Blue Mountains News

The focus of this year’s Snapshot is our beautiful Blue Mountains swamps. Swamps are unlikely heroes that play an integral role in our environment. These rare, sponge-like ecosystems hold and release beautiful, clean groundwater, keeping our creeks and waterfalls flowing year-round.

“We have some of the most spectacular waterways in the world,” Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said. “But it’s not only their beauty that’s significant; our swamps support a huge diversity of unique plant and animal life

“Our swamps are also home to some of our most precious and endangered species, such as the Giant Dragonfly and the Blue Mountains Water Skink.

“However, our swamps are fragile and easily damaged. When they’re trampled, or overrun by weeds, or subject to extreme weather conditions such as we’ve had over the last few years, their special values can be lost.”

One of the most significant threats to our endangered swamps is urban stormwater runoff, which can cause erosion, pollution and weed infestation in swamps. Ongoing stormwater impacts can degrade swamps to the point where they lose their water-holding qualities, leading to poor water quality and stressed ecosystems downstream.

Council has monitored the health of our waterways for more than 25 years and publishes the results of this regular testing to keep our community informed. This year, results show that 57 percent of our waterways are in good to excellent health, with 43 percent of our waterways in poor to fair health.

“Our regular monitoring means we can respond accordingly to changes in water quality,” Cr Greenhill said. “While overall results have been relatively stable in recent years, this year’s Snapshot shows that three additional sites rated ‘poor’ compared to the previous edition. These creeks are susceptible to stormwater impacts from their heavily developed catchments and, like swamps, their condition can deteriorate due to the effects of urban runoff.”

To help mitigate this, Council is building stormwater biofilters – also known as raingardens – across the Blue Mountains. These use plants, sand, gravel and rock in clever and natural designs. They help our waterways by:

• Acting like constructed swamps
• Slowing and filtering runoff before it reaches creeks and swamps
• Reducing the impact of stormwater from roads, roofs, carparks and town centres

In addition, we can all play a part in protecting our swamps and creeks with some simple measures:

• Install a home rainwater tank or raingarden to reduce stormwater runoff
• Don’t mow, drain or trample swamps
• Volunteer with Bushcare/Swampcare: here
• Control weeds at home to stop them spreading. To find out more: here
• Report swamp damage and erosion to Council: here

To find out more about Council’s regular water testing, swamps, dragonflies and water skinks, download our 2025 Waterways Health Snapshot here.

More detailed long-term results are also available by launching the Waterway Health Explorer at the above link.