Council Minutes - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2011
CR11.158 LAKE MONGER RESERVE WATER QUALITY MONITORING
PURPOSE OF REPORT:
To provide information to Council on current lake water quality monitoring at Lake Monger
Reserve, and the proposed presentation to the Lake Monger Working Group of a student's
thesis, from the University of Western Australia, on nutrient cycling at Lake Monger Reserve.
BACKGROUND:
The Lake Monger Reserve Management Plan 2008-2018 Implementation Program lists the
following proposed actions in relation to water quality:-
Continue water quality monitoring and lake level management;
Develop and implement a program that monitors the effectiveness of the planted fringing
native vegetation in minimising the nutrient input into the lake; and
Investigate measures to reduce nutrients entering the lake from groundwater.
To address the above actions, a Water Quality Monitoring Program was produced in March
2011 with the following objectives:-
Collate all water quality data and entry into an integrated environmental data assessment
program;
Determine whether the beneficial uses of Lake Monger and the wider reserve are being
impacted; and
Provide sufficient information to reliably detect seasonal trends in water quality and the
effectiveness of management programs/strategies.
A sampling workscope has been developed for the above program and will include the analysis
of water samples from the lake, drains and groundwater, to be undertaken every six months,
commencing in autumn of 2012 and include the presentation of an annual report to interpret the
data. Over time this will provide trends in water quality.
To assist with assessing the water quality in Lake Monger, assistance has been provided
through the University of Western Australia.
DETAILS:
Professor Jorg Imberger, Director for the Centre for Water Research at the University of
Western Australia, has been providing services and advice to the Town in relation to lake water
quality management at Lake Monger Reserve since November 2010.
The University of Western Australia has installed a measuring instrument in the middle of the
lake aimed at providing the Town and other interested parties with a real-time management
system online for Lake Monger, to predict its ecological health and the dispersion of effluent
from stormwater drains. The Town has contributed $5,000 towards the cost of this instrument
which is managed by the University of Western Australia.
Since July 2011, Professor Imberger has assigned a student from Italy to do his thesis on
nutrient cycling at Lake Monger Reserve and there is also the possibility of another PhD
student doing work on pathogens at the lake. The Town has funded water quality analysis
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