Work has been completed on a joint project by Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Bathurst Regional Council (BRC) to rehabilitate a shared section of Hawthornden Creek, the southern boundary of CSU in Bathurst with Mount Panorama. Mr Chris O'Connor, energy manager in the CSU Division of Facilities Management, said, "In 2010 a BRC report identified Hawthornden Creek as being the most significantly degraded of five urban creek systems within the Bathurst city area and recommended this as the highest priority for rehabilitation". The rehabilitation consisted of two significant 'packages' of civil works: the construction of a 45 metre section of rock capping, and installation of three Schauburger sills, which are large rock structures within the creek bed designed to reduce the flow rate of water in the creek; and construction of three stormwater 'rock chutes' designed to receive stormwater run-off from the CSU campus. "These works are designed to slow the speed of water flowing in the creek under storm conditions," Mr O'Connor said. "This minimises erosion of the channel bed and creek bank, and the volume of sediment entering the Macquarie River. High sediment loads have the potential to decrease the amount of light penetration and dissolved oxygen within the creek, thereby starving freshwater fauna and flora of light and oxygen, which can lead to death of freshwater organisms. These rehabilitation works complement CSU's target to allocate 20 per cent of University land to biodiversity improvement by 2015."Photo: L to R: Ms Gretchen Purcell (CSU Green), the Mayor of Bathurst, Councillor Garry Rush, and DFM campus services manager (Bathurst) Peter Scott.