Inland Waters
Page 148
EPA Water Quality Assessments
Freshwater monitoring in South Australia is undertaken by the EPA based
on
the AUSRIVAS model and
Australian Guidelines for Water Quality
Monitoring and Reporting. The program monitors the condition of major
water bodies, by comparing them with national water quality guidelines and
ecological health indicators. The collection of frequent water samples
enables the identification of trends in water quality.
There are no EPA monitoring sample locations for the Torrens River that are
within or near the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, however a site at Dry Creek
near the Council boundary is included within the monitoring program.
Freshwater quality in terms of ecological health and water chemistry is
assessed as being in ‘good’, ‘moderate’ or ‘poor’ condition. Ecological health
is assessed using the Australian River Assessment System (AUSRIVAS)
model. Aquatic macro-invertebrates, including insects, crustaceans, snails,
worms, mites and sponges are used as the major biological indicator group.
The assessment provides a measure of the degree of similarity between the
aquatic macro-vertebrates found at each site and those predicted to occur at
the site if it were not disturbed or impacted.
Two samples of macro-invertebrates are taken, one from the riffle (flowing
water) and one from the edge (still water) habitat. The indicators that are
measured in Dry Creek are nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), turbidity,
salinity and heavy metals.
Condition indicator:
ANZECC water standards of Port Adelaide Enfield
catchments and wetlands.
Table 29: Summary Dry Creek Ecological health assessments for May 2007
Habitat
Ecological health
Edge
Good
Riffle
Habitat not present
Table 30: Summary Dry Creek Water chemistry for April to September 2007
Indicator
Ecosystem classification
Oxidised Nitrogen
Poor
Total nitrogen
Poor
Soluble Phosphorus
Good
Total Phosphorus
Good
Turbidity
Good
Heavy metals
Good
