Boord’s Creek is an ancient creek bed near Barham, NSW, and 1.5km’s North of the Murray River. The Boord’s Creek system was once a connected creek system that flowed North of the Murray River and into a creek inside the adjacent Ramsar listed Koondrook-Perricoota Forest. Due to historical land use changes the creek system has now been disconnected and only connects in very wet years. The creek bed now appears as a chain of ephemeral ponds.

Working closely with the private landholders, the goal for Boord’s Creek is to support a natural water regime, helping to support the river red gum community and a diversity of herbaceous wetland plants.

The wetland provides suitable habitat for an array of waterbirds and frogs including the endangered southern bell frog (Vulnerable EPBC Act 1999 and Endangered BC Act 2016).

By supporting this wetland, environmental values for the surrounding area are enhanced as this wetland provides connectivity with the Thule Creek and Green Gully systems, and the Koondrook-Perricoota Forest.

Over the last few years, we have been delivering Environmental Water Trust (EWT) water to multiple wetland sites that form part of the Boord’s Creek. Beginning with one landholder, we now work with six individual landholders to deliver EWT water to their respective sites. This is exciting work as not only is it allowing us to focus on ecological objectives such as waterbird, frog and vegetation diversity and abundance, it is allowing us to focus on connectivity within the landscape.

Watering is allowing for the following outcomes:

• Connectivity at a landscape scale

• Maintain health and recruitment of wetland vegetation

• Frog diversity (including supporting the endangered Southern Bell Frog, Litoria raniformis)

• Provide habitat for waterbirds

• Increase health of mature trees