Over 1000 people joined Leschenault Catchment Council on Sunday 19 May at the first ever Love the Lesch Festival in Australind.
Visitors helped build possum hides, learnt how to improve their soil health and met three different species of black cockatoos.
Staff from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) showed attendees how water makes its way into the estuary. They also discussed Healthy Estuaries WA’s water quality and seagrass monitoring, and sustainable agriculture program.
Dr Kieryn Kilminster from the department said it was a delightful day full of people that were excited to learn more.
“The highlights for me were listening to community talk about how water moves through the catchment” Kieryn said.
“We were very grateful that Green Teach lent us their catchment model. When we showed people what happens when it rains in the upper catchment, most people immediately said, ‘it’s all just washed into the estuary!’. It sparked some great discussions about not using too much fertiliser.
“This in turn got people talking about interesting and complex concepts like nutrients, oxygen levels and stratification.
“But my personal highlight was a visitor named Koji – a twelve-week-old puppy who decided to curl up on our underwater camera. He was a great mascot, and ambassador for seagrass.”
The Love the Lesch Festival was organised by the Leschenault Catchment Council and sponsored by Lotterywest, the Water Corporation and DWER’s Healthy Estuaries WA.
Find out more about the Leschenault Estuary.