Waterwatch in the Mary River Catchment

The monthly data collected by Waterwatch volunteers provides the MRCCC with detailed information of baseline water quality throughout the catchment. Currently, 110 individuals, families and businesses collect data in 8 distinct network groups from 118 sites. Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped out with the program over the last year. The efforts of landholders, local businesses, councils and other organisations who support the program financially and in kind is greatly appreciated. Thank you also to Ian Mackay from Moy Pocket and Garth Jacobson from Tiaro who represented the Waterwatch Sector on the MRCCC for the past year, and have assisted with the logistics and promotion of the Waterwatch program. Welcome to new Waterwatch Delegate, Craig and Leslie Hanson from Kandanga. Craig and Leslie are very welcome additions to the waterwatch network and to the MRCCC committee.

In addition to physical and chemical data, Waterwatch volunteers record observations of Mary River aquatic fauna species, e.g. turtle sightings, water weeds and general river flow conditions. This information is recorded in the MRCCC Waterwatch database and information is provided for other MRCCC initiatives.

In October 2020 the MRCCC held a Catchment Crawl with participants travelling from the headwaters to the river mouth over 2 days. The full report will be added to this page once it’s completed. Numerous Waterwatch volunteers assisted staff to collect data at various sites throughout the Catchment Crawl.

Financial support for the program comes from Gympie Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Council, Noosa Council and HQPlantations. Community sampling is supplemented by data HQPlantations collects from the Toolara and Imbil forestry areas and QP&WS collects from Conondale National Park.

These areas include tributaries with quite unusual characteristics covering large areas of the catchment. The information HQP and QP&WS staff provide helps the MRCCC to gain a holistic picture of the Mary River catchment.

The logistics of moving water testing kits in and out of Gympie, and between diverse locations, on a reliable schedule would be a challenge, without the support of many local individuals and businesses. The MRCCC is grateful for the assistance of Sauers Garden Produce Gympie and Cooroy, B & H Rural, Tiaro, Goomboorian Matilda Petrol Station, Ross Creek Store, Widgee Store, Amamoor Store, Barung Landcare, Mapleton Realty, Conondale Store and the Kenilworth Garage for holding and transporting kits for volunteers to collect.

There will always be additional locations to be monitored and retiring volunteers to replace. If you have easy access to a section of the Mary River or one of its many tributaries and are able to contribute 1 hour a month there will be space for you.

Waterwatch Network	Creeks Monitored
Tinana	Big Sandy Creek, Coondoo Creek, Hines Creek, Ross Creek, Sandy Creek, Tagigan Creek, Tinana Creek, Ulirrah Creek, Wolvi Creek, Yards Creek
East Gympie	Deep Creek, Mary River, Peter and Paul Watton Gully, Six Mile Creek, Woondum Creek
West Gympie	Calico Creek, Eel Creek, Pie Creek, Three Mile Creek,
Kenilworth	Belli Creek, Coolabine Creek, Coonoon Gibber Creek, Mary River, Oakey Creek, Walli Creek
Upper Mary	Booloumba Creek, Bridge Creek, Fryers Creek South, Little Yabba Creek, Lobster Creek, Mary River, Obi Obi Creek, Scrub Creek, Skene Creek,
Tiaro	Deep Creek, Fay Smith Wetlands, Gutchy Creek, Mary River, Munna Creek, Ooramera Creek, Saltwater Creek at Aldershot, Spring Creek, Tanyalba Creek, Ululah Lagoon
Imbil to Amamoor	Amamoor Creek, Araucaria Creek, Caseys Creek, Coles Creek, Derrier Creek, Kandanga Creek, Mary River, Traveston Creek, Yabba Creek
Widgee & Wide Bay	Fat Hen Creek, Mary River, Wide Bay Creek, Wonga Creek,
Munna	Calgoa Creek, Chinamans Gully, Dry Creek, Eel Creek, Munna Creek, Sandy Creek, Teebar Creek

Waterwatch statistics throughout the past 20 years:

248 individuals, families and businesses have volunteered their time to support water quality monitoring in the Mary River Catchment
15,008 water samples collected throughout the catchment
740 sites were sampled at least once
232 streams were monitored
71,101 data points were recorded

2021 Waterwatch Results

Click here to view an interactive map showing the location of the sites that have been monitored by our dedicated Waterwatch volunteers throughout the year. View information for each site and download individual report cards by clicking on the markers. The site markers are colour-coded according to the site’s overall grade in 2021.

You can also search for a particular Waterwatch site by typing its site code into the map’s search box.

Waterbugs in the Mary

The SMALLEST critters can tell us MASSIVE amounts of information about waterway health. Click on the link to hear MRCCC’s Waterwatch Coordinator, Keira, on the search for macroinvertebrates (waterbugs) for Tiaro Landcare’s Mary River Turtle research project.

Click here to access the link to the Waterbug identification sheet. You can also click on the following links to access the survey form and for more information about Waterbugs.

Waterbug Survey Form

Freshwater Macroinvertebrates and Where You Might Find Them

ALT Key to Macroinvertebrates

Click on the link for information about the Waterbug Blitz.

Click here to access the Waterbug Blitz training video.

For more information, call Keira on 07 5482 4766 or email keira.mcgrath@mrccc.org.au