WaterWatch Portal

CO_MOO001 Moorabool River Catchment

Active Reach: 32_4 Moorabool River

Monitoring organisation

CO_Moorabool Catchment Monitors

Habitat Scores

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08-09-2008 - 28-01-2026

	Bank Erosion Stability	Bank Vegetation	In Stream Cover	Riffles Pools Bends	Verge Vegetation
January 2026	Good	Fair	Good	Good	Poor
23 °c Calm with a very slight breeze now and then, cloudy with sunshine shinning through, smokey haze from bushfires in the Otways. (Yesterdays temperature reached 43°c here) I can see some Magpies, colourful Parrots, white Butterfly's, tiny Lizards, lots of flies. I can hear a loud squawking bird and some chirping from smaller birds. I cannot spot any fish in the river. There are still Blackberries amongst the bank and verge Vegetation. Overall i cannot see any significant changes other than it is dryer. Maybe a little bit less bank vegetation but not enough difference to mark it down. So i will score the same as in 2024
January 2024	Good	Fair	Good	Good	Poor
Please refer to seperate attachments for Habitat Survey notes and photos.
January 2022	Fair	Fair	Good	Good	Fair
Looking upstream towards confluence of East and West Moorabool rivers there is a fair amount of Blackberry growth otherwise i would of scored the bank and in stream cover higher. See photos in diary.
January 2022	Fair	Fair	Good	Good	Fair
Looking upstream towards confluence of east/west moorabool river there is a fair amound of blackberry growth, otherwise i would have scored bank vegetation higher. See photos for instream cover in diary.
January 2019	Good	Good	Excellent	Good	Fair
As I am approaching the site there are a lot of grasshoppers jumping around and I can hear a few birds singing. The river has a medium flow of clear water. I can see a Kookaburra sitting on a branch which is overhanging the stream, a few little birds and butterflies darting around, there was a couple of tiny fish which quickly swam off as I approached. I can only see one small spot of bank erosion as the vegetation has covered the other spots. There is a lot of native vegetation on the banks and overhanging the stream also a few Blackberry bushes trying to take hold. Photos in diary.
January 2018	Good	Good	Good	Good	Fair
Slightly more vegetation than last year. Blackberries upstream from site are getting worse. Cannot see erosion on the banks as vegetaion has taken hold. Water is nice and clear with a medium flow. A few little birds around but cannot see any creatures swimming in the water. Overall I would rate this site slightly better than last year due to the bank vegetation but if the blackberries upstream and downstream from the site keep spreading the result will not be so good next year.
January 2017	Fair	Good	Good	Good	Fair
Looks like a fairly good cover of vegetaion. there are weeds and Blackberries but it is not over run as yet. Errosion appears to be stable, it is hard to tell as the bank begetation is fairly thick. I can hear lots of birds singing in the distance. I sited some very small fish swimming around. The water is clear but has a slight brown tinge to it. Water flow is medium. Photo in diary.
January 2016	Fair	Fair	Excellent	Good	Fair
Overall there is a fairly good cover of native vegetation with a few weed/thistle type plants here & there and also some blackberries further up & down stream from the test site. I could hear a bit of bird life but only could see a White-Faced Heron close by. If you look behind the vegetation on the steep banks on the opposite side of the river you can see bare patches with some erosion which appears to be much the same as in previous years, no major changes. I have attached some photos in the Diary.
February 2010	Poor	Fair	Poor	Poor	Fair
See photos
January 2009	Poor	Fair	Poor	Poor	Fair
The river is only just a very small trickle. There is some good plant life on the banks and immediatee verges. However there is also some bad weeds ie blackberries, gorse, which appear worse that last year. There was plenty of insects flying close to the water including dragon flys. A couple of ducks and ibis futher upstream.. The instream plant life is about the same amount as last year. Ita appears a lot greener now. There is some erosion on the opposite bank which appears to be caused by burrowing animals. It does not apprear to be any worse that last year.
September 2008	Poor	Fair	Poor	VeryPoor	Fair
Blackberry present on bank and verge

Water Bugs

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WaterWatch Method

29-09-2008 - 07-10-2015

Date	Taxa Count	Total score	Rating
October 2009	296	32	Fair
September 2008	265	27	Fair

Water Bugs

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Agreed Level Taxonomy Method

07-10-2015 - 04-05-2022

Date	Taxa Count	Weighted SIGNAL
October 2015	1266	4.7

Physical Chemical Tests

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