Water quality is vital for fisheries health, yet often overlooked
Along the rivers and creeks of regional New South Wales, a quiet crisis has been building — fish kills, toxic blooms, and declining populations that those who live close to the water have long sensed before science confirmed it. In response, a coalition of researchers, conservation organisations, and fisheries experts is turning to the community itself as an indispensable source of knowledge, launching the Community Water Quality Audit Project to map which waterways are suffering most and why. The initiative, anchored by a public event in Tamworth on July 22 and an open online survey, rests on a conviction as old as good science: that the people who watch a river change over seasons carry wisdom no laboratory can replicate. It is an invitation to transform local grief about damaged waterways into collective, purposeful action.
- Regional NSW waterways are visibly deteriorating — fish kills, algal blooms, and falling fish populations signal an ecosystem under mounting stress.
- Water quality, despite sitting at the root of these problems, has too often been sidelined in restoration planning, leaving communities and ecologists frustrated.
- A coalition spanning OzFish, Southern Cross University, DigsFish Services, the Future Fisheries Veterinary Service, and the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust is pooling scientific and community expertise to close that gap.
- An online survey running until July 24 and a public forum at West Tamworth League Club on July 22 are designed to gather local observations and identify which waterways need urgent attention.
- The project is landing as both a diagnostic tool and a recruitment effort — mapping struggling rivers while building a network of citizen scientists ready to help restore them.
In the New England and North West regions of NSW, the people who know rivers best — fishers, locals, environmental advocates — are being invited into a formal partnership with science. The Community Water Quality Audit Project is not asking them to simply receive expert findings; it is asking them to contribute what they have already witnessed: the moments a river changed, the seasons fish disappeared, the signs that something had gone wrong.
The coalition behind the project is broad and purposeful. OzFish, the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust, Southern Cross University, DigsFish Services, and the Future Fisheries Veterinary Service share a common belief that the best restoration work happens when field knowledge and laboratory precision are brought together. On July 22, they will gather at West Tamworth League Club to make that belief practical — presenting the latest research on fish health and water quality, then opening the floor for community members to identify which waterways they believe need help most.
The urgency is real. Fish kills have appeared across regional waterways. Algal blooms have rendered water toxic. Fish populations are declining in ways that alarm ecologists and threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on healthy rivers. Project leaders Dr Ben Diggles, Professor Kirsten Benkendorff, and Dr Matt Landos argue that water quality sits at the centre of these pressures yet remains undervalued in many restoration efforts — and that this project exists to change that.
Beyond the Tamworth evening, an online Water Quality Survey open from June 10 to July 24 invites anyone with observations about local conditions to contribute. The survey maps struggling waterways while identifying community members ready to participate in future citizen science activities. Restoration, the project's philosophy insists, must be built from the ground up — with people who already care, already know, and are ready to act.
Across the New England and North West, people who spend their time on the water—fishers, locals, environmental advocates—are being asked to become part of something larger than themselves. The Community Water Quality Audit Project is assembling them not as passive recipients of expert opinion, but as essential witnesses. These are the people who know when a river changes, when the fish behave differently, when something is wrong. The project wants to listen.
The initiative brings together an unlikely coalition: OzFish, the country's fish habitat charity; the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust; Southern Cross University; DigsFish Services; and the Future Fisheries Veterinary Service. Their shared conviction is simple but powerful—that the best science happens when researchers and community members work together, when field expertise meets laboratory precision. On July 22, they're coming to West Tamworth League Club to make that partnership real.
The timing matters. Regional NSW waterways are under visible stress. Fish kills have appeared. Algal blooms have turned water toxic. Fish populations are declining in ways that alarm both ecologists and people whose livelihoods depend on healthy rivers. Water quality sits at the center of these problems, yet it often gets overlooked when restoration projects are planned. The project's leaders—Dr Ben Diggles from DigsFish Services, Professor Kirsten Benkendorff from Southern Cross University, and Dr Matt Landos, who directs the Future Fisheries Veterinary Service—will present what the latest research shows about fish health and water quality. But the evening is designed as a conversation, not a lecture. After the presentations, the room will open for discussion. Attendees will be asked directly: which waterways do you think need help most? Where should we focus our work?
The project extends beyond a single evening in Tamworth. An online Water Quality Survey runs from June 10 through July 24, inviting anyone with observations about local water conditions to contribute. The survey serves a dual purpose: it helps researchers map which waterways are struggling, and it identifies who in the community is ready to participate in future citizen science work. This is how restoration gets grounded in reality—not imposed from above, but built from the ground up with people who care.
Dr Diggles framed the project's philosophy plainly: water quality is essential to fisheries health, yet it remains undervalued in many restoration efforts. The project exists to change that equation. By listening to fishers and indigenous groups and other community members who know their waterways intimately, the team hopes to learn not just which places need help, but who is willing to help deliver it. The work ahead depends on both knowledge and commitment. The invitation is open. The conversation begins July 22 at 7 p.m.
Notable Quotes
Water quality is vital for the health of our fisheries, but it is often an overlooked factor when attempting waterway restoration. We look forward to talking with fishers, indigenous groups and other members of regional communities who know their local waterways best.— Dr Ben Diggles, project leader
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a project like this need to exist? Don't scientists already know which waterways are in trouble?
They know some of it from data—fish kills get reported, algal blooms are visible. But a fisher who's worked the same river for twenty years knows things no dataset captures. They notice when the water changes color in ways that don't show up in a lab test. They see which fish species have disappeared. That knowledge is irreplaceable.
So this is really about filling gaps in what science knows?
It's bigger than that. It's about recognizing that local people are scientists too, just working with different tools. A fisher's observations are data. The project is saying: we need both kinds of knowledge, and we're not going to plan restoration without you.
What happens after the survey closes in July? Does the community involvement end?
No—that's the point. The survey and the Tamworth event are meant to identify who's ready to do citizen science work going forward. This is the beginning of a longer partnership, not a one-off consultation.
Why focus on water quality specifically? Isn't restoration about habitat, dams, land use—lots of things?
All of those matter. But water quality is often the invisible killer. You can restore habitat, but if the water is toxic or oxygen-depleted, the fish still die. It's been overlooked in restoration planning, and this project is trying to correct that.
Who benefits most from this approach?
The waterways do, ultimately. But so do the communities. When people have a voice in restoration, they're more invested in the outcome. They become stewards, not just observers.