By Greg, Jiefei, Kenny, Anson and Steve.

The Parramatta river the one of the main tributaries of Sydney Harbour along with the smaller Lane Cove river and is one of the largest rivers in Sydney. The river starts from Parramatta then flows through many areas Homebush, Meadowbank, Kissing point, Cabarita, Abottsford, Fivedock and Gladeville which than all flows to Sydney harbour and into the sea.

The river travels 40KM upstream into the Toongabie area and beyond, the opening is quite large, the river slowly becomes smaller until it reaches Toonagabie creek, where it is then split into deltas The Parrammatta river meanders a vast amount while it is split from the Lane cove river. Unfortunately through the many years, the river has been acting like an open sewer for industries which cause a vast variety of environmental issues for the people and animals surrounding it.

Fortunately an effort is being made to protect the many wetlands and swamps within the river and surrounding it.

The Parramatta is a bustling area for animals to thrive in, and is also a vast area in which people use to do water testing and recreational activities. The river also meets with the Lane Cove river, which is a very clean and pristine river. But unfortunately through the many years, people have caused vast amounts of damage to the Parramatta, it is so bad that private organisations had to set up resources to keep the river clean.

This problem is mostly due to the fact the there are surrounding factories which leak toxic waste and chemicals into the once clean and pristine Parramatta river. The river today is filled with many chemicals, few examples include PCBs, lead and cadmium. Most of these chemicals aren’t found on the main leg of the river but more on the smaller deltas which flow into the Parramatta river.

There are many impacts to the many rivers of Australia. Some main concerns include the increasing demands on water for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes. Another key impact is the increased use of the environments for tourism purposes. The first concern is the rise in population. The rise of population usually leads to over use of water and poor water disposal. One example is the Parramatta river. The Parramatta river is one of Sydney’s largest rivers, but due to poor filtration and water pollution, the Dissolved oxygen levels decline to a large extent as someone travels up the Parramatta river.

The highest levels of pollution is detected in the Duck River, which is an interconnect of the Parramatta river, within Duck river there is a high amount of factory waste discharge into the river.

Turbidity is another issue for the Parramatta river system, as the river enters the eastern section of the river, the Turbidity decreases. Most turbidity issues exist in the inner areas of the Parramatta river where most of the factories are located. These issues not only happen in the Parramatta river system but many more rivers also have the same issue, mostly within rivers which have many factories.

There have been many responses from individuals and groups in Sydney to help save the Parramatta river from destruction. One example is the Parramatta river scheme that was run by the Environmental Protection agency in mid 2000 due to a government grant of $257,650. The aim of this scheme was to increase the knowledge and understanding of the river to many people around the area. The prople then started to look after the river for a brighter future for future generations.

A few examples of contribution included a mural, library displays on the river and annual cleaning events, in where many people participated. Some individuals and government initiatives have also opted to buy back some parts of the Parramatta land areas to research the water quality and similar. One government activity was cementing some areas where industrial use was high, this was to stop the harmful chemicals from flowing into the river.

Another example is the Winston Hills and Toongabbie bushcare program, this is a community/ individual group program which aims to restore the ecological environment. The group has been very successful for a number of years in receiving grants from the Natural Heritage Trust and Rivercare. The group is involved in a wide range of activities, a few examples include bush regeneration, providing habitat for wildlife and water filtering for better quality fish. These programs not only happen in the Parramatta river, but are covered through many other different waterways, one example being the Lane Cove river, where an EPA program was also launched.

The Parramatta River is a large river in Sydney that contains many fish and marine animals. The river contains many wetlands and swamps which were damaged due to the industrial waste that was dump in the 1970’s. Now the area has been protected by activists, but the waste was because the Parramatta River was an open sewer for industrial waste such various metals and chemicals that are hazardous to the animals and caused the water quality to deteriorate.

This caused major concern due to many fishing stocks around the Sydney Harbour area to be contaminated and inconsumable, many people that ate the fish became sick because of this and developed diseases and proved that Sydney Harbour was one of the most contaminated areas in Australia destroying the fragile wetlands that surround the area. Within the river, many wildlife exist, one example being the cod towards the opening of the river. Birds also live around that area for food and water, the primary bierd being the seagull.

But the Parramatta is now a part of a government water catchment scheme to provide water management and provide drinking water for the people of Sydney