Boorowa River Recovery – Our River
Sue Streatfield, Greening Australia South East NSW 2005
1. Overview of the River
o The Boorowa River Catchment is located in the headwaters of the Lachlan
River in central western NSW
o The river runs from south to north and joins the Lachlan River just below
the main water storage facility of Wyangala Dam.
o The catchment covers an area of app 182,000 ha and the river length is
an estimated 150 kms
o The Boorowa River in the Lachlan catchment is an important part of the
Murray Darling Basin.
o Large amounts of salt discharge daily into the Lachlan River from the
Boorowa River, thus impacting on the water quality of downstream users.
o On average, approximately 26 t/day of salt discharge from the Boorowa
River into the Lachlan River at Cowra.
o The Boorowa River catchment has been extensively cleared for
agriculture during the past 150 years. It is now estimated that less than
10% of the catchment remains under woodland or forest cover
(Freudenberger et al 2004).
2. How the River interacts with the community
History
o The local area was originally inhabited by the Wiradjuri tribe - largest in
NSW .
o The Wiradjuri lands stretch from Nyngan to Albury and from Hay to
Bathurst - the largest territory in New South Wales.
o The rivers were important routes for Aboriginal people, providing food,
water and shelter.
o The Wiradjuri had semi permanent camping spots on the Boorowa and
Lachlan Rivers.
o There may have been several thousand of the Lachlan tribal group at first
settlement, but surveys showed only 300 were left in 1851.
o The name Burrowa, by which the region was once known, and Boorowa
were said to be aboriginal words for native birds – bustard or plains turkey
which were once common but now long since gone.
o The region was first settled by Europeans in the later 1820s, especially by
Irish convicts transported from Clonoulty, County Tipperary after political
activity in 1815.
o By 1871, the Burrowa Police District alone had 3,865 residents, a
combination of Free Selectors and miners. In 1995, the population in the
Shire was 2,630, whereas in 2001, the population was 2,321, with 1,184
males and 1,137 females. About 1,300 people live within the Boorowa
township area.
o The name of the district was changed to Boorowa in the mid 1900s (Lyold,
1990).
o Boorowa, on the banks of the Boorowa River, grew in the middle part of
the 19th century as a service centre for rural activities, providing a focus
for the region. Its shops and pubs were often fiercely Irish in their outlook.
o Boorowa retained a strong sense of its Irish roots although the convict
backgrounds of its original settlers were soon forgotten.
o By 1851 there were less than 3000 people in the entire Lachlan district
o The main occupation of Boorowa settlers was wool. There were already
tens of thousands of sheep in the district by 1840. With fencing and
improved techniques Boorowa flourished as a prime sheep growing region
- shipping wool, meat and (in the 1990s) live ship to world markets.
o The village of Boorowa was surveyed around a main crossing of the
Boorowa River and gazetted in 1850. On Crown Land and with sections
reserved for the infrastructure of a town - court house (originally 1860 present building 1884 - closed 1988), post office (first 1856 - today's 1876)
, and pound, it replaced earlier private towns.
o In the early days Boorowa was notorious for crime and lawlessness.
Robberies, assault and stock stealing were rife - fuelled by ex-convicts,
poor immigrants from the U.K. with little respect for authority, and of
course, bushrangers.
o Although isolated in early days, Boorowa had a rich social and sporting life
- Lessons were held in the local swimming hole on the river from 1920
until a proper swimming pool was built in 1965.
o
Economic Importance
o Grazing is the dominant activity in the region, with some cropping on the
more productive soil types.
o The majority of people are employed in agricultural industries, directly on
farms
o Reticulated (tap) water is supplied to the Boorowa township from a weir on
the Boorowa River. Fifty per cent of the urban population is connected to
reticulated water and 50% of the rural population uses non-reticulated
water.
o The Boorowa River contributes a substantial volume of water and salt load
to the Lachlan River, and is an important source of water to communities
and irrigators downstream of the confluence with the Lachlan River.
Fauna and Flora
 Past extensive clearing has resulted in significant loss of natural habitat
for native plants and animals, species occurring in vegetation remnants
within or near the shire provide some indication of the area's former native
species diversity
Does the river provide drinking water – for how many people
o The major towns dependant on the Lachlan River for water supplies are
Cowra, Forbes, Condoblin, and Lake Cargelligo. There are also a number
of smaller towns and villages dependent on the river (Beumer, 2001).
