River conditions on point – albeit the hyacinth

Published on 27 September 2016

Conditions in the Fitzroy River are as beautiful as the Spring days lately, despite evident hyacinth and aquatic weeds both upstream and downstream of the Barrage.

Chair of Council’s Airport, Waste and Water Committee Councillor Neil Fisher said the hyacinth was not posing any concerns or problems to river water quality.

“We want the community to be rest assured that we are not experiencing any compromise to our river’s health or the quality of our raw drinking water,” Cr Fisher said.

“The small amounts of hyacinth pose no risk to the water quality within our large storage area and we are in fact currently experiencing ideal raw water quality at the moment in respect to its treatability,” he said.

There has been a slight increase in water hyacinth in the river recently due to ideal growing conditions and the lack of recent heavy downstream river flows.

Chair of Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee Councillor Ellen Smith said that what most people would not know was that there was generally always a presence of aquatic weeds in the river system.

“Our pest management team proactively control these weeds all year round as part of an ongoing program to protect our river’s health,” Cr Smith said.

“We are currently spraying pest weeds upstream of the barrage, four days a week using an approved product specifically for this use, in accordance with label directions,” she said,  

Hyacinth does not survive in salt water and thus the presence downstream of the Barrage will not spread, nor does it pose a threat to the surroundings.

Council is currently looking into biocontrol options to reduce the amount of herbicide required to control pest weeds.