Once a swamp, Now a suburb
These days most catchments are not in their natural state. When we change what the land in a catchment is used for we often change where water flows, how much flows, how often and how clean it is. In a natural catchment about 2% of rain runs off the catchment into local waterways - the rest of the water soaks into the ground or is used by plants before it reaches the ground. However, in an urban catchment full of hard surfaces such as roads, footpaths and buildings, up to 95% of rainfall runs off the land into waterways.
How has this catchment has changed over time?
The Past
The Present
Reproduced with the permission of the artist, George Aldridge.
Download PDF's
The Past (PDF approx 200kb)
The Present (PDF approx 170kb)
What Can We Do (PDF approx 180kb)
The Future (PDF approx 200kb)