Merri e-News November 2022
NovEMBER 2022 Newsletter of the Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC)Rains fill Merri swamps; litter swamps lower Merri
Downstream, parts of the Merri Shared Path were underwater and constructed wetland, Strettle Wetland in Thornbury, was filled by overflow from Merri Creek. With the floods came masses of litter and the imperative to remove entangled plastics before they degrade into microplastics and contaminate aquatic life of the Birrarung (Yarra), Port Philip Bay and beyond. MCMC and the Friends of Merri Creek were featured in the local Brunswick Voice and The Age about the problem of litter, especially plastics, in and around Merri Creek.
Help remove litter from Merri Creek
There's been a lot of community interest in helping to remove this litter. This is great, but we want to ensure that litter clean-ups are done safely. Wet weather brings hazards such as slippery/muddy banks, site flooding and strong water flows. We always complete a site safety assessment before going ahead with community litter clean-ups. Follow the 'Read more' prompt to find out how we support people to safely undertake litter clean-ups.
Landcare grants success
The Friends of Merri Creek LGBTQI+ subgroup, Queermates of Bababi Djinanang, were granted $14,227 for the project: Queermates - building biodiversity at Bababi Djinanang. The project will facilitate training workshops and activities to restore degraded sections of the Bababi Djinanang grassland, next to Merri Creek in Fawkner. MCMC staff developed the grant application in close consultation with the group.
Vale Allan Thomson OAM
Tree Guards Litter Problem
As a general rule Merri Creek Management Committee avoids using coreflute tree guards in floodzones as they are too flimsy. However occasionally our clients require us to use materials that they provide. Because coreflute guards have now caused such a litter problem (not all from our own plantings) we are talking with our clients about using more appropriate materials for future plantings in flood-prone areas.
Do Platypus Live in Merri Creek? - School Holiday program
Over 40 participants learned about waterbugs and the important role they play in the Platypus ecology. The kids enjoyed presentations on the platypus, quizzes, and testing the water quality of the local wetlands. The feedback was exceptional and it was great to get kids outdoors during school holidays. The event was funded by Merri-bek City Council.
Enjoyable Platy Project Dusk walk at Merri-Birrarung
The participants learned about issues like "urban stream syndrome" where rapid stormwater runoff from hard urban surfaces (roads and roofs) after rain leads to swift increases in the amount of water and speed of flow in creeks, brings high nutrient and sediment loads, causes erosion of bank and results in low levels of sensitive aquatic macroinvertebrates (waterbugs). This threatens the breeding capacity and wellbeing of platypus, as they rely on waterbugs for their diet, and stable banks of creeks to make their burrows.
A little nature play in Hume
Early Years educators appreciated the support we gave in planning planning and undertaking nature play visits to nearby natural areas. Now we are getting ready to re-connect with Hume’s early years communities for the third year of this leadership project. Photo: A Hume Kindergarten group walks for the first time to the nearby wetlands of Malcolm Creek
Revolutionising Water Monitoring in Merri Creek - Webinar
In the Webinar, RMIT and MCMC discuss the results and what they mean for the ongoing ecological health of Merri Creek. Also, the Cities of Merri-bek (formerly Moreland) and Whittlesea reveal the water quality improvement projects they are undertaking.
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The Merri Creek broke its banks and moved out onto flood plains as a result of heavy rains in October 2022. Hernes Swamp, near Wallan in the upper Merri catchment, showed why it's called a swamp (see photo) and other Wallan swamps were similarly filled. 
Visitors to Merri Creek are often alarmed by the amount of litter trapped among vegetation and on the creek banks. The great majority of this litter comes after rain runs it from local streets into the creek, via underground stormwater drains, and it's obviously a lot worse when it rains heavily.
Congratulations to two of our member groups on their success with the Melbourne Water Victorian Landcare Grants 2022. 
The Wallan Environment Group received $19,785 to remove gorse and blackberry along an old rail reserve to the north of Hidden Valley on the outskirts of Wallan. This reserve, at the top of the Merri catchment, contains some stunning remnant vegetation, including wildflowers like the Button Everlasting (Coronidium scorpioides) (photo). The rail reserve is a focus for the recently formed 'Friends of Hidden Valley Bushland Reserves'. MCMC's Upper Merri Landcare Facilitator, Chris Cobern, helped with weed mapping and identification of significant plants of this area. 
Allan Thomson, a pioneer in planting native plants, and a founding member and Treasurer of the Merri Creek Coordinating Committee (the forerunner to Merri Creek Management Committee) from 1976-1987, died peacefully in early September 2022, after a long illness. He was the co-author of Plants of the Merri Merri: A Guide to the Indigenous Vegetation of the Merri Creek Valley and Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs (1984), one of the first planting guides published on Melbourne’s waterways. Allan’s Order of Australia nomination listed 13 of his volunteer roles, but those who knew him well, know that he had even more.
After the recent floods, we received many concerned comments about the number of tree guards in the debris that accumulated in Merri Creek. Here's what we plan to do about the problem.
It’s important to inspire the younger citizen scientists of today. As part of Platypus month, Julia Cirillo (MCMC Waterwatch Coordinator) partnered up with Ben Hudson (Melbourne Water Waterwatch Coordinator) and Charlotte Napper (Merri-bek Council Conservation Program Officer) in late September 2022, to deliver a fun school holiday morning focused around Platypus education for children and their families within the Merri-bek municipality.
At dusk on the 18th of September 2022, 32 participants met in the pouring rain at Dights Falls on Wurundjeri Woi wurrung country where Merri Creek meets the Birrarung (Yarra River), to learn about platypus in our local waterways. It was a part of the 
In mid 2022, MCMC completed the second year of a three-year nature play project funded by a Hume Council community grant. We supported three of Hume's early years communities to lead outdoor nature play in Hume's open spaces. Overall, 162 participants were involved in six sessions and visits were made to parks and wetlands within walking distance of the early years centres. In some cases it was the first time the adults had visited these nearby areas. Groups were inspired to get out into nature more regularly and to seek funding for useful clothing such as raincoats.
Merri Creek Management Committee. 2 Lee St, East Brunswick, Victoria, Australia 3057 (view map here) Phone:(03) 9380 8199 Email: © Merri Creek Management Committee Do you want to receive email notifications of Merri Creek events? {modify|itemid:1489}Modify your Subscription{/modify} Not interested any more? Unsubscribe from all emails from MCMC Have you been forwarded this newsletter and you would like to subscribe? Its free! Go to http://mcmc.org.au/get-involved/subscribe |