Marrambidya Wetland Community Open Day on this Sunday

Marrambidya Wetland Community Open Day on this Sunday - 16 June 2016

The Marrambidya Wetland Community Open Day will be held this Sunday, 19 June after being postponed due to wet weather earlier in the month.

The wetland was officially opened on 3 June with a Welcome to Country, traditional smoking ceremony and release of 20,000 fish.

The free event will feature everything from Wiradjuri Storytelling to surveying fauna nest boxes.

The wetland features three pond areas and a deep water channel, which will allow aquatic animals refuge from warmer surface temperatures during the hot summer months.

The Marrambidya Wetland project is a joint initiative of Council, the NSW Environmental Trust, with support from Riverina Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government, together with the Federal Government’s Green Army program planting about 18,000 seedlings.

The wetland has links to the Wiradjuri Reserve, Wilks Park and the Riverside Precinct via the Wiradjuri Walking Track. For more information on the Marrambidya Wetland, visit www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/wetland.

Community open day

When: Sunday 19 June, 10am-2pm

Where: Narrung Street, Wagga Wagga

Free scheduled activities:

10.30am: Water sampling/ water bugs activity

11am: Seed balls

11.30am: Wiradjuri Storytelling

Noon: Free sausage sizzle

12.30pm: Maliyaa Dance Group

1pm: Water sampling/ water bugs activity

1.30pm: Wiradjuri Storytelling

Ongoing free activities:

• Fauna nest box surveys
• Reed planting
• Treasure hunt
• Face painting
• Spear throwing

Benefits of the Marrambidya Wetland project

The project will create an aquatic, passive reaction facility with a range of benefits for the wider community, including:

• Reducing the impact of nutrient discharge on the river
• Developing a wildlife habitat that will attract water birds, and encourage the return of migratory birds
• Recreating links to the Indigenous heritage of the area
• Enhancing our region’s biodiversity
• Promoting the stocking and breeding of endangered fish species
• Providing an educational resource focusing on aquatic ecology
• Establishing an environmental management showpiece
• Creating a new tourist attraction for the city