This week saw the signing of a contract with Rockdale City Council for restoration works on a small wetland on the foreshores of Bardwell Creek. The Coolabah wetland is an intermittently flooded billabong or oxbow on a bend of Bardwell Creek in Turrella. It is primarily fed by stormwater discharge from the nearby John Street. Over time the wetland has become choked with sediment, litter and a variety of weed plants.

This project commits $45,000 of the Cooks River Urban Water Initiative funding to the restoration works. This includes formalising the inflow and outflow locations of the wetland, removal of sediment, minor re-shaping and revegetation works to plant native wetland and riparian species. These works will improve the quality of water moving into Bardwell Valley due to the natural filtering quality of the wetland ecosystem whilst also providing habitat for native species. Works are expected to get underway in the next few months.