Keeping the green out of the rivers of blue

摘要

THE PEEL-HARVEY estuary on the south-west coast of Western Australia has long been in the news because of algal blooms. But in recent years, the people of the surrounding Serpentine-Jarrahdale Shire have become just as well known in Waterwatch circlesfor the creative way they have identified and solved pollution problems. A Waterwatchers community group was formed in Serpentine in 1991 to monitor creeks and drains in and track phosphorous loads to their source. Children from five primary schools, and their parents, monitored the first heavy rainfall of Autumn. At this time, a big slug of phosphorous washes off the land into the creeks and down into the estuary, hence the name of the group, 'The Slugbusters'.