calperum news fs summer 2015-16 - microsoft · alter ego as 'mr calperum' stays with him....

Issue 4 Calperum News Summer 2015-16

In This Issue...• Message from Chairman Dick

• Come and Try Calperum

• Researching Water and the Environment

• The Revegetation Program

Message from Chairman Dick

To follow Bob Arnold as chair of the Calperum Committee is no small task. I congratulate and thank him on a job well done, and request that his alter ego as 'Mr Calperum' stays with him. It does mean, however, that not only Bob, but a number of other committee members are available to talk about Calperum. Bob does have bigger shoes than me, but I hope that I can add something to our work and involvement at Calperum.

Many of you, like us, were disappointed that the Health of the River Forum planned for last October was cancelled. This was brought about by a withdrawal of outreach funding from La Trobe University, and then a follow-on staff reduction. Hence, less money that they could provide to pay for the specialists running the forum, and less people to do it. Since then we have been actively pursuing alternatives, and have come up with some strategies.

We have approached the Chaffey Learning Exchange programme, which has been established in part to develop and promote educational opportunities in the Riverland.

Calperum is an active part of the Exchange, along with a number of other partners. They are pursuing, on our advice, a number of people who may be able to help us develop on going programmes, for primary through to secondary age students, including one based on the Health of the River programme. Contnued P2

Calperum NewsIs issued quarterly and is intended to provide up to date information about Rotary at Calperum. Please let us have the stories and photos of your

times at Calperum

Come And Try CalperumElliot Dwyer, RC Eastwood

Calperum Station in the Riverland north of Renmark, is the centre of Rotary Australia's biggest environmental program. The property is a former Sheep Station of 3500 square kilometres and is now under the management of the Australian Landscape Trust for conservation, research and education purposes.

More than a dozen Clubs from Districts 9500 and 9520 visit the Station (some several times each year) to assist in environmental recovery, tree and shrub planting, water quality monitoring, tree health assessment, as well as a number of Rotary Youth Projects. These are accompanied of course, by social, sight-seeing and boating activities.

Calperum NewsA Joint Rotary District 9500 and 9520 Project


Calperum abounds in wildlife - beautiful birds, flocks of kangaroo and emu, goannas, and even little echidnas just a few metres from the house. And you may have forgotten the amazing star-scape seen from a country vantage!

The Rotary Calperum Committee runs Come-and-Try weekends by arrangement, from Friday to Sunday and all Rotarians are invited to see for themselves the great work that the Trust and Rotary are doing and having a most enjoyable time in the process. Family and friends of Rotarians are also welcome.

Renmark is an easy 3 hour drive from Adelaide (with Bakery stops on the way!) and Calperum is only 10 minutes drive to the north. There is ample comfortable accommodation on site and as we take our own food and linen, there is no charge for Rotarians who are part of a working group.

If you are interested in a weekend to try it out, contact Elliot Dwyer of the Rotary Club of Eastwood. CN

Chairman’s Message from P1

I hope that we will see some progress early in the school year, with funding from the Exchange.

In addition, we have continued our efforts to access the carry-over funds from the Forums held in Lake Culluleraine. We have been very fortunate that the Rotary Club of Blackwood have subsidised the last three forums, but this is an

unfair burden on one club. I thank Don Will for his measured and steady commitment to this task.

We are busy organising our contribution to the District Conference programme. For those of you who have not been to Calperum, or want to know more about it, please watch for more detail, and take the opportunity to come out with us and see why we think that Calperum is a jewel in Rotary's crown, with great programmes, and great friendship opportunities for all of us.

& & & & & & & & Dick

Please contact me, at 0418106673 or [email protected] for more information

or to arrange a guest speaker about Calperum

D9520 Conference Calperum Opportunities

• Walking and FourWD tours will be conducted on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April, cost $10.00 each. As of 8th January, a total of 86 persons have registered for a tour!

• Accommodation is still available in the dormitories at Calperum for only $22 per person per night

• Further details from Elliot Dwyer (Rotary Calperum Committee) on 0427 397 536 or [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




Researching Water and the Environment

Elliot Dwyer, RC Eastwood

The Australian Landscape Trust (ALT) has a number of objectives in mind for management of the Calperum property, in no particular order (and in the writer’s own words):•Understand the environment and natural resources of the land – and carry out research to that objective•Manage the land in a sustainable manner – considering both natural attributes and the

impacts wrought by humans both on site and by activities in the Murray-Darling Basin• Carry out environmental rehabilitation – where that adds to sustainable management of

the land• Educate and inform the community about the wonderful asset we have that is

Calperum and the Murray-Darling BasinAnd to those ends,• Involve and support the indigenous community through understanding and

incorporating their traditional knowledge, skills and management systems in current management approaches

• Apply the research and knowledge gained to manage both Calperum and other environments

Two of the natural resources mentioned in the first point above and managed by the Calperum team are water (in the river, creek, lakes and underground) and vegetation (trees, shrubs and grasses) and even a brief reconnaissance of the floodplain around Calperum headquarters illustrates that the land and those resources have had a chequered history: long dead trees and recent flushes of new growth, flood mitigation works and irrigation systems, engineered channels, cultivated ground, feral animals and weeds and so on.The range of issues arising includes the question of how the water resources support the vegetation, or not. What is the quality of the water? How salty is it? Where is the fresh water? What happens as the River rises and falls? Is the aquatic environment stable or changing? And importantly, is there any point in attempting to maintain a green landscape or is it destined, naturally, to a different future, perhaps less picturesque?


The Gridwell and Tree Health Monitoring Program is attempting to throw some light on these questions. As Dr Dean Graetz (ex CSIRO) observed in 2004,

“The future of these wetlands cannot be predicted with confidence because the current monitoring of the sub-surface drivers of progressive change (groundwater level and salinity, soil salinity) as well as the surface indicators of change (tree mortality) is seriously inadequate. A steady flow of information about these landscape variables is critical to the adaptive management of all Calperum wetlands, the salinized Lake Woolpolool included.” (emphasis is the writer’s)“The question is whether this (tree) mortality is the consequence of episodic drought (as in 2004) or progressive sub-surface salinization.”

& and …“management responsibilities … at Calperum will be beneficially served by the installation and operation of an enhanced monitoring network. This network will inform management of the status and dynamics of groundwater levels, as well as groundwater and soil salinities.”

What Graetz was referring to was the complex nature of the surface and sub-surface water systems, their variation in salinity and movement from place to place and with depth, and the changes that occur over time as surface conditions change (floods, drought, human activity etc).The solution was to drill a grid of boreholes on the Calperum floodplains to a little deeper than the top of the groundwater and, periodically, to measure and analyse the height, salinity and temperature of the water in each hole. At the same time, the health of the predominant trees in the area (two Eucalypts, River Red Gum and Black Box) should be recorded. Likewise, broader, external events around Calperum and the Basin potentially

affecting the condition of the waters and the trees should be noted. These might include seasonal rains, floods, droughts etc, engineering works installed or removed, or water extracted from the system.)Graetz’s recommendations were implemented and by early 2015, hundreds of borehole measurements and thousands of tree health assessments have been recorded by ALT staff, Rotarians and other volunteers.


Calperum - What a wonderful and Unique Experience

To make a booking: Contact Elliot Dwyer on 0427 397536 or email him

at [email protected]

Use this as a great opportunity for club fellowship and be engaged in interesting and varied

environmental projects



The results? The health of the trees is much improved since 2010 but whether that is a result of changes in quality of the groundwater, or the impact of high river levels or more consistent rains, or the result of deliberate flooding and drying of the lakes remains to be seen!The monitoring program has, however, already shown that

• groundwater salinity can change significantly over very short distances (a few tens of metres)

• Spatial patterns in salinity tend to persist (or re-establish) after filling and drying and refilling the lakes

• We can see effects from events filling the lakes that salinity can 'move out' from the lakes, though not equally in all directions

• We can see effects from significant rainfall events but, once again, these are not the same in all areas.

The program is being overseen by ALT’s former Manager Riverland Operations (Dr Grant Whiteman) and the data collected is being used by two Adelaide University Honours students. One is studying groundwater use by black box (eucalyptus) trees, and the other is studying groundwater dynamics. Monitoring data will also be made available via the TERN (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network) website.

ReferencesDr Dean Graetz, 2004, Salinity futures of the Calperum Wetlands: Report of field inspection, March 28-April 1, 2004, personal communication to Dr Grant Whiteman.

