It may be in flood and wreaking havoc now, but earlier this month the banks of the Billabong Creek hosted a trail of school students as part of an important project.
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In their hands they carried scoop nets, buckets and shovels, and by their sides walked teachers, community volunteers and environmental experts.
The day was part of a new study on the Billabong Creek - the longest creek in Australia and an important wildlife corridor for the Murray region.
Twenty-four local school students planted 80 under storey tube stock with the help of Deniliquin Kolety Lagoons Landcare Group and the Yanco Creek and Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council (YACTAC).
The students - seven from Conargo Public School and 17 from Deniliquin High School - planted species such as Ruby Saltbush, which are an important feed source and habitat for the Superb Parrot.
Roseanne Farrant describes the Billabong Creek Project as a perfect example of “citizen science” in action.
“The kids learn, the community learns and everyone benefits,” she said.
Ms Farrant is a retired environmental consultant and a long time volunteer with the Deniliquin Kolety Lagoons Landcare Group.
She was also one of the specialists who attended the Billabong Creek Project’s creek working bee.
She said the students worked in mixed teams of three, two high school students and one primary student.
“It was a real educational activity but also an activity that connects kids of all ages,” she said.
“And then the second half of the day was when (environmental consultant) Dan Hutton came to the fore, and we did macroinvertebrate assessments of what was in the floodwater.”
The students learnt about water quality and with scoop nets found a range of macroinvertebrates such as tadpoles, carp fingerlings, gambusia, shrimp, snails, carp gudgeons and yabbies, with the help of Mr Hutton.
“What the macro invertebrate was showing was that everything was starting to boom and the fish food was really starting to build in the system,” Ms Farrant said.
“So it's giving the kids the tools and the knowledge to understand what's going on in their own landscape.”
“All the little things are booming out on the edges of the floodplain, but oxygen levels in the mainstream can get lower.”
Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were measured at 2.7ppm on the day.
Ecologist Dr John Conallin said it is when as DO levels drop below 2ppm that fish stress starts to “significantly increase and you would expect fish kills to occur”.
Conargo Public School relieving teaching principal Kylie Charlton said the water in the Billabong Creek had changed from the “black tannin colour” to a more “milky brown”.
“This change means the water will heat up more easily which has an impact on dissolved oxygen levels,” she said.
However, Mrs Charlton said due to the amount of nutrients being brought down the system there has been “an explosion in life within the creek”.
“Much more than we observed a couple of weeks ago,” she said.
“The variety of invertebrates was amazing. This makes for a great feed source for frogs and fish.”
Mrs Chartlon said she developed the idea for the Billabong Creek Project after a visit to the school from Dr Conallin for the Refreshing Rivers Project.
It was designed to support the High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) students.
“Students were really excited and had lots of discussions about what they discovered in the creek,” she said.
“They are interested in what changes they will see as the water levels and temperatures change.”
“We are researching a variety of native animal species and looking at how studying macroinvertebrates can tell us the quality of the environment.”
Dr Conallin said the Billabong Creek Project is a collaboration between “our local assets” and the community, and working together to learn about “how the whole ecosystem of the wetlands work”.
“It helps to connect the students to their own environment,” he said.
“And that they're able to also see and take pride in the fact that they can contribute to the sustainability of the system that we have here.”
Dr Conallin said the social aspects of what the project is doing “is exceptionally important”.
“We're trying to create an environment for them when they're there that they work together, respect each other and then respect themselves,” he said.
”They can do that and be proud of themselves and what they achieve in their own environment, and that's then shown to the local community.”
Mrs Chartlon said water monitoring will continue, albeit in a slightly different way because of the floods.
At the end of the term, students from Conargo will travel to Wagga to visit the Riverina Environmental Education Centre where they can then compare the difference between the two environments
“A huge thank you to everyone that made this day work,” she said.
“What a fantastic experience.”
Guardian Australia intern at the Deniliquin Pastoral Times