Collie River - Booth Street

River condition at the Booth Street site on the Collie River (site code: CR346COLL1, site reference: 6124030) has been assessed on several occasions as part of the Healthy Rivers program. The most recent survey was undertaken in March 2022.

Healthy Rivers assessments are conducted using standard methods from the South West Index of River Condition (SWIRC), which incorporates field and desktop data from the site and from the broader catchment. Field data collected included the following indicators, assessed over about a 100 m length of stream:

• Aquatic biota: fish and crayfish community information (abundance of native and exotic species across size classes, general reproductive and physical condition)
• Water quality: dissolved oxygen, temperature, specific conductivity, and pH (logged in situ over 24 hours), as well as laboratory samples for colour, alkalinity, turbidity, and nutrients
• Aquatic habitat: e.g. water depth, substrate type, presence of woody debris and detritus, type and cover of macrophytes and draping vegetation
• Physical form: channel morphology, bank slope and shape, bioconnectivity (barriers to migration of aquatic species), erosion and sedimentation
• Fringing zone: width and length of vegetation cover within the river corridor and lands immediately adjacent, structural intactness of riparian and streamside vegetation
• Hydrology: measures of flow (velocity) at representative locations (compared against data from stream gauging stations within the system)
• Local land use: descriptions of local land use types and activities (compared against land use mapping information for the catchment)

All the Healthy Rivers assessments are listed below:

• 2022 – summer (February 28–March 1): Healthy Rivers
• 2018 – summer (February 19–20): Healthy Rivers

Other departmental data: The Collie River East - Coolangatta Farm Gauging Station (site reference: 612001) is about 22 km upstream of the Booth Street site. The gauging station is department owned and has been in operation since 1968.

Search the site code or site reference in the department’s Water Information Reporting (WIR) system to find data for this site and nearby sampling points (flows, surface water quality, groundwater monitoring, department’s meteorological data). See also the Bureau of Meteorology website for additional meteorological data for the area.

The species captured during each of the sampling events are provided in Table 1. The table includes a list of all species previously reported in the subcatchment, which provides an indication of species that may occur at the assessment site. This list is only indicative as differences in habitat within a subcatchment naturally influence species distributions, and variability in methods between sampling programs can affect the species caught.

Five species of fish and crayfish were captured in the March 2022 sampling. This includes two endemic freshwater fish (western minnow and freshwater cobbler), two non-native freshwater fish (eastern gambusia and redfin perch) and one endemic freshwater crayfish (smooth marron).

Western pygmy perch and south-west glass shrimp were recorded in February 2018, but were absent from the March 2022 assessment.

Other species expected in the subcatchment but not recorded were nightfish, blue-spot goby, gilgie and koonac. The lack of detection is expected to be related to habitat preference or low sampling effort (i.e. species are present but were not detected, or species had migrated away from the site temporarily). More targeted assessments may be required to determine their presence if they are not recorded in future assessments.

The photos of fauna provided are linked to more information about the species, including maps of where each species is expected across the South West.

Note: collection of fauna from inland aquatic ecosystems across Western Australia requires a licence from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). All species collected must be reported to these agencies as part of licence conditions.

Only fish and freshwater crustaceans (crayfish and shrimp) that typically inhabit river channels are targeted by the standard SWIRC sampling methods; however, other species are periodically captured in traps and/or observed (e.g. turtles, rakali native water rats, tadpoles). The following non-target species were identified at this site during March 2022 fieldwork:

• Carter’s freshwater mussel (Westralunio carteri) – observed during the February 2018 and March 2022 assessments; listed as vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016
• water birds including Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus) and night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) – both observed on the motion sensor camera in March 2022
• native bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) – observed on the motion sensor camera in March 2022

Australasian swamphen at Booth Street site, March 2022.

For more information on other aquatic species please see the River Sciences fauna page.