Melbourne Water renames and restores historic waterway in Upper Ferntree Gully
Photograph by Barbara Oehring.
Melbourne Water and the Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve have worked with local Wurundjeri elders to give a new name and a fresh start to a historic waterway in Upper Ferntree Gully.
The Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve made a successful application to Melbourne Water to rename Forest Road Drain to Wayut (‘wah-yoot’) Creek, which means ‘stringybark’ in Woiwurrung. ‘We hope the new name and status of the creek will improve the sentiment and care given to it by the broader community,’ said Melbourne Water Waterways and Land Officer, Jared Polkinghorne. THey hope that Wayut Creek can now be recognised for its environmental importance and the abundant flora and fauna it supports along its course.
The Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve had become increasingly concerned about pollution events in the creek that turned the stream milky white with an oily slick visible on the water’s surface. ‘It’s disturbing when you see the creek affected by pollution, especially at the top of the catchment,’ said President of Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve, Rowan Jennion. ‘Sometimes there has been an overpowering stench of a detergent, and this pollution affects the wildlife, insects, and plants in Wayut Creek that need a healthy waterway to survive,’ said Rowan.
Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve
The Friends of Koolunga Native Reserve have volunteered monthly for 30 years to help restore and maintain local biodiversity, including supporting the creek line with weed management, revegetation, rubbish removal, and wildlife monitoring. Wayut Creek will be a valuable wildlife connection between the Dandenong Ranges National Park and the remaining pockets of native vegetation along its path through the middle of the City of Knox.
Melbourne Water consulted with Wurundjeri colleagues on Indigenous language names that could describe the waterway with Wayut chosen from the Woiwurrung language.
‘Language is inextricably linked with culture and country,’ said Wurundjeri elder Aunty Gail. ‘Our language helps describe our connection to the environment and the landscapes within it in a way that strengthens these links to our country and to each other.’
We appreciate the opportunity provided by Melbourne Water to help all Australians connect with place by understanding the deep history of these places.’
Wayut Creek’s flora and fauna
Wayut are medium-sized eucalypts with a thick, fibrous bark that typically grow ten-to-40 metres in height to provide an important canopy for wildlife habitat along the creek line.
Formed from a series of springs in the Dandenong Ranges, Wayut Creek connects downstream with Blind Creek at Dobsons Park which flows into Dandenong Creek; a 53-kilometre-long tributary of the much shorter Patterson River. This ten-metre-wide artificial channel empties into Port Phillip Bay.
The wildlife native to Wayut Creek includes brown tree and banjo frogs. Rosellas drink and bathe in the stream. Yabbies and crays burrow in the banks. Pacific black ducks, Australian wood ducks, and chestnut teals breed nearby and feed and live on the water. Mountain galaxias fish and short-finned eels seek refuge under its native aquatic vegetation. Fishing spiders and invertebrates form the basis of a food chain that supports life in the creek.
Where is Wayut Creek?
To find Wayut Creek, you can track its course through the middle of Koolunga Native Reserve, located off Forest Road, or a short walk from the railway line bike path to the end of St Elmo Avenue in Ferntree Gully.
Stormwater forms a major part of the supply to our local creeks which you can protect from pollution by:
- Washing cars on lawns instead of in driveways and streets
- Rinsing paint brushes and buckets away from drains and gutters
- Reporting burst water mains as soon as possible
- Carefully replacing car engine oil and coolant to prevent spills.
Other resources:
Public Records of Victoria survey 1878: Public Records of Victoria survey 1878: https://mapwarper.prov.vic.gov.au/maps/11097#Show_tab
Gazette entry to note the renaming of Wayut Creek: GG2024G026.pdf (gazette.vic.gov.au)
Footnote
Longtime readers of Gully News may remember a wonderful account John Ford wrote for Issue No.44, December 2016. It was entitled ‘The source of the Nile, or Indiana Ford and the missing spring’.
John and a childhood mate, reminiscing on their explorations back in the day, decided to climb the mountain to find again the source of what was then called Blind Creek. Happy reading.
