Hosted onsite at The Saddle Camp on Bombay Road, the event was close to maximum capacity, with almost 30 attendees, including locals and those travelling from as far as Murrumbateman and Mudgee. The event featured a theory session, practical hose demonstration and field walks on local properties examining landscape features and small-scale instream structures to showcase the key concepts of water being able to ‘flow through’, ‘around’ and ‘over’. 

In true field day fashion, Mulloon Institute's presenters Erin Healy and Peter Hazell did a great job and carried on with rain, shine and even rainbows overhead. “We were fortunate with the weather” says Don Woods of Bombay Landcare, “the stream we walked along during the field day turned into a torrent the next day” as rain continued for the rest of the weekend. 

Regardless of the wet weather, participants seemed to get a lot out of the day. “I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. I loved the simplicity and prioritisation of the key principles - grow more plants, protect/enhance intact features, halt active erosion and rebuild/restore waterways” says Carmen Bryne, Bombay Landcare Chair.

“Thanks to what I have learned already from my dealings with the experts from the Mulloon Institute, I find myself seeing the landscape with fresh eyes - reading the lay of the land, observing where water flows and slows, and I’m developing a much greater understanding of how and where to help it” adds Damien Hart, Landcarer and project participant.

The Bombay region to the west of Braidwood was lucky to be selected as one of ten project demonstration sites during the pilot phase of Mulloon Institute’s new Water Stewardship Program. Over the next two years, the Program aims to drive community collaboration and fund landscape-scale projects that restore local water cycles and enhance water quality, security and catchment health across the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment.  

“It’s about the bigger picture of what a healthy catchment can provide” says Erin Healy, Program Manager and Environmental Engineer with the Mulloon Institute. “So we can keep the momentum up, we’re keen to host another 2-day Bootcamp with the Bombay Landcare group and broader Upper Shoalhaven catchment community in late spring or summer”.

For more information about the Water Stewardship Program or how to get involved with the project in Bombay contact upper.shoalhaven@gmail.com or visit the website www.mullooninstitute.org/projects/water-stewardship-program.

Left: Mulloon Institute's Erin Healy (front right) and Peter Hazell (front left) presenting at The Saddle Camp in Bombay. Right: Practical hose demonstration highlighting ways water can move through a landscape.

This event was kindly funded by WaterNSW and The Ian Potter Foundation.