Precious water dribbles away to nothing

HARKAWAY resident Bill Peeler, who lives on a property bounded by the Walsdorf Creek, said he had watched as the stream deteriorated over the years from a beautiful pristine waterway to virtually becoming extinct.
He said its headwaters were in the area north of Noack Road, but quarrying had interrupted its natural course.
“The creek supported significant aquatic life including platypus, blackfish and eels, plus wildlife on which they were dependent,” he said.
“Now we have a situation where it is heavily silted and has no regular flow.
“The quarry operation regularly interrupts the stream and contributes to it silting.
“One spillage of 200 litres of citrus material into the creek from an unknown source late last year caused foaming up to three metres by 10 metres in many areas.”
Mr Peeler said the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had made no cleanup order on any events that impacted the creek.
“We have runoff from Harkaway Village that enters the stream immediately north of the King Road Bridge, and because Harkaway is unsewered this runoff from domestic sullage contains septic overflow,” he said.
“I have not been able to draw water from the creek for livestock or domestic purposes for many years due to its degraded quality.
“There is therefore a significant loss of amenity.”
Mr Peeler said the only offensive species along the creek were blackberry and pampas grass.
“The Australian native pittosporum and several exotic plants exist along the banks because of European settlement in this area,” he said.
“The hardwood forest west of the creek is unhealthy with several sick and dead trees.
“This has been reported to the City of Casey, but the council has not shown interest in the health of this forest.
“We have a range of plants of interest in the area and an abundance of bird and animal life, including the echidna population, and all are dependent on the creek and its vegetation for shelter and water.
“No night survey has been conducted to ascertain whether this habitat contains rare or endangered species.”
Mr Peeler said he asked the Bird Observers Club to conduct a day/night survey of birds in the area during February.
He said he was concerned that the City of Casey had clearfelled a stand of pittosporum in the area where the creek crossed King Road.
This was a devastating onslaught on the delicate and sensitive area and on the needs of the wildlife and existing flora during the worst recorded drought in Australia’s history, Mr Peeler said.