Capel river destruction

Since moving to Capel (just over one year ago) we have enjoyed fishing, & catching really good bream along with mullet & other estuary fish in the Capel river mouth, & we know members of FW.com who have been very successful with redfin & marron upstream. This winter the second canoe race from just south of the town to the sea & beyond promises to be an even bigger event than the huge inaugeral race last year, yet the local farmer is allowed to let his herd of beef cattle continually wade across the river, crap & piss in it & drag tonnes of earth down into the water in their attempts to climb the steep banks making it ridiculously wide & very shallow as a result. With that and ( I am told ) whey from a local factory being released into the river, it is no wonder the Capel River is running green & polluted!
I have shown my disgust by writing to the CEO of the Capel shire demanding that stock should be prevented from direct access to the river. If you feel the way do please do the same!


Posts: 25

Date Joined: 28/04/10

You want to stop a farmer

Mon, 2010-05-10 21:42

You want to stop a farmer from getting his cattle to cross a river?  Are you for real?

7739ian's picture

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Date Joined: 25/06/08

I agree

Tue, 2010-05-11 07:47

how dare you Rainbow? - we have plenty of rivers, what's one more full of crap? Anyway, the cows will be able to walk over it soon as the superphosphate off their paddocks should form enough algae to make a bridge. Welcome to the South West of W.A.

Cammos's picture

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I honestly don't know, but

Tue, 2010-05-11 08:13

I honestly don't know, but wouldn't farmers have been sending their cows across the river for many many years? I would imagine it to be more about run off and pollution.

7739ian's picture

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Some of

Tue, 2010-05-11 09:31

both - i know where Rainbow is talking about and they fairly chop the river bank up in a fashion that would get a boatie lynched - perhaps a bridge could be built - they built an underpass at Cowaramup.

ody's picture

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 Hi Ya,"I have shown my

Tue, 2010-05-11 13:50

 

Hi Ya,

"I have shown my disgust by writing to the CEO of the Capel shire demanding that stock should be prevented from direct access to the river."

I can't believe what I'm reading. 

You've been there how long?  Who are you that you can make demands?  What makes you think your 'demands' are more important than the farmers?  Do you seriously want a farmer to curtail his income making venture so you can engage in a hobby?  And I suppose you want free access to his private property to do so.

If you are so cheesed off with the situation, why don't you pay for a bridge 'cause I'm sure the farmer has more pressing things to spend his money on.

Cheers.

 

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Ody, farmers in Victoria are encouraged

Tue, 2010-05-11 23:08

to fence along creeks to prevent damage to waterways!They are allowed access to rivers & lakes to pump water into troughs for their stock,so whats wrong with that? Capel River is crown land , that means its everyones to enjoy!
Fresh water is now too precious a commodity for anyone to abuse, those days are coming to an end! Anyway once bluegreen algae takes a hold the river is no good to man or beast!

carnarvonite's picture

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Date Joined: 24/07/07

Victoria

Tue, 2010-05-11 23:31

The rivers in Victoria run all year round unlike WA where they go down to a bare trickle untill winter rains. Capel river would have been completely dry except for the treated water coming from the Westralian sands synthetic rutile plant.

The run off from the dairy farms from half way to Donnybrook through to the mouth would be in the hundreds of tonnes, makes it a bit hard to blame just one poor little farmer

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Date Joined: 03/01/08

yes you are right Canarvonite

Thu, 2010-05-13 22:13

but when you see the damage to such a small stream in one small area in town,that " one poor little farmer" is the one to take the brunt of it all!
Hooved beasts are not native to Australia & our soil being so shallow is easily destroyed , (well the micro-organisms in it are) particularly by cattle & river banks are even more vunerable.
Every person who has a stream flowing through their property is very fortunate ( I was one), but that waterway is by no means theirs, they just make use of it, & what they do to it can affect every other person & all aquatic life downstream as far as the sea & beyond. Its a hell of a responsiblity, so badly needs a strict code of management here in WA.

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Capel River

Thu, 2015-12-10 11:55

 Cattle crossing the river only spoils the river bank and the surrounds.

Water discolouration will come from poor water flow or lack of water.

The discussion should be aimed at water abuse and wastage, as an exaple water being pumped into a paddock for no reason at all , simply to meet the licence .

Stop the water waste and the river will clear itself up.

Walfootrot's picture

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Holy cow... enjoy your

Thu, 2015-12-10 12:05

Holy cow... enjoy your steak...
I would be more worried about what runs off the farm land than the cows.

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More drum lines, kill the bloody sharks!

Perry Home's picture

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Date Joined: 07/10/10

Wafootrot... good call.

Tue, 2016-01-05 23:37

 That's Gold Wall.

Carnarvonite.... you're giving away your years there mate. Westralian Sands were around when I was a kid. ..mid 70s?

Rainbow...  wait till you try to access Peppy-Forrest beach... towards the west .. maybe you could ask the council to relocate the fence.  Old titles take ownership to the low tide mark technically creating a privately owned beach.  The Gov should purchase from said landowner (s) on behalf of all Western Australians. That would be of far greater benefit to a greater number of beach users. 

carnarvonite's picture

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Westralian Sands

Wed, 2016-01-06 06:09

Worked for Westralian sands as a control room operator then as a supervisor through the commissioning and later running of the SR plant for about 5 years.
We had the greenies up in arms when it first started but soon quietened down once they saw how the treatment of effluent worked, even the farmers complained when we shut down for extended maintenance because that stopped the flow of water in to the river

uncle's picture

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Its a hard one

Wed, 2016-01-06 07:29

 Just need tim flannery to say the river will never run again!

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all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs

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The south west corner has the

Wed, 2016-01-06 10:29

The south west corner has the most degraded rivers in the whole country.

Healthy rivers lead to healthy oceans and healthier fish stocks... Pointing the finger at one farmer is not going to help, but solutions and actions eventually do. Whole lost river systems are being returned to healthy semi natural systems all over the world. It can and will happen here but not for some time and not without community and farmer support.

Community work on farming properties has been huge over east and the first issue tackled is stopping livestock from entering waterways. Fencing and vegetation planting is the most common resolution to restore river banks. Then funded water troughs and pumps supplying water from the river away from the river banks to the troughs, (ususally solar) we have a long way to go here in WA but baby steps and we will get there eventually.

 

Perry Home's picture

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Date Joined: 07/10/10

Hey Carnarvonite

Wed, 2016-01-06 11:58

Did you ever work with an Englishman named Dick Shore?... he's a Trout fisherman and worked in the industry for many years from the early 60 s. He and a chap named Ed Bamforth from Harvey used to catch more than their share of Trout here in the South West particularly the Blackwood. He's a softly spoken man ... a real true gentleman.  Prob knows more about catching Trout than almost any other person in W A. For those in the know he even caught fish from the fabled Mornington Mill.

carnarvonite's picture

Posts: 8622

Date Joined: 24/07/07

Meet

Wed, 2016-01-06 13:36

Never met him, have always shied away from anything to do with fishing in fresh water, tried marroning and even though caught good numbers , stumbling around tripping over sticks and roots half pissed in the middle of the night was not my thing, unlike beach fishing where it didn't hurt and if you fell over, spit the sand out and off you go.

IMO trout and al freshwater fish taste like mud and should be avoided at all costs