The problems affecting the River
Environmental issues such as land and water degradation are complex and often
interrelated. The main environmental issues that affect the Boorowa Catchment
are:




Native vegetation and biodiversity decline
Dryland salinity
Soil acidity, erosion and soil structure decline
Water quality decline
Downstream water users from the Boorowa Catchment are also affected due to
declining water quality in the Lachlan River, as the result of salt and sediment
load from the Catchment.
Loss of vegetation
o Although land clearing for agriculture and grazing started during the initial
settlement in the 19th century, the greatest clearing activity is thought to
have been during the 1920s.
o The Boorowa River catchment has been extensively cleared for
agriculture during the past 150 years. It is now estimated that less than
10% of the catchment remains under woodland or forest cover
(Freudenberger et al 2004).
o Prior to European settlement, Eucalypt species dominated and
characterised the native vegetation of the region. Almost all native
communities appear to have been cleared or modified to some extent by
agriculture or grazing (Yates and Hobbs, 1997).
o
Pre-clearing extent
o Riparian forests of Red Gum or She Oak occurred along the rivers
and major creeks. Woodland communities, dominated by Blakely’s
Red Gum and Yellow Box, occur along most creek lines and lower
slopes. A Red Stringy-bark – Long Leaved Box forest occurs on
sedimentary rocks on the lower slopes in the south-east of the
Shire. White Box woodlands with a grassy understorey formerly
occupied most of the undulating slopes in the Shire, while a
grassland/open woodland occupied much of the broad basin
centred on Boorowa. Ridge-lines and upper slopes support dry
forest in which Red Stringy-bark is always a dominant species.
Name of Vegetation Ecosystem
River Red Gum forest
River Oak riparian forest
Pre-1750
Area (ha)
Existing
Area (ha)
%
Cleared
3,063
577
81%
738
111
85%
Blakely’s Red Gum – Yellow Box Woodland
50,071
4,093
94%
Kangaroo Grass – Red Leg grassland/open woodland
24,269
418
98%
White Box Woodlands
39,700
2,204
96%
Red Stringybark/Long-leaved Box/Candlebark Open
Forest/Woodland
17,297
2,197
87%
2,379
828
65%
Red Stringybark Dry Shrub Forests
72,955
9,492
87%
Red Stringybark -Joycea grass tussock open forest
47,205
8,965
81%
257,659
28,862
88%
Callitris endlicheri-Red Stringybark-Red Box shrub forest
TOTAL
o Much of the existing cover is in separate patches (remnants) and affected
by long-term continuous grazing
o Understorey is non-existent in most areas; particularly those used for the
grazing of stock. These patches have been categorised as “disturbance
evident, some regeneration” to “severely degraded, no regeneration”.
o The majority of native vegetation is restricted to ungrazed roadsides and
reserves. The vegetation of Boorowa is highly fragmented and
dysfunctional.
o The remaining remnants are under considerable stress from increased
salinity, over fertilisation, grazing, herbicide drift and soil compaction.
o Remaining vegetation continues to decline due to fragmentation, isolation
and natural senescence.
o The perilous state of the Shire’s vegetation means that its retention,
regeneration and rehabilitation on private land are crucial to its survival
Fauna and Flora
o Given the extent of vegetation clearing, it is not surprising that many
threatened plant and animal species occur within the Catchment.
o The habitat for most of the threatened species is predominantly
woodland.
o The most threatened vegetation communities are White Box woodland,
Blakely’s Red Gum – Yellow Box woodland and Kangaroo Grass – Red
Leg grassland/open woodland communities are listed below.
o A recent survey in the Catchment by CSIRO (Freudenberger, 2001)
reported that “The Boorowa River catchment in not a biological desert. It
may only have 7% cover of remnant woodland, but 115 species of birds
were recorded across a diversity of woodland types, remnant sizes and
habitat structures within the catchment.” The following (Table 11) is a list
of threatened fauna in the Boorowa Shire.
