The Queensland Government's Gambling Community Benefit Fund recently awarded Tamborine Mountain Landcare's surface water quality monitoring group a grant of $12,425. The grant will be entirely absorbed for the purchase of testing equipment and consumables to continue surface water quality monitoring of fresh water streams on Tamborine Mountain.

This project forms part of the EHMP (Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program), one of the most comprehensive marine, estuarine and freshwater monitoring programs in Australia. The testing equipment has previously been borrowed from the Coomera Catchment Association, which required lengthy diversions to collect and return the equipment. This now saves volunteers' time by having the equipment based locally.

Tamborine Mountain's surface water monitoring project has been an initiative of a small group of volunteers within TM Landcare, who took the responsibilty to record water quality measurements at several locations throughout the mountain, and on a regular basis.

John Bestevaar, Jim Inglis, Nadia O'Carrol and EHMP coordinator, Janine Sigley,

regularly visited our creeks and ponds to form a profile of measurements during the last few years. These measurements have already be entered into SEQ Healthy Waterways' Partnership's databases, to formulate the 2008 Report Card Results for the Albert Catchment.

Congratulations to the water monitoring group for continuing this initiative, and

special thanks to Janine Sigley of SEQ Catchments for coordinating the funding

application together with TM Landcare member, John Bestevaar.

Training in handling this intricate testing equipment will be provided in the next few weeks. If you would like to be a part of this valuable initiative, please email to

secretary@tamborinemtnlandcare.org.au or phone 5545 1240

Tamborine Mountain Landcare volunteers continue to impact on our own local environment in many ways, including: attendance to administrative tasks, the bookshop, surveys, weed clearing, planting and plant maintenance, or just being a member. If you would like to become a member of TM Landcare, please visit the Piccabeen Bookshop or go to

www.tamborinemtnlandcare.org.au or Phone: 5545 1847