Effects of the 2003 ACT bushfires

Community volunteers in the Australian Capital Territory have provided vital information and observations on the effects of the 2003 bushfires.

This has been gained through the Community Assessment Monitoring Program for Fire Impacted River Ecology - or CAMPFIRE for short - in one of the longest ongoing collections of field data in the ACT.

A network of volunteers documented 16 catchments, monitoring them monthly, visited 60 sites and contributed 529 observations.

Funding

The work was funded with more than $6,000 from the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust, in-kind contributions from the ACT Government and financial support from ActewAGL and the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology.

Activities

ACT Rivercare facilitator Mike Schultz said yearly reports were published with summaries of the information in graphical form and a picture gallery showing vegetation recovery.

"Participants noted changes in a diary and their recollections in the reports show the reader the human angle of first hand observations," Mike said.

It would be expected that severe fires would have a number of local effects in streams. These could include sediment mobilisation, raised chemical/nutrient levels, reductions in dissolved oxygen, and changes to the normal temperature regimes. The reports provide strong evidence to support such expectations.

Heavy rainfall within the Tidbinbilla catchment showed spikes of turbidity in the streams and volunteers noted sand and silt blocking several culverts. Sediment 'slugs' continue to move along the creeks smothering previously cobble and stream beds.

A significant change to the normal temperature fluctuations was observed in the smaller streams in particular. Fires have reduced the vegetation cover of the stream, reducing shading and allowing water temperatures to increase during summer.

In winter the reverse was noted. With the 'blanket' effect of vegetation removed, water temperatures are lower. Coupling these changes with the sediment and nutrient loads means the in-stream habitat after the fires is very different from the norm.

Achievements

"Scientists and landscape experts have strong ideas regarding recovery from fires of the severity experienced in the ACT in 2003," Mike said. "The efforts of these volunteers will go a long way to improving our understanding of such events. The excellent photographic record and comments from the diaries add a human element, which could not be fulfilled any other way."

The volunteers' efforts have been rewarded with CAMPFIRE winning the Murray Darling Basin Commission Rivercare Award at the 2005 ACT Landcare Awards.

More information

1. Mike Schultz, ACT Rivercare Facilitator: (02) 6274 3305 or mike.schultz@daff.gov.au

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

DEWHA  | DAFF  | australia.gov.au  | NAP  | NHT 
Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts