Time to get planting!
L-R: Krishna Nagarajan and Damon Mudge planting Cumbungi into the pond zone behind one of the new leaky weirs (Duralla, structure DM8) on Mulloon Creek.
With over 35 new leaky weirs now installed in the Mulloon Creek system as part of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (MRI), now that the rains have arrived it’s time to plant, plant, plant.
The carefully planned, designed and built log and rock structures form the skeleton of the leaky weirs. The plants and associated biology are what turn the leaky weirs into living, growing, self-sustaining structures. Without the life sustaining force, the leaky weirs would eventually decay, erode and wash away.
On the other hand, once living plants are established on the structures they bind the leaky weirs together, protecting them from high flows, filtering the water, capturing sediments, providing habitat and refugia for animals, helping to rebuild the whole landscape, and most importantly self-regenerating in perpetuity .
TMI Field Operations Manager Max Brunswick has been busy organising plants and getting them in around the leaky weirs. The revegetation strategy is four-fold:
Bare areas around the leaky weirs are mulched, soil and sod are worked into the rock ramp, and a cover crop of pasture seed is broadcast onto these areas.
Macrophytes (e.g. cumbungi and phragmites) are transplanted from ‘nursery zones’ in the creek and into the pond zone immediately above the new leaky weir.
Appropriate native tube stock, purchased from local nurseries, is planted throughout the riparian zone.
With the creek fenced from livestock, natural vegetation regeneration of creek environment begins to accelerate.
Revegetation of Mulloon Creek will continue in earnest throughout summer and autumn. Stay tuned for notifications of volunteer planting days coming up in the new year.
The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is supported by various affiliates.
