Management and conservation of a unique and diverse Australian river type: chain-of-ponds

Many chain-of-ponds (steep-sided ponds separated by densely-vegetated valley-fill sediments or shallow ephemeral channels), once common in parts of the Australian landscape, have been modified or degraded since European settlement, resulting in gullies or continuous channels and leaving previously-saturated floodplains disconnected. This degradation resulted mainly from land-clearing and over-grazing, but the intentional drainage of these systems resulted in dewatering and the lowering of water tables across these alluvial floodplains. While there is a broad spectrum of upland discontinuous watercourses (swamps, mires, bogs, dells, etc.), chain-of-ponds have particular hydro-geomorphologic characteristics that may make them unique to Australia; yet unlike other discontinuous watercourse types, little attention has been brought to their conservation, nor are they afforded the legal protection of other ‘continuous’ rivers. This paper examines examples of chain-of-ponds from the Tablelands of New South Wales as a basis for discussing their hydro-geomorphic structure and function, and the need for better recognition, protection and rehabilitation of these unique Australian river types.