For further information contact Elliot Dwyer of the Rotary Club of Eastwood on m. 0427 397 536. CN

The Revegetation Program at Calperum Station.David Gooley - RC Mitcham

This first article presents an introduction and then covers the period of revegetation from 1998 to 2008

Calperum Station is a pastoral lease and covers an area of 238,638 hectares in the Riverland area of South Australia. Three areas of different vegetation make up the station. Nearest the River Murray is the Floodplain which is bounded by a slightly elevated strip of semi arid woodland with majority of the property being covered by Mallee. The sheep grazing degraded the property, removing the lower storey grasses and compacting the soil, especially on the floodplain and areas of the semi arid woodland. The removal of the upper storey vegetation of the semi arid woodland consisting of the Native Pine Callitris gracilis, Sugarwood Myoporum platycarpum and Bullock Bush Aectyron aleifolius for building


This is the first of a series of articles, to be written by David Gooley of the Rotary Club of Mitcham, covering the revegetation program of the Floodplain and the Semi Arid Woodland at Calperum Station. The author went to Calperum Station in 2009 on a weekend visit where he was introduced to the diversity of the restoration and conservation project at the station. He was particularly enthused regarding the revegetation part of the project. The success of the planting of the seedlings is not only determined by the seedlings themselves and the weather (rainfall and temperature) but also flooding, grazing by animals, both native and introduced, and introduced weeds among other things.

construction, fencing and firewood greatly affected the vegetation of that area. A range of mallee Eucalypts and Black Box Eucalyptus largiflorens were also harvested for paddle steamer fuel.Prior to the 1956 flood, a levee bank was constructed along Ral Ral Creek to stop the flooding of the station buildings. The levee bank was successful at preventing flooding of the buildings, but on the detrimental side, it affected the health of the floodplain by preventing the occasional flooding, (every 2 or 3 years), which occurred when the level of the River Murray rose high enough. Even minor flooding was important. A gap, filled with Red Gum logs, was created in the levee bank at the creek to connect Lake Woolpolool to the river. These logs acted as a sluice gate to allow water to flow into the lake when the river level was high enough and the property owners wanted to keep water in the lake. Without the occasional flooding, the salt level rose in the soil, causing the death of the vegetation, especially the upper and mid storeys. With the drier conditions, the sheep grazing not only decimated the grasses but also the saltbush (a range of Atriplex and Maireana species) which the sheep ate when there were no grasses.In 1995 livestock was removed from the property. The lease is now held in trust by the Australian Government with the Australian Landscape Trust (ALT) being contracted to manage the property.

The Flood Plain.Prior to the construction of the levee bank in 1956, the vegetation types were linked to elevation above the River Murray level and hence flooding frequency. In elevated areas, Black Box, Eucalyptus Largiflorens had an under-storey of saltbush and Emphemeral forbgrass or pigface Disphyma lanceolata, while in lower areas Black Box , Eucalyptus largiflorens grew associated with Lignium Muehllenbeckia florulenta and River Cooba, Acacia stenophylla. At the edge of the lakes and main water courses, River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis grew drawing on the more permanent water supply.Low sand dunes within the floodplain supported a range of saltbush including, Atriplex rhagodioides and Melaleuca lanceolata. The changes, including stock grazing, upper storey vegetation removal, reduced flooding frequency and increased soil salinity have favoured drought and salt tolerant under-storey species.

From 1998 to 2002, a number of plantations were established, three of which were unfenced.

(1) A Kangaroo Island Tea Tree, Melaluca halmaturom site on the south east corner of Lake Woolpolool. These trees grew reasonably well, although the survival rate is unknown and by 2008 some were 2 metres tall. This variety was chosen because of its drought resistance, salinity tolerance and tolerance to occasional water logging for a short period.

(2) An Old Man’s Saltbush Atriplex nummularia site was planted on the higher sand ridges south of Lake Woolpolool. This plantation struggled because of the drought conditions, and was considered disappointing because of the low survival rate as a result of planting late in a dry year as well as the following dry years.

(3) A Green Box, (a natural hybrid between Eucalyptus largiflorens and Eucalyptus gracilis) site was planted, west of Lake Woolpolool on the taller sand dunes on the edge of the floodplain. This hybrid had to be produced by tissue culture because it was believed that the natural seed would not produce this Green Box form because it was a hybrid. This plantation was supported by irrigation. The survival rate was between 30-50% and by 2008 some examples were 2 metres tall.


