Surface water quality at Ashfield Flats Reserve, Western Australia

Full description

Elemental (including Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe,Gd, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nd, Ni, P, S, Si, Sr, V, Zn) concentrations, selected nutrient ion concentrations (nitrate+nitrite (NOx), filterable reactive phosphate (FRP)), pH, electrical conductivity, Longitude-Latitude and UTM Zone 50 coordinates, sampling strata, and sample identification codes for 172 samples of surface water collected in 2019, 2020, and 2021 from Ashfield Flats Reserve, an urban nature reserve in Western Australia. Ashfield Flats Reserve (approx. 40 ha) is listed as a Western Australian Bush Forever Site (No. 214) and fringes the Swan-Canning Estuary. It is also listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia and contained a threatened ecological community of temperate saltmarsh plant species. It is the largest remaining salt marsh in the Swan-Canning Estuary, but is impacted by altered hydrology, several stormwater drains, and poor water quality from historical groundwater contamination. Sampling and analysis was conducted to assess the severity and extent of contamination of surface water with trace elements and nutrients. In particular it was of interest whether the water quality in wetland ponds was affected by stormwater drains which cross the reserve, and to what extent mixing of drain water with estuarine water affected water quality.