12 June, 2013 1:48PM AEST

Testing the water at Kambah Pool

Scientists from the University of Canberra are investigating pools along the Murrumbidgee River to learn more about Murray Cod

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During the hot summer months Kambah Pool on the Murrumbidgee River is a popular recreation spot - deep cool water and a sandy beach surrounded by bush just a few kilometres from the suburbs.

On a cold afternoon in June it's almost deserted. Perfect conditions for the survey work being conducted by University of Canberra ecologist Dr Fiona Dyer and her research assistant, environmental science student Pat Ross-Magee.

An orange rope lies across the water, tied to trees on either side. Pat, sitting in the front of a bright red canoe, pulls on the rope to manoeuvre the craft and operates a depth sounder to measure how deep the pool is every few metres. Fiona uses a high resolution GPS to get an accurate position of where they are on the water.

"It's part of a three-year project looking at Murray Cod," she explains. "Where they're breeding, how water quality is affected by the flow of the river and how that affects where they live and where they move to.

"What we're trying to do is understand how Murray Cod behave in this stretch of river."

Murray Cod is an iconic Australian native fish but its numbers are worryingly low.

Protect and manage

Fiona and Pat are part of a team of University of Canberra researchers working on the ACTEW funded project. The data they're collecting will help protect and manage Murray Cod.

During the summer months a series of water quality sensors were placed in the main pools along the ACT stretch of the Murrumbidgee to test oxygen levels.

"If you get some high temperatures and warm water you can often reduce the dissolved oxygen in that water column," says Fiona, "and so it's useful to understand when that occurs because they're conditions that are not favourable to fish persisting."

If water quality is bad and there's not enough flow in the river the Murray Cod can't migrate to more favourable areas. The population is also threatened by introduced species such as carp and recreational fishing.

Even though most people catch and release the fish, Fiona believes they may be harmed.

"They're quite long lived species and I guess you can imagine if you're a fish and you were caught - hauled out on the bank, waved around a bit, had a few photos taken and chucked back in - it might not be the most pleasant of experiences that you go through," she says.

Passion for water

Fiona grew up in rural Australia and has always had an appreciation for the natural environment. But it was a trip to Thailand, when she realised she couldn't drink the tap water, that sparked her passion for water management.

"That really brought home to me the importance of maintaining and conserving our water and to do that you need to maintain and conserve the processes that occur in and around those water systems."

Though the work can be painstaking both Fiona and Pat appreciate being out in the open air in a beautiful place on a sunny day.

"[It's] important for people to come and connect with their natural environment," Fiona says, "and to understand the things that it gives us and to understand how special these places are...it's nice to have these [places]...so close to the city."