Upstream From the Pollution Source

The Pollution Source and Downstream

Below are a series of quotes and adjacent a series of images which show the need for improved management of Eight Mile Creek and the Ewens Ponds complex. They show a discharge of sediment from a drain into Eight Mile Creek and a damaged system. This sedimentation is the reason for the authorisation of the damaging dredging of Eight Mile Creek.

Quote from first diver

"On Sunday 13th July 2003 I snorkelled from Ewens Ponds, down Eight Mile Creek, to the sea. The creek was absolutely beautiful, that is, until we reached the point where a drain reached the creek. It had been raining, and the resultant stormwater that was running from this drain was white from the gravel it was carrying, reducing visibility to about one metre, down from the previous 50-100 metres visibility.

At the point where the drain reached Eight Mile Creek their was obvious damage with the creek bed rising about 30cm from a thick gravel deposit.
To add to this impact a thick layer of dark green algae floated on the surface at the drain exit, supported by discharged nutrients. Toward the sea the creek bed, along with the aquatic vegetation, was smothered by sediments and algae.

The creek was virtually lifeless from that point on.

I found this both shocking and devastating, as up to that point I had not seen such beauty in an Australian freshwater creek.

As I traversed that part of the creek where the water had been fouled from the nutrient-enriched stormwater discharge, I realised just how important this creek must surely be as a life-line for marine life to pass between the Ponds and the sea."

Quote from second diver "I snorkelled the creek and have done this many times before, though this was the first time I had ventured from Ewens Ponds all the way to the ocean. I was appalled to see such a dramatic change in the aquatic ecosystem at a single point; a drain. The extent of this damage can be viewed from the bank of the creek without even entering the water.

At the point of the drain, the sub-aquatic terrain changes from white silt-like sand covered by high density vegetation, to greyish 'sludge' sparsely vegetated, if at all. The change in ecosystem is unmistakably 'black and white'. Furthermore, rubbish is evident down stream of the drain, particularly at the point of the drain. Such rubbish included batteries, plastic, bottles, tin cans and other non-biodegradable matter. I'd like to point out that I did not see a single article of rubbish before the drain. The visibility of the water also decreases significantly at this point.

It appears that this drain also carries a high sediment load, as the creek is much shallower down stream of the drain. Evidence of the sediment appears to cover what little vegetation exists, and in places causes obstacles resembling 'sand bars'. Consequently at this site Eight Mile Creek is reduced from between 1-2 meters depth pre-drain to less than 0.5 meter.