World Water Day Kayak
World Water Day Kayak
A chance to get on the water and learn about our mission.
Local Links - Stronger Communities -
LLCI003-012
The issue
Many people who live near the Parramatta River have never been on it or near its banks due to urbanised and densely populated areas. An understanding of the issues and solutions is crucial to the mission of the our living river campaign.
The solution
Partnering with the City of Ryde and Land's Edge Kayaking, the Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG) were able to engage locals through kayaking on World Water Day 2019.
The process started with an offer from the City of Ryde council to consider a collaborative event. The council and PRCG scoped several appropriate recreational water organisations and Land's Edge Kayaking was chosen as the provier. The City of Ryde agreed to cover the costs of the day if the PRCG could assist with mapping the tour, providing guides and outlining the information provided to the group on the day.
A planned kayak route within the Local Government Area (LGA) was chosen which suited the access needs of the participants (all beginners) as well as safety and what features of the Parramatta River could be highlighted.
As the PRCG masterplan (Duba Budu Barra) had recently been launched it was agreed that Putney Park would make an appropriate start and finishing location as it was a future swim site and had both ecological and historical significance. Remediation, bushcare and plantings had been completed around the areas in the past and future seawall projects which will enable citizen science projects and bivalve habitat creation were able to be flagged at the site.
Issues of stormwater management, sewage overflow, water quality were able to be discussed with the public. Collateral and material about the PRCG and our work was provided to the participants.
The impact
A video summary of the day is here.
Councillor Penny Pedersen, City of Ryde operations, PRCG staff and approximately 30 community members joined the kayak from two points along the Parramatta River.
The masterplan and efforts involving urban landcare were summarised on the day.
Learnings
The event will be held again from 17 - 27 October 2019 as part of Riverfest 2019 due to its success.
Key facts
- An awareness raising kayak was held to celebrate World Water Day, discuss how to improve river health and showcase the future Putney Park swim site.