Get to know your estuary

Published on 26 March 2025

Are you a landholder or community member passionate about local waterways? Waterwatch NSW and MidCoast Council invite you to participate in a hands-on program to monitor the health of the Manning River Catchment as part of the Know Your Estuary Program.

MidCoast Council’s Manager of Natural Systems, Gerard Tuckerman, said the project helps to ensure a sustainable future for our waterways.

“The program will provide the community with a fantastic opportunity to gain hands on experience in monitoring their local waterway within the Manning River Catchment,” he said.

The program will focus on establishing three priority monitoring sites - Wingham Boat Ramp, Browns Creek, and Cattai Wetlands. Members of the community will be trained in the Waterwatch process and work with other community members to collect water quality data for their catchment.

Waterwatch is a national citizen science initiative that has been running in the Manning area since 1995. Volunteers receive free training and support to collect water samples, test water quality, and perform habitat assessments, all while contributing to valuable environmental data.

NSW Waterwatch Coordinator, Rachael Kneeves, said it was important to help educate residents on the importance of a healthy environment.

“By regularly visiting your local waterway with a group of like-minded people, taking a sample of the water, running some basic tests, and uploading this information to a publicly accessible database, you can contribute to environmental research and conservation” she said.

Join us for a free training session at Wingham Boat Ramp on Saturday, 5th April, from 10am to 2pm. Participants will learn everything they need to start monitoring their local waterway.

Visit cen.org.au/events to book your place. Bookings are essential for catering purposes.

Let’s work together to protect and monitor our waterways!

To enquire about being an ongoing volunteer or to be kept in the loop on future updates about our water ways email [email protected]