HEALTHY WATERWAYS

POLLUTION
Where does the rain water go?

Over flow from our drains and street ends up in the Emu Creek.
Every day people drop rubbish in the streets and when it rains it goes down the storm water drains and finds its way into the creek or river to pollute Australian waterways and beaches. This is bad because water creatures will swallow the rubbish and die, or they get stuck and can't get away for food. Sometimes tins, plastic bottles and bags go into the sewerage pipes which goes into the creek or the river. The plastic and tin chokes the animals and the vegetation and takes years to disintegrate. 
How long does it take rubbish to disintegrate?
Orange peel- up to 2 months
Cigarette butt-takes 1-5 years.
A plastic bag takes 10-20 years.
Tin cans take 50 - 100 years.
Plastic bottle and glass- indefinitely.
DON'T LITTER. Put your rubbish in the bin and take garden clippings and other items to the tip.

Farms spray their crops with chemicals and when it rains the chemicals are washed into the creek or river and pollute the water and that water eventually ends up in the sea. People use chemicals on the plants in their gardens and they are also washed down the drain with the storm water.
Apply chemicals on a dry day and don't spray more than you need. Make sure you calculate the correct dilution of your chemical.

Sewerage-YUCK! Everything you can think of gets in the sewerage then the waterways. The water becomes so polluted that fish and other water creatures die.
 Skipton will have sewerage connected in the near future, but at this stage it all goes into the Emu Creek, the Reservoir and Stewart Park.

People drive their cars very fast and  the tyres drop bits of rubber on the road. Exhausts give off fumes and engines leak oil onto the road. The rain washes the rubber and oil into the creek and reservoir. The acidity of the water rises and when it gets too strong water creatures cannot survive.
Service your car and keep your tyres in good condition and reduce pollution of our waterways.

Do you know what salinity is?
Salinity means containing salt.

Long long ago volcanoes erupted and the lava poured out of the volcanoes. When the larva went hard it turned into rocks called basalt. Some of the basalt rocks are in the creeks, rivers and reservoirs. These rocks have salt in them. When the river flows the rocks roll and brake and wash the salt out of them.
Nor long ago every where you looked there were trees. But now people have cut down many of the trees for firewood, building,  furniture and paper. The water table has risen bringing the salt to the surface into the top soil. Grass and crops cannot grow in salty soil so the salty land is useless for animals and cropping.

by Tiffany and Rosanne

The Western District where Skipton is situated was  treeless grassland,  the largest in Australia. When farmers came here they planted many trees and the plantations of sugar gum seen today have all been planted.

A culvert in Montgomery Street