Adelaide Botanic Garden First Creek Wetland

Adelaide need to conserve water, so projects like this are significant for our future. Some of the water that would otherwise flow out to sea in periods of heavy rain will be captured and stored here; to be used for watering the Botanic Gardens.

(Copy of an information board at the site)

Breakout Creek Wetlands

Breakout Creek is the last 3.5 kilometres of the River Torrens. A new wetlands has been developed between Henley Beach Road and Tapleys Hill Road. I took this photo a few weeks ago on the day of its official opening.

You can see the project in its early stages; posted here in June 2009.

Waterfall Gully

Do I have an obsession with water? It is so wonderful to have rain after such a long dry summer and several years of drought. Today I took the opportunity to visit Waterfall Gully in between rain showers. Not a big waterfall (18 metres) by world standards but nonetheless quite picturesque, and easily accessible as it is only 10 km from the City of Adelaide.
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From the first fall pictured above, is a walking track that connects to Mt Lofty and Cleland National Park.


About 500 metres along the track you pass the second falls, even smaller but very inviting, even on a winter's day.

Mawson Lakes Wetlands

Mawson Lakes is a new suburb about 12 km north of the CBD. Wetlands were created as an integral part of its planning for sustainability.

Street run-off water is filtered through the wetlands, pumped into an aquifer and then used to flush toilets and water parks and gardens. All buildings have a dual water pipe system; mains and recycled.

The culprit

This is the Torrens Weir that holds the water back to create the Torrens Lake; when it malfunctioned last week the water level dropped by about two metres. You can read more about the weir in a previous post.

Rain at last

This was a very welcome sight. Over the last two days Adelaide has received about 30mm rain, the most significant fall for at least a couple of months. A good soak like this will really help our parched gardens.

Cresswell Gardens Fountain

Another of Adelaide's fountains; this one is near the entrance to Adelaide Oval. It is one of a pair which were originally erected early last century in front of the Exhibition Building (no longer there) on North Terrace.

Three Rivers Fountain

Last Friday I showed a photo of the Three Rivers Fountain without water. The council have obviously decided to switch the water back on; I took this photo during the week.

Fountain without water

The rivers have dried up for this fountain located in Victoria Square in the centre of Adelaide. The fountain which was formally opened in 1968 has had its water turned off in recent years due to our drought conditions. The City Council is considering turning the water back on, but is coming under fire from many who argue that our scarce commodity would be better used on stressed trees in our parklands.

The fountain named Three Rivers represents the three rivers (the Torrens, the Onkaparinga and the Murray) from which Adelaide receives most of its water. It was designed by South Australian artist John Dowie.

Low water

This weekend I am staying on Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa; about 80 km south of Adelaide. This area is severely suffering from the effects of Australia's recent drought years. The area pictured would normally have a water level about a metre higher. The private jetty at the left of gives a real indication of the problem.

Sludge!

Much of Adelaide's storm water flows along the Sturt Creek (a concrete drain). In the past this flowed into the Patawalonga and out to sea. A diversion has been made, the Barcoo Outlet, and much of the heavy polluted material is contained in a pond. From time to time this deposited sludge is scooped up and transported away.

A wet "Dry Creek"

Today I went for bike ride in the north western suburbs. Our recent rain has certainly been a blessing; our creeks and rivers are flowing again - a wonderful sight. Part of the ride today was along the Dry Creek Trail, a shared cycling/walking path through the river valley.

Torrens Weir

Click on the images to enlarge

The section of the River Torrens which I have featured in the past couple of posts is in fact a man made lake; the Torrens Lake. The concrete weir you see here was built in 1880-81 to hold back the water to create the lake.

This photo was taken during the summer and as you can see there is no flowing water; but after heavy rains it is a different scene. The sluice gates jammed in a flood in 1889. The weir was modified in 1928-29; now with sluice gates that can be fully opened to allow the river to flow unimpeded.

The Whispering Wall

This dam wall has unique acoustical properties; you can stand and speak softly on one side of the 143 metre long wall and be clearly heard on the other side.

This is the Barossa Reservoir dam near the town of Williamstown, just north of Adelaide. Building started in 1899 and was completed in 1903. When it was built it was the largest dam in Australia and radical in its design.

April Theme Day: Water

Adelaide's tap water is quite suitable for drinking, but because it is treated with chlorine for bacterial control, at times it has an odour. Many people have installed filters in their homes to remove unwanted sediments and chemicals; resulting in very nice tasting water. However, many others buy bottled spring water.

Here is an alternative; the 'Charity Water Fountain' courtesy of the West End Brewery, Adelaide Bank and Chubb. For $1 you can fill up a large container of quality water; the same water used to make beer (so it must be good!).

The brewery uses four wells that tap into water in the Willunga Aquifer 200 metres below the site. The water is always pure and of consistently high quality; a result of gradual filtration through limestone over thousands of years.

To date over $815,000 has been raised and passed on to numerous South Australian charities.





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Warriparinga Wetlands

Just beyond where yesterday's photo was taken is the second of four lakes in the wetlands. The wetlands are visited by more than 30 species of birds; about a dozen are waterbirds.

Some key facts about the wetlands:
- located on a 3.5 hectare reserve
- 45,000 cubic metres of earth was shifted to the wetlands
- have a capacity of 23 million litres
- more than 8,000 local native plants were planted

The wetlands have been built to compensate for the damage done to the Patawalonga system by the building of a concrete drain; shown in a previous post.

You can read an article about the Warriparinga Wetlands here.

Morning feed

By the way the birds scurried towards this lady, I suspect she is regular visitor. The lake is part of the Warriparinga Wetlands, which is part of the Sturt Creek catchment. The wetland was created in 1998 to assist in cleaning up the water that flows into the Patawalonga.

Bay Sports Paddles-Fest

Click on the photo to enlarge

Another Bay Sports Festival event. The Patawalonga is an ideal venue for watersports; sheltered and safe. A few years back it was not considered safe due to contamination, but since the building of the Barcoo Outlet, most storm water that used to flow into the waterway, now flows directly into the sea. Water is also flushed through the weir.

Going nowhere

When I was photographing in the upper reaches of Sturt Creek yesterday, I noticed this duck. The water was flowing quite swiftly, and the duck paddled into the flow, but remained in one spot; motionless.

Up the creek

Today I went up the Sturt Creek to see the river in its natural state. I took this shot a few kilometres upstream from the start of the concrete drain. Even here the water was dirty from the storm water run off, but unlike water flowing along a drain, nature here can play a part in filtering it.

A lot is being been done to try to clean the water before it reaches the sea - pollutant traps, trash racks and wetlands. We are still "up the creek" with the state of our water - more has to be done!