Common Name
Species
Status in Catchment area
Birds
Bush Stone Curlew
Burhinus gralarius
Superb Parrot
Polytelis swainsonii
Swift Parrot
Lathamus discolor
Barking Owl
Ninox connivens
Speckled Warbler
Cthonichola saggitata
Hooded Robin
Melanodryas cuculatus
Black-chinned
Honeyeater
Melithreptis brevisrostis
Painted Honeyeater
Grantiella picta
Regent Honeyeater
Xanthomyza phrygia
Grey-crowned Babbler
Brown Treecreeper
Diamond Firetail Finch
Pomatostomus
temporalis
Climacteris picumnus
victoriae
Stagonopleura guttata
Extremely Rare; southern part of its
range
Adopted as a symbol of the Boorowa
region
Autumn/winter visitor, feeds on Whitebox
& Red Ironbark
Rare, southern part of its range
Recorded in several sites
Few sightings, inhabits grasslands &
woodlands
Rare, although reported in several sites
No formal sightings, feeds on Mistletoe
species
No formal sightings, Inhabits BoxIronbark woodlands
Several families in region, inhabits gassy
woodlands
Recorded in several sites, requires large
remnants of native vegetation for survival
Rare, Inhabits grasslands and woodlands
Mammals
Squirrel Glider
Petaurus norfolcensis
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
Large-footed Myotis Bat
Myotis adversus
Common Name
Species
Rare, southern part of its range
Few sightings, inhabits woodlands &
forests in east
Rare, western part of its range, inhabits
riparian zones
Status in Catchment area
Insects
Golden Sun Moth
Synemon plana
Perunga Grasshopper
Perunga ochracea
Recorded in several Travelling Stock
Reserves
Rare, restricted to grasslands/open
woodlands
Table 11 Threatened fauna in the Catchment area (from Priday et al., 2002)
Salinity
o The large tract of mostly treeless land around Boorowa faces serious
salinity and salt load in waterways over the next 50 years.
o On wet days the Boorowa River, which meanders through thousands of
hectares of prime sheep and wheat country between Yass and Cowra,
dumps 60,000 tonnes of salt into the Lachlan River.
o The salt is run-off from farms in the Boorowa catchment which, like much of
Australia's prime agricultural land,is being poisoned by salt carried to the
surface by vegetation clearing and rising water tables. The area affected by
salinity is expanding by 17 per cent each year.
o Increasing salinity (salt concentration) of the river could have a major
economic impact on domestic and industrial users of water mainly through
accelerating the depreciation of capital items.
o Urban salinity has been identified in over 80 towns throughout Australia.
Salinity in towns is the result of a combination of dryland salinity processes
and over irrigation of urban areas. Irrigation of lawns and gardens on
permeable soil types that overlie saline material mobilise salts, and
groundwater flow redistributes these salts down slope. Towns are often
located in low points in the landscape, and are adding water to those
landscapes (Wooldridge, 1999). The Boorowa Township has obvious
symptoms of salinity, such as:
o dying and dead trees
o salt tolerant species of grass appearing in gardens and playing
fields, especially couch grass
o bare patches in lawns and playing fields, often with white crusting
on the surface
o cracked, broken and deteriorating concrete paths and gutters
o road surfaces breaking up
o rising damp in building – private and public
o deterioration (fretting) of bricks and mortar
o salt crusting on brickwork, concrete and pavers
o deterioration of house foundations
o corrosion of underground services, such as gas and water pipes,
sewerage systems etc.
A recent survey of the Township revealed that at least 25 houses (or about 5% of
houses in the Township) were currently displaying some damage from high
saline watertables (Ivey ATP and Wilson Land Management Services, 2000).
Damage to infrastructure can be costly to repair and can affect property values.
Erosion
o About 30% of the drainage network in the Catchment shows signs of
streambank or gully erosion. The total length of drainage lines is 4,637 km
Gully erosion has been recorded on 1,537 km.
o Water quality has been severely impacted on, with the Boorowa River and
Hovell’s Creek ranking second in a study on the intensity of gully erosion
across the Lachlan Catchment (Brown, 1988).
