News and Events

Extreme low flows are pushing refuge pools to their limits. Heat, sediment, salinity and stock impacts are degrading water quality and threatening native fish. This article outlines what’s causing it and practical steps we can take to protect our waterways.

Courtesy of the Refreshing Upper Billabong project, we have a limited number of tubestock suitable for planting both instream and along creek banks to reduce erosion and create habitat.

We lacked information on the aquatic wildlife of the Upper Billabong catchment, so using Citizen Science - the Refreshing Rivers iNaturalist project and eDNA tests, we have gathered 1,672 observations across the catchment and also completed 9 eDNA profiles in local waterways.

On Saturday the 21st of March, the inaugural Carpathon was held at The Cape in Jerilderie. The sun was shining, the grass was green from the recent rain, and 73 people registered for the event! It was a day full unlucky carp, prize winners, a delicious BBQ and many happy faces.

David Bray and Louise Freckleton are stewards of Highfield Farm and Woodland, a 335 Ha property near Adelong in the eastern Riverina. Highfield blends conservation of critically endangered Box‑gum grassy woodland with a small‑scale paddock‑to‑plate enterprise and a thriving ecotourism operation.

Let's get our hands dirty and prepare wetland plants onto growth mats! We do this to prepare them to be replanted into rivers and streams, to improve the health of our waterways.

Take part in the Platy-project and you’ll help researchers understand more about this elusive animal, and how we can better protect it..

We're hosting an introduction session to virtual fencing technology! Come and learn about virtual fencing, the pros and cons of the technology, and hear from one of the technology providers, Halter and a farmer in the early stages of adoption.

European carp (Cyprinus carpio) uproot vegetation, degrade habitat and reduce water quality, competing with native species for food and space. Come along to help us remove some of these carp from our local waterway.

Join the Refreshing Rivers team and Landcare under the clear, unspoilt night skies for an evening celebrating the beauty and importance of our nocturnal environment.

An instream planting event occurred in early November at Conargo TSR. Past Central Billabong environmental action has been about securing water and willow removal. Planting for purpose and instream restoration is being showcased as methods to use broadly.

YACTAC and Refreshing Rivers were at the Jerilderie Fishing Club’s Kids Fishing Day supporting a creative activity with a waterway theme. The chosen focus species was the eel-tailed catfish.

Citizen science afternoon at Colombo Creek, Morundah, looking for the elusive platypus with YACTAC and Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc.

Photo credit: David Smith, Sustainable Farms ANU

In the upper reaches of the Mountain Creek, habitat restoration for the endangered Southern Pygmy Perch also has many benefits for landholders, revitalising much-loved and valuable creek systems.

A single Southern Pygmy Perch was netted in Little Billabong Creek today! The species was initially detected using eDNA sampling of the creek in February 2024, and a new population of this endangered fish species has now been fully confirmed.

Come say "Hi" to the Refreshing the Upper Billabong project officer, Peter Rowland, at the Holbrook Landcare Network's Ag-Tech Expo, being held at Little Billabong Hall on Thursday 13th February 2025

In February, we did some snapshot eDNA sampling at water quality sites across the Upper Billabong as part of Refreshing Rivers Program

We're doing some work on the Ten Mile Creek in the Ian Geddes Bush Reserve. Our Community Working Bee will be on on Sunday 11th August 2024 from 10-12pm. It will be just a low key morning of a little bit of planting on the creek bank and some bush regeneration-style weed control

David Bray and Louise Freckleton are stewards of Highfield Farm and Woodland, a 335 Ha property near Adelong in the eastern Riverina. Highfield blends conservation of critically endangered Box‑gum grassy woodland with a small‑scale paddock‑to‑plate enterprise and a thriving ecotourism operation.

Waterways such as creeks, rivers, wetlands and riparian corridors are biodiversity hotspots. Many species relying on these areas are highly vulnerable to feral cat predation.

Join the Refreshing Rivers team and Landcare under the clear, unspoilt night skies for an evening celebrating the beauty and importance of our nocturnal environment.

The Refreshing Rivers project is offering a pilot project to deliver low-cost waterway solutions for landholders on the Yaven Creek.

Through the Refreshing Rivers Program, we are looking for landholders with farm dams, gravel pits or wetlands, who are interested in establishing refuge "arks" for this rare species of fish.