loggers deployed in Spring 2024 were retrieved.
Datasets from these loggers will contribute to a study that has been running since 2019, exploring summer instream temperature dynamics and associated risks to aquatic life.
Cultural Engagement
Team members Scott Hardie and Kyle Weatherman spent two days in the field with Tebrakunna Rangers from the Melaythenner Teeackana Warrana (Heart of Country) Aboriginal Corporation (MTWAC).
They demonstrated river health field methods at three of the long-term monitoring sites in northeast Tasmania.
Together they shared knowledge and discussed opportunities for future collaborations.
Working with Tebrakunna Rangers from the Melaythenner Teeackana Warrana (Heart of Country) Aboriginal Corporation
CSIRO collaboration
The team provided CSIRO researchers with a number of live periphyton samples.
These samples will undergo identification to improve our understanding of periphyton communities in Tasmanian rivers. The samples will also be used to expand the Australian National Algae Culture Collection, which is held in Hobart and contains over 1000 living marine and freshwater microalgae strains.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s fieldwork program. It was another great team effort, with significant inputs from field participants, duty officers, and managers.