Environmental charity Watergum will host Creek Explorers this month, an event focused on teaching children about Logan’s waterways and the creatures living in them.
The organisation’s community engagement officer, Caitlin Mandrusiak, is running the event at Berrinba Wetlands on 10 May.
“It’s fun for the kids to get out in the water and catch some bugs and then take them back, ID them and do some other fun arts and crafts,” Ms Mandrusiak said.
Watergum defines a waterway as a freshwater ecosystem that is naturally occurring, including formations like riverbeds, banks and riffles.
“So it’s not a storm drain or a man-made ecosystem. It’s quite natural.”
Water bugs are small insects in their immature or pre adult stages called nymph or larval stages. They spend the first part of their life in the water, Ms Mandrusiak said.
“Some common examples of these are beetles, snails and even the dragonfly actually starts in the water.
“A lot of people didn’t know about these bugs when we first introduced them to them, but they’re very fascinating, tiny little creatures, and they’re actually a very important part of our freshwater ecosystem.”
The creatures act as “nature’s little cleanup crew” and help to break down the natural materials present in waterways like leaves or algae, keeping the water clean and healthy.
The survival of larger animals living in or around waterways is dependent on water bugs too, Ms Mandrusiak said.
“They also form the base of the food web, so many native species, like frogs, fish and even the platypus actually rely on them as a food source.”
An abundance of water bugs can indicate the health level of a waterway and its water quality.
“Some species are very sensitive to pollution, so if they’re present or if they’re absent, it can tell us a lot about the health of the waterway,” Ms Mandrusiak said.
The quality of Logan’s waterways has remained fairly consistent over the past year, but is subject to change after periods of heavy rainfall due to pollutant runoff from nearby properties.
“After those big rainfalls, like those recent floods, we find that the water quality can decrease just a little bit,” Ms Mandrusiak said.
Damage or erosion to water bug habitats, typically the riverbanks or the edges of a waterway, can also make it more difficult for these creatures to find food, shelter and populate, which negatively impacts the broader ecosystem.
According to Ms Mandrusiak, community engagement and participation in citizen science is a rewarding and enjoyable way locals can improve and maintain the quality of Logan’s waterways.
Organisations like Watergum regularly conduct surveys into water way ecosystems and take action when their findings reveal a decline in quality, Ms Mandrusiak said.
“We conduct our water bug surveys and water quality surveys so that it looks at certain parameters in the water, such as your pH, your salinity, your turbidity.
“When we find that there might be an increase or decrease in one, we can let the appropriate Council know and kind of give that as a warning to them, so they can take the appropriate course of action.”
This is the third year the creek explorers event has been run, and is suitable for children and adults of all ages.
“It’s a very fun, nice way to get outside and meet new people and other people who are interested in things that you are.”
Register for the event here: watergum.org/event/creek-explorers-2.
