Creeks

Before European settlement, the Kaurna people, depended on the Willa willa - or the winding creeks lined with Red Gum - for their food, shelter and water. Today many creeks have been altered through engineering to control the flooding of nearby homes. Approximately 90% of our creeks run through private property and there is an opportunity for land owners to improve their stretch of creek to create habitat for local wildlife and improve water quality. A Property Owner's Guide to Managing Healthy Urban Creeks is available free from Council or by clicking here. phone 8372 5111 for a copy. The City of Unley has undertaken revegetation of creeklines in Ridge Park, Forestville Reserve and Glen Osmond Creek.

Patawalonga Catchment
The Patawalonga Creek was once connected to the Torrens River and Port River through the reed bed system bounded on the west by a wall of sand dunes and to the east of wetlands. Over time there have been many structural modifications resulting in a greatly altered ecosystem and landscape prone to flooding and pollution problems.

The Patawalonga Catchment covers 235 square kilometres and takes in parts of the City of Adelaide, the eastern, western and southern suburbs and a portion of the southern Adelaide Hills. There are six sub catchments or surface drainage systems, the two in Unley and Brown Hill Creek and Keswick Creek.

Brown Hill Creek Catchment
Brown Hill Creek drains an area approximately 36 square kilometres. The creek rises near Stirling in steep country which, although not urbanised, has been largely cleared. The rural catchment contains Brown Hill Creek Recreation Park. Within the urban area, the catchment is defined by council drainage systems. In Unley, Brown Hill Creek has retained a natural flow path and has a number of linear parks along its banks and for significant lengths is in private property.

Forestville Reserve Creek Rehabilitation

Keswick Creek Catchment
Keswick Creek drains approximately 31 square kilometers and has two main tributaries, Glen Osmond and Parklands Creeks, both of which contain some rural catchment. the catchment of Glen Osmond Creek includes a significant part of the Southern Eastern Freeway while the Parklands Creek drains part of the southern section of the City of Adelaide.

In Unley, Glen Osmond and Parklands Creek are both highly engineered and in many reaches have been confined to concrete culverts for flood mitigation purposes.

Glen Osmond Creek revegetation