Overview
The Warra Hydrology project was established in 1998. The study involves three headwater streams draining the eastern slopes of the Weld Range. One stream is in a pristine catchment (Warra Creek) and two in partially harvested catchments (Swanson and King Creeks).
Three streams have ponding dams fitted with v-notch weirs and instruments installed to continuously monitor stream flow and water quality (turbidity, conductivity and temperature). Measurements, which commenced in 1998, are done every 15 minutes and data is transferred via modem for quality checking by Entura and archiving with the Bureau of Meteorology. Annual “grab samples” have also been collected since 1995 to characterise the macro-invertebrate fauna of these streams.
The upper parts of the Swanson and Kings catchments were logged and regenerated 1997 (coupe WR011B). A planned harvest operation (coupe WR004A) within the mid and lower section of King and Swanson Creeks was done in 2018. Before and after monitoring of the water flow and quality and of the macro-invertebrate assemblages in King and Swanson Creeks compared with the pristine control (Warra Creek) will be used to evaluate changes due to harvesting and forest practices code provisions for riparian protection of headwater streams.
