Under brilliant blue skies, 25 landholders and community members from Kerosene Creek, Blackmans Creek, and Hartley Vale gathered for a Landscape Rehydration field day facilitated by Mulloon Institute. The day was all about learning, sharing and walking the land together to explore how water stewardship can strengthen our catchments against drought, bushfire and flood.
After a lively introduction to the principles of landscape rehydration, the group turned its focus to Kerosene Creek – a valley community nestled below Mount Victoria where the creek flows into the River Lett. This catchment has endured the impacts of the 2003 and 2019 bushfires. While natural regeneration and weed management have supported recovery, challenges remain: head cuts, incision, and erosion continue to threaten the otherwise intact temperate swamp and surrounding environment.
Field walks revealed both the resilience and vulnerability of the system. Participants saw healthy, functioning wetlands alongside priority erosion sites and gullies carved by historic draining. Mulloon’s Landscape Planners shared proposed on-ground designs to restore degraded sections, sparking rich conversations about how nature-based solutions and natural infrastructure can build resilience across the landscape.
The spirit of collaboration was strong. Discussions turned to how communities can work across property boundaries to achieve catchment-scale impact, and how raising awareness in rural areas is key to healthier waterways.
The day was made possible by the Lithgow Oberon Landcare Association (LOLA).
“Lithgow Oberon Landcare are very happy to be involved with the Water Stewardship program. We believe that Healthy landscapes create healthy communities. Workshops like the Hartley Vale Landscape rehydration workshop bring communities together to learn about landscape function which in turn leads to healthy waterways, wetlands and communities.” – Steven Fleischmann, Local Landcare Coordinator.
A heartfelt thank you goes to Angela and Lydia for hosting the walks, and to Greg, Malcolm, Imre, and Biata for their ongoing partnership with Mulloon. We also acknowledge both LOLA and Blue Mountains City Council for their continued dedication to restoring degraded waterways and managing weeds in the Kerosene Creek catchment.
Together, we are rehydrating landscapes and strengthening communities – one creek at a time.
If you would like to learn more about Mulloon’s Water Stewardship Program or the opportunity for on-ground works and events in your community, please visit our project page.
