Dunedoo Area Community Group Inc: Castlereagh River, Beni Crossing
Bottle number: 96
About the water
Collected at: Castlereagh River, Beni Crossing, [near Merrygoen], NSW
S: 31° 48.351', E: 149° 11.961'
Collected by: Dunedoo Area Community Group Inc (Dunedoo Coolah Landcare)
Just a road crossing that is frequently travelled over.
Water quality:
| Turbidity: | 15 |
| pH: | 8 |
| Salinity: | 1080µS |
At times this site is completely covered in Azolla, however at the time of sampling only small patches existed, really healthy emergent aquatic plants and only a few willows present.
ACT Waterwatch says:
Salinity seems to be a big problem, and there are not any easy fixes for that.
About the site
Large wide open sand based river, red gum and river oak on bank slopes with Angophora floribunda on bank tops, phragmites, weeping willows, cumbungi and Eliocaris growing in channel, little to no surface flow, azolla present on water surface (low density at this time), Australian Smelt are present.
What's going on:
No stock access directly to site but there is directly upstream, litter, recreational fishing site, swimming site, Cylindropuntia rosea sporadically on banks, road pollution.
Informal fish surveying only species caught to date is Australian Smelt.