Kingborough has many beautiful rivers, creeks and wetlands. The three largest river systems are; Browns, North West Bay and Snug River. Most of our waterways are creeks and rivulets, of which there are many, with many of those flowing only during the wet autumn and winter months.
Freshwater ecosystems provide important environmental services; they clean water, recycle nutrients, reduce floods, recharge ground water and provide habitat for native plants and animals.
Our freshwater areas are sensitive to threats; pollution, sedimentation, introduced plants and animals and over-harvesting of water. These threats can lead not only to loss of habitat and native wildlife, but a reduction in the services the river, creek or wetland is able to provide.
Programs and projects
Beach Watch
As part of Council’s commitment to keeping the Kingborough community informed about the water quality at our beaches, we are publishing our water sampling results as we receive them.
Kingston Stormwater Wetlands
Many people from the Hobart region swim in the mouth of Browns River at Kingston Beach. We have been monitoring the site since 1994, which has shown high, and potentially harmful, bacterial levels.
The monitoring has shown that Kingston Rivulet (a highly modified drainage and stormwater channel running through the Kingston township) and Whitewater Creek were the key sources of faecal contamination to Browns River.
The Kingston Stormwater Wetlands are located near where Whitewater Creek and Browns River intersect, within the urban area of Kingston. The wetlands site is now being used for the collection and treatment of stormwater runoff from Kingston Rivulet and a first flush portion of Whitewater Creek. This has reduced a significant source of faecal contamination entering Browns River near its mouth at Kingston Beach and resulted in the evolution of a site that is a key community educational, aesthetic and recreational asset.
The Kingston Stormwater Wetlands
Kingston Floating Wetlands – Floating Wetlands have not been used previously in Tasmania but are becoming widespread across Australia as an innovative water treatment solution. They remove excess nutrients and eliminate sediment from the water column and have allowed the retrofit of the existing stormwater ponds with a positive environmental solution. MORE INFO
