A new website developed as part of the Healthy Rivers Program highlights the importance of river health to the ecosystem. The Healthy Rivers Program supports the Regional Estuaries Initiative (REI), assessing the health of rivers throughout the REI catchments. The new website includes detailed data about each assessment site, including … Read More
New approach to seagrass resilience
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s resident seagrass expert Dr Kieryn Kilminster, is building worldwide understanding of what it means for seagrass to be resilient. Seagrass meadows are an important part of estuarine ecosystems, providing habitat and food for birds and marine life, and contributing to good water and … Read More
River health checks
Health checks of waterways entering the Hardy Inlet, Vasse-Wonnerup, Leschenault and Peel-Harvey estuaries have revealed most of the sites assessed are dominated by fish and crayfish species unique to south west WA. The assessments identified some areas of degraded riparian zones, damage by stock access, and poor water quality – … Read More
Oyster Harbour on road to recovery
Results of a water quality monitoring program have shown that while Oyster Harbour has good water quality, it is still recovering from a substantial loss of seagrass and shellfish that occurred in the 1990s. The Regional Estuaries Initiative (REI) supported staff from DWER to commence a comprehensive water quality monitoring … Read More
Seagrass – an important indicator of estuarine health
Seagrass surveys in the Leschenault Estuary have been conducted by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation since 2009. That year showed an abundance of healthy seagrass meadows covering about 70 per cent of the estuary. Seagrass monitored again in the summer of 2015, told a different story.