Mandurah Samphire

Creery Wetlands and Samphire Cove - Home of the Quenda also known as the Southern Brown Bandicoot

Residents' Information

Living in Mandurah

 

Congratulations on your decision to live in Mandurah. As you will already realize, and will appreciate even more with time, the Mandurah waterways, the canals and the adjacent wetland reserves provide a wonderful environment that is central to the unique lifestyle that you now enjoy.

A wonderful environment such as this deserves protection.  We all share in this responsibility.  We outline in this section a few simple, but important ways that you can help to maintain the unique lifestyle you enjoy in Mandurah.

 

Refuse

Building

Check with your building contractors to ensure that they use a suitable skip for rubbish disposal.  Help keep our streets and waterways clean.

Boating

If you enjoy boating on the estuary, store your rubbish securely on board and dispose of it when you return home.

Occasionally, rubbish or rafts of weed will drift into canals.  As a community service, residents can help by removing any rubbish or excess weed that accumulates in the canal. Help keep the canal clean for all users.

 

Pollution

Any fertilizers, oils or other pollutants entering the estuary could harm animals or stimulate unwanted algal growth.

In the Mariners Cove and Port Mandurah developments, Cedar Woods Properties Limited has installed pollutant traps to help filter run-off from roads before it reaches the estuary system.  This certainly helps to protect our estuary, but your help is also needed.  Dissolved materials in the stormwater runoff will still end up in the estuary.  Please don’t allow fertilizers, oils or other pollutants to enter the stormwater system.  Wash your car on the lawn rather than in the roadway.  Don’t allow fertilizers, oils or other pollutants to run off onto the road. 

Please also ensure that you design your home to stop direct run-off from entering the canals.  And please keep your fertilizer use to a reasonable minimum.

Grow a Water-wise, Eco-friendly Garden

  • Plant local native plants
  • Use a water-saving mulch on your garden beds
  • Use alternatives to lawn
  • Minimise water and fertilizer use
  • Install a rainwater tank to collect rainwater from your roof and use it to water your garden
  • Minor blemishes on leaves and flowers are the sign of a healthy ecosystem. Leaf-eating insects attract many different birds and lizards. Avoid pesticides and enjoy observing the huge variety of animals that inhabit your garden

No groundwater bores.

The groundwater aquifer at Mariners Cove, Port Mandurah and other areas close to the estuary has only a thin, freshwater lens over salt water.  The trees in the area rely on this freshwater.  Therefore, residents of Mariners Cove and Port Mandurah are prohibited under local government regulations from extracting water from the groundwater.

 

Mosquitoes

As with any location near water, mosquitoes occur in the Mandurah area.  They are a natural part of the ecosystem. Their larvae feed on rotting plant matter in the water and both the larvae and adults provide food for many species of animals.

Only adult female mosquitoes bite as they need a blood meal to produce their eggs. Male mosquitoes are harmless.

Care needs to be taken as mosquitoes can transmit Ross River virus and other diseases.  If you are outdoors at dawn or dusk, remember to wear long, loose-fitting clothing and use mosquito repellent to cover exposed skin.

Standing water in gutters, plant pots, pet bowls or buckets can provide breeding sites for mosquitoes. Help beat the mosquitoes by checking and removing potential breeding sites around your home.

   

The local authority conducts regular monitoring of mosquito numbers in the region and has an ongoing spraying programme that is aimed to reduce mosquito populations. The Health Department of WA is currently undertaking a runnelling  project around the Peel-Harvey Estuary which has an objective of reducing mosquito breeding areas.

This project involves the creation of small channels that allow inundated areas to drain more frequently thereby avoiding the potential for mosquitoes to breed in these areas. 

 

 

Samphire at Creery Wetlands and Samphire Cove at the Peel Inlet near Mandurah

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