Council maintains our waterways with monitoring and protection measures

Blue Mountains City Council monitors local waterways annually for a snapshot of ecological health and recreational water quality and this information for 2019 is now available on our website here. 

Based on testing that uses water bugs as indicators of waterway health, the Waterways Health Snapshot 2019 shows that 59% of waterways are in good to excellent health.

Mayor Mark Greenhill said: “The protection of our precious Blue Mountains waterways is vital in the continuing stewardship of our World Heritage Area.

“By implementing strong policy, to educating young people and completing on-ground waterway protection works, we are determined to preserve the health of our water systems for future generations.”

One of Council’s key community and youth engagement programs is Connecting Kids to Creeks, which is inspiring the next generation to be the future guardians of our water.

Over 600 students, aged 3-17 years from local schools are involved in the program each year, learning about our waterways, experiencing hands-on water science and taking practical action.

Council is also currently supporting over 500 conservation volunteers at 130 sites, with advice, tools and training. 

A key threat to local waterways is urban runoff, causing pollution, erosion, sedimentation and loss of aquatic habitats. To improve the health of waterways impacted by urban runoff, Council continues to build and maintain stormwater treatment systems including litter traps and pollution-filtering raingardens. 

“Our community can help by making homes and businesses more water sensitive,” Cr Greenhill said. “Rainwater tanks and raingardens can reduce damaging runoff and turn a problem into a valuable resource.”

Rainwater tanks save up to 240,000L of drinking water a year, reduce peak stormwater flows and can save households hundreds of dollars annually. 

To find out about our schools program visit: bmcc.nsw.gov.au/schools-program. To find out more about waterways: bmcc.nsw.gov.au/documents/waterways

Our Waterways Festival will be held at Wentworth Falls Lake on Sunday, 25 August, from 10am-2pm.  Get more information

Pic: We are teaching youth in the Blue Mountains about how to maintain the health of our waterways.