News

Thank you to everyone who entered the #LoveYourWaterwaysSydney Instagram photo competition and CONGRATULATIONS to our winners! You can check out the winning photos in the gallery below.

It’s so pleasing to see people in our community actively helping to improve our waterways.

We have awarded five prizes, winners were able to choose a $100 gift voucher from a local store such as a community nursery, bookshop, car wash, pet store or eco-store.

Georges Riverkeeper’s Program Manager met with the NSW Leader of the Opposition Chris Minns and Shadow Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe to discuss Georges Riverkeeper, our Programs and drawing their attention to a lack in resourced catchment management since the NSW Catchment Management Authorities were disbanded in 2013.

#SeaToSource, a Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) initiative supported by Georges Riverkeeper, is helping to act on one of the world’s most solvable environmental issues – ocean litter. Plastic makes up the majority of the litter in our waterways and oceans, causing a wide range of environmental issues.

Ocean litter can make its way into our rivers and waterways through many different pathways, including through people littering (either deliberately or accidentally), or by items being flushed through our stormwater or sewage systems.

The Executive Group were very happy that the Georges Riverkeeper Annual Workplan and Budget were unanimously passed at the General Committee meeting in June and congratulated the Georges Riverkeeper Team for their hard work in pulling together a great workplan that looks to implement the final year of the Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2018-2022.

‘What will happen to them? Notes on some dragonfly (Odonata) species that are susceptible to the impacts of global warming-induced climate change’ is the title of a new paper co-authored by Georges Riverkeeper Aquatic Ecologist Marion Huxley and published in The Victorian Naturalist.

Four of Sydney’s catchment groups have joined forces to tackle the problem of litter and other pollution in our local waterways. 

In July, the Cooks River Alliance, Georges Riverkeeper, Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG) and Sydney Coastal Councils Group will be launching the Love Your Waterways campaign. The month-long campaign encourages people to take up five simple actions to prevent litter, pet waste, gardening materials, chemicals and other pollutants from going into stormwater drains and out to local creeks, rivers, beaches, bays and other waterways:

With the COVID 19 situation escalating in Sydney, Georges Riverkeeper decided to hold the 24 June General Meeting online, rather than have Fairfield City Council host the meeting on location.

It was well attended by 27 people, including Councillors Adrian Wong, Michael Banasik, Rey Manoto, and Warren Tegg and staff from member councils as well as community representatives.

The Executive Group will be submitting a letter to the Honourable Shelley Hancock pushing for a catchment approach to the Coastal Management Program (CMP) with suggested changes in the legislation as the Coastal Management Act 2016 is up for review this year. We are also requesting that organisations, like Georges Riverkeeper, can apply for funding if they are driving the creation of the CMP or if they are responsible for conducting actions within a certified CMP.