Helping protect local ecosystems

The Richmond System Wastewater upgrade team have begun draining a decommissioned water reservoir at the Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Working with the neighbouring Richmond Golf Course, the team have successfully rehomed 25 eastern long-necked turtles into the freshwater dams around the Golf Course.

In 2020, the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury’s campus began a study into the effects of not having turtles in rivers on their eco-systems.

"The research we are conducting at the Experimental Wetland Facility on the University's Hawkesbury campus shows that without turtles in our rivers, water quality would reach toxic levels during our hot summers," Mr Spencer said.