Semi Arid WoodlandThe Semi Arid Woodland is the area of land between the Flood Plain and the Mallee. It is a relatively narrow strip of some 3600 hectares. It used to support patches of Native Pine, Callitris gracilis, Sugarwood, Myoporum platycerpum and Bullock Bush, Alectryon oleifolius with an understorey of shrubs including Acacia nissophyla, Hakea leucoptera, Rhagodia spinescens, Senna artimisioides and others; in a mosaic with chenopod shrublands. The area is now highly modified by the timber harvesting of the Callitris gracilis, and the loss of Myoporum platycarpum. The chenopod shrubland community now dominates the area, with species including Maireana pyramidata, Maireana sedifolia, dodenaea viscose and Maireana pentatropis being the most common species present, along with components of the old semi-arid woodland patches, such as the sub canopy species Pittosporum augustifolium and Hakea leucoptera and a grass and herb layer.During the early years of Australian Landscape Trust (ALT), management of Calperum, (1998 to 2002) a number of exclusion zones were created. Some of these were planted with Native Pine, Callitris gracilis in plantation style and supported with irrigation. Today, the surviving trees are between 1 and 3.5 metres tall with one such site being on the northern edge of Lake Woolpolool. The survival rate of the successful plantings, though not formally recorded, was high at probably over 80%; but some sites failed completely. Another site, known as the Horticultural Site, is on the western side of the entrance road. It was planted with a wide range of species that were valuable for the cut flower industry and, for a number of years production, was sold to a florist in Melbourne, mainly for the Japanese market. Because these were production plants they were not necessarily local natives, with a range of Western Australian eucalypts, such as Eucalyptus tetragona and four types of Banksia. These plants were supported by irrigation. Some sites were unfenced. One site of interest was on the western side of Old Wentworth Road just inside the southern boundary. Over 2500 Native Pine, Callitris gracilis, were planted in the late 1990s by school children as part of the Angry Anderson Challenge. No irrigation was provided and up to 2008, no follow up was done on this plantation.


Fenced Native Pine (Callitris gracilis) plantation with irrigation lines still in place. Still lacking sub-storey vegetation

Western Australian Eucalyptus for cut flower production in the exclusion zone.Again, no sub-storey development

Another site of a Native Pine, Callitris gracilis is adjacent to the station buildings. This site was supported with irrigation and the trees are now up to 2.5 metres tall.The original plantations, which were in plantation style, are not representative of the original vegetation density which formed an open semi arid woodland. But all of the plantings provide

information on revegetation procedure and potential success in this Semi Arid area. Information is gained each year as evaluative data of the sites is recorded and this information is used to improve procedures in following years.

This includes:(1)& the need to protect the seedling from grazing, (2)& a requirement to irrigate, especially in the first few years to increase the survival & rate (3)& the observation that the plantation style tends to exclude the development of & the sub and lower storey plants. (4)& the requirement to plant a variety of plants most suited to a site or part of a site.These observations and more are being learnt as time passes.During the period 2008 to 2013, a number of surveys of these early plantings were carried out. These will be discussed in the next article.References

& Cale P. & 2013 Restoration of the Riverland Ramsar floodplain. Australian & & & Landscape Trust

Cale P.&& 2013 Restoration of semi-arid woodlands: connecting the mallee to the & floodplain. Australian Landscape Trust

Cale P. and Cale B.& & 2011 Semi-arid Woodland: A conceptual model. Australian Landscape

& Trust & Discussions with Cale P. and Davis L.& & & & & & CN


Unfenced Native Pine (Callitris gracilis) near the station buildings


Opportunities abound

for club members, family &

friends

to be part of this unique

environmental experience,

to contribute in valuable and

practical ways and to enjoy a

memorable time of

Rotary fellowship

For booking arrangementsContact

Elliot Dwyer: [email protected] 397 536

Further informationDick Cuttle: [email protected]





Calperum Rotary Activities• Rotary Club Work Parties• Health of The River Forums• Camp Calperum Programme• RYWELL - Rotary Youth Wellbeing• Youth Exchange Schoolies Week• International Student’s Group• RYLA - Rotary Youth Leadership Awards• ROTARACT • District Management Committee meetings• PETS - President Elect Training Seminar• Rotary Training Seminars

Contacts

❖ Stories, Reports & Photos for Calperum News! ! ! Rodger Hedley [email protected]

❖ District 9520 & 9500 Committee Chairman! ! Dick Cuttle [email protected]

❖ Club Bookings Elliot Dwyer [email protected]








calperum news fs summer 2015-16 - microsoft · alter ego as 'mr calperum' stays with him....

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