Project to aid lower vasse

The City of Busselton will engage with Alluvium Consulting Australia to mitigate the overwhelming algal bloom growth in the Lower Vasse River.

The Living Stream design development aims to create a less favourable environment for the blooms with a mixture of interventions such as the removal of sediment, re-vegetation works, changes to the river’s shape, and the creation of diverse habitats.

Alluvium environmental hydrologist Bill Moulden said the project was about restoring natural processes to aid the river’s ecological and social value.

“There is a history of fertiliser use and particularly phosphorus that has basically put excess nutrients into the river, and disconnected it from the wetland ... what we want to do is restore that balance and get some of those natural wetland processes happening again,” he said.

City of Busselton Mayor Grant Henley said no single solution would resolve the algal bloom issue and that a package of interventions was required to tackle their growth in the river.

“This project intends to combine all the latest science and research with what the community values and wants to see in the river,” he said.

The City will also consult the Lower Vasse River Management Advisory Group.

The public are invited to have their say at an information session in September.

Email mathilde.breton@ busselton.wa.gov.au or fill in a community survey at https://yoursay.busselton. wa.gov.au/.