Water Quality
o Turbidity and nutrient load, like salinity, are critical water quality issues in
Catchment. They have become problems because of the uses to which the
Catchment has been put since European settlement and because their
levels have been significantly increased.
o Turbidity is a natural phenomenon and has long been a feature of the
district, but past and some current land management practices, have
exacerbated it. As with salinity, turbidity is strongly influenced by river flows
and runoff from the land.
o Erosion due to landuse practices has greatly impacted on turbidity as soil
erosion has increased. This increased turbidity is likely to be associated
with erosion within the catchment.
o A major source of sediment, nutrients and faecal (microbiological)
contamination in our waterways is derived from stock camps and watering
points along or creeks and rivers.
Pests and Weeds
Addressing problems
o In order to limit erosion and the movement of sediment to the rivers, it is
important to maintain a vegetative cover on land and to keep livestock away
from riverbanks. Fencing stock out, to reduce traffic on creek and river
banks, and providing alternative watering points (troughs, or safe bank
access) is a viable solution in most cases. – River recovery will undertake
these actions.
o Through GA River Recovery will work closely with the Lachlan CMA,
Transgrid the Boorowa community to achieve a whole-of-reach riparian
restoration project on the Boorowa River and its tributaries by targeting
willow removal, revegetation of riparian area and increasing connectivity of
adjacent native vegetation over a 100km section of the river and its
tributaries.
o The project will target an area large enough to make a difference to the
water quality and biodiversity of the Boorowa region
o Importantly, the project will build on the past successful activities
undertaken by the community Through the Saltshaker project, GA has
already worked with 78 landholders on 80 different properties, the project
and revegetated 930 hectares (ha) more than doubling the area of tree
cover in the project zone.
o Dept of Primary Industries (NSW Fisheries) will further improve aquatic
biodiversity and water quality through the re-introduction of native species,
such as the Purple Spotted Gudgeon, into treated areas of the river.
Media Article
"Flagship river" for hotspot Boorowa
Friday, 12 August 2005 Boorowa News
Greening Australia has c hosen the Boorowa River as a "flagship river" in an Australia-wide river
recovery project.
Other "flagship rivers" chosen include the Murray, the Yarra, the Hawkesbury Nepean and the
Derwent in the project that aims to rehabilitate the health of rivers across the nation.
In a surprise announcement at the launch of the Boorowa Catchment Action Plan on Monday last
week, Lori Gould from Greening Australia told of the project and the money that had been
contributed.
"The reason we went with the Boorowa River as our flagship river is that Boorowa is a hotspot for
salt," said Ms Gould, a project manager with Greening Australia (ACT and South East NSW).
"It puts salt into the Lachlan which is a major contributor of salt to the Murray Darling basin. We
thought we could achieve something by homing in on a hotspot We thought we could actually
make a difference.
"And we have a rapport with the local community. It seems the community is accepting of it
because we got some great feedback on Monday."
Ms Gould said the aim of the recovery project on the Boorowa River and its tributaries was to
improve water quality and reduce salinity," she said.
"We are now developing ways of running it based on a past project that was very successful, Salt
Shaker.
"We liked the fact Salt Shaker was community driven, it was flexible and adaptive, based on a
scientific approach and it used incentives. We want to ensure this new project is run at a
community level instead of a top down approach."
Greening Australia has already pledged $100,000 to the project, with half of that coming from the
National Heritage Trust. Transgrid has given another $25,000.
But there was more exciting news on the night, when Rob Gledhill, chairman of the Lachlan
Catchment Management Authority (CAN) rose to speak.
He told both Lori Gould and the audience that, if the community endorsed the plan, the Lachlan
CMA had pledged a further half a million dollars to it.
As mayor of Boorowa Council he reminded people that the council had put close to $40,000 into
the Saltshaker project.
"It would not have got off the ground otherwise," he said. "If the community gets behind this one,
we will put dollars towards it."
So partners in the project now include Boorowa Council, Greening Australian, the Boorowa
Regional Catchment Committee and the Lachlan CMA.
"It's a potentially huge project," said Ms Gould. "We certainly got a lot of support from Monday
night's meeting.
"We wanted to get the community involved from the very start because SaltShaker was so
successful. We felt we wanted to replicate that."
She said there was "a pretty big toolbox of options" to give rivers and creeks the ability to
withstand the pressures they face.
These include "putting in a buffer zone to intercept surface salt, fencing off stock, reducing
erosion and sedimentation and revegetation".
Cleaning up fish habitats and restocking native fish is also part of the plan.