Stage 1 of this program aims to provide an overview of the significant wetlands in the SMCMA catchment areas for rehabilitation/conservation.  This involves the development of a prioritisation method for the Sydney Region to ensure wetland funding is directed where it is most needed.  The development of this method is being undertaken by Wetland Care Australia and includes a review of previously developed wetland condition assessments as well as a pilot study assessing the condition of the eight Directory of Important Wetlands of Australia (DIWA) listed wetlands in the SMCMA area.

NEWS:  A Wetland Prioritisation Technique for the SMCMA Area is now complete and can be downloaded here

At the same time, existing mapping data of Sydney's wetlands has been collated to produce a more comprehensive GIS layer for the SMCMA to use in conjunction with the prioritisation method.

Stage 2 of the Project includes two rehabilitation projects in conjuction with DIWA listed wetland managers.

Eve Street Wetland Remediation:

This joint project with Sydney Water Corporation will improve native fish movement and wading bird habitat in a small, yet important, urban saltmarsh wetland in Arncliffe.  Project works include stabilisation and flushing of the channel connecting the saltmarsh to the Tidal Cooks River.  Recent sedimentation to the connecting channel hampered the tidal flow essential for a saltmarsh environment and reduced the area of exposed mudflats at low tide that is so important for foraging wetland birds. The wetland will continue to be monitored by Sydney Water and the Rockdale Wetlands Preservation Society to discover what affect the works have on the wetland's environment. 

(i)  Mud flats exposed again at Eve Street Wetland
(ii)  Stabilisation works to the inlet channel allowed the tide to flush the wetland (Photos: Sydney Water)

Boundary Creek Fishway:

The second project involves the construction of a fishway at Boundary Creek at Bicentennial park.  Boundary Creek is a small stream that runs into the DIWA listed Bicentennial Park Wetlands.  This project will modify a culvert and construct a rock ramp fishway at the end.  Currently, the concrete culvert has very shallow, fast moving flow and a large step at the downstream end effectively blocking fish from moving upstream.  The freshwater upstream areas of creeks such as this can be important in breeding cycles of native fish.  Partners in this project are the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and the Department of Primary Industries.

  
(i)  The completed fishway structure before final re-vegetation works
(ii)  A close up of the fishway cells that allow native fish to rest whilst moving up through the fishway

Status: Both stages are complete

Funding Source: Australian Government