SWAMP: Bald Rock Creek
Bottle number: 103
About the water
Collected at: Bald Rock Creek, McDonagh Road, Ballandean, Queensland
151.8750287, -28.826194
A weir where the road to the farm crosses the creek.
Collected by: SWAMP (Stanthorpe Water Assessment and Monitoring Project)
Was one of many sites which were selected for a shire wide monitoring program, involving the community, Landcare, regional body, Qld Dept of Natural resources (DNR), Qld Dept of Health (lab testing) and shire council. Criteria were: ease of access; public access; end of valley; representative of some land use.
Water quality:
| Turbidity: | 12 (tube) |
| pH: | 7.9 (pHScan hand held calibrated) |
| Nitrates: | n/a (kits are unreliable: reagent instability is an issue) |
| Salinity: | 280 (this is high for the site; may need to check the calibration of this meter: historically: med value is 65 µS high value is 220 low value is 30 25th perc is 50 75th perc is 115) |
| Phosphates: | n/a (kits are unreliable: reagent instability is an issue) |
| Dissolved oxygen: | n/a (not done; upland water ways (flow/pools/etc), shade etc, may be useful if logged for several days at a time) |
No flow and lower than usual.
Waterwatch says:
This site is in pretty good condition. While it is possible the EC meter is playing up, it may also be that salts are concentrating in the water as the pool dries out.
About the site
Large weir, been established for many years; natural bush along one side; vineyard along the other; most water comes from Girraween National Park and the rest from Doctors Ck (Eukey), could be described as pristine (except for the vineyard etc); threats are over extraction; nutrient runoff.
What's going on:
The site is fairly stable.
- Bi-monthly monitoring ph; ec; temp and turbidity.
- Data is shared with regional body, Council and DNR.
- Some lab sampling (Nuts: filtered and unfiltered; pesticides and major Ions) was done initially but it is expensive.
- No kit nutrient sampling as the nitrate ned and visicolour phs are so unreliable as to be misleading.