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Drayton Reserve Volunteers

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Drayton Reserve

Water

Sources

Drayton Stream follows the whole approximately 1.2km length of the Drayton Reserve, along the bottom of the valley. The stream drops about 150m from near Mt Pleasant Rd to the head of Basil Place. From there it flows through a large sump and a 250m pipeline to discharge into McCormacks Bay. Stormwater from residential development higher up the valley sides discharges down ill-defined channels/aprons into the stream, passing over the walking tracks in the way. Above the Reserve the stream branches into two natural tributaries, one toward Semaphore Close above the top of Moncks Spur Rd and the other toward Mt Pleasant Rd just below the intersection with Moncks Spur Rd. The stream is basically ephemeral with no flow and a series of small ponds for most of the summer. However a flow starts quickly with even light rain events and increases quickly with increases in rainfall. The flow drops just as quickly as it rises. There are two rock bluff waterfalls, one at the head of Basil Place and the other about two thirds of the way up the valley.

Restoration

The stream environment has been significantly modified from its original condition. Considering the length of the stream and the remediation resources available, restoration will take a long time and it will be necessary to undertake it in stages from the top of the catchment to the bottom (so that upstream work does not damage downstream restoration) as follows:

  1. Identify catchment boundaries.
  2. Identify all water related infrastructure.
  3. Identify all sources of water: springs, under-runners, reservoirs, stormwater, etc.
  4. Trace sources of under-runners and identify control measures.
  5. Assess house numbers and hard surface areas in catchment.
  6. Survey catchment residents water use activities: garden watering, car washing, etc.
  7. Identify potential sources of pollutants and measures to abate; e.g., encourage residents to use green areas for car washing.
  8. Identify stream bed material and any modification required.
  9. Identify stream edge vegetation and how to eradicate unwanted species.
  10. Staged planting of original species.
  11. Plant damp apron areas below stormwater outfalls with appropriate native species.
  12. Dig ditches alongside tracks where necessary to divert stormwater under boardwalks.
  13. Maintain the main footbridge above the middle waterfall and improve the upper minor footbridge in conjunction with constructing a high track along the eastern boundary.
  14. Extend some existing ponds to increase habitat and provide fire fighting reservoirs.
  15. Plant shading species around ponds to reduce evaporation.
  16. Fell the grey willow in the stream above middle waterfall and replace with tall native species.
  17. Clear weeds from the middle waterfall and revegetate with appropriate native species.
  18. Fell pines and clear dead branches from the lower waterfall and revegetate with native species.
  19. Re-introduce native aquatic species when suitable habitat has been restored.
  20. Encourage Council to naturalise the pipeline down Basil Place to McCormacks Bay and provide a dense avenue of native plant species for an ecological corridor between the estuary and Drayton Reserve.

Monitoring