Wetlands

The City of Salisbury's investment in a unique and diverse series of wetlands has provided significant economic, social and environmental benefits to the local community and the wider region.

Salisbury has more than 50 wetlands and has committed their use as strategic catchment management tools that:

• restore habitat and increase biodiversity
• provide flood protection
• provide natural filtering and cleansing of stormwater, enabling a low cost treatment option for re-use
• protect the delicate downstream Barker Inlet, an estuary into the Gulf St Vincent and the largest fish breeding nursery in South Australia.
• create attractive landscape features
• provide areas for passive recreation and enjoyment
• enable research and development
• provide opportunities for environmental education and awareness
• contribute significantly to the ultimate goal of a sustainable urban environment

Constructed wetlands are designed and built in such a way as to maximise the multiple benefits mentioned above. Depending on the wetlands' purpose and the space available, built elements of the wetland may include:

• trash racks, which collect large floating pieces of litter and debris
• gross pollutant traps, which combine a trash rack with a sedimentation basin to allow solids suspended in the water to settle out
• sedimentation or detention ponds, in which the water slows down so that mud and fine sediments can fall out of the water column
• reed beds, which filter the slow moving water
• weirs, which control the levels of water in different parts of the wetland
• flow or diversion structures, which can be used to regulate inflows to the wetlands and ensure that very high flows are diverted away from sensitive areas, thus avoiding damage

For more information, please download the following PDF fact sheets:

1. The Salisbury Wetlands
2. The Benefits of Our Wetlands
3. Wetland Design Features
4. Stormwater Treatment
5. Harvesting Our Stormwater
6. Monitoring Water Quality
7. Maintaining Our Wetlands
8. Managing Mosquitoes
9. Drying Out Wetlands
10. Wildlife in Our Wetlands
11. Wetland Birds
12. Frogs and Froglets
13. Little Wetland Critters
14. Algae and Wetlands
15. Aquatic Wetland Plants
16. Wetlands Mosquito Monitoring Report 2013-2014