kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

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kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby wildwanderer » Sun 12 May, 2019 6:25 pm

Planning to camp at kedumba crossing soonish, for no other reason than I've not been there :)

I'd rather not drink, even treated, from kedumba river.

Looking at the the topo, waterfall creek is nearby. Does anyone know if its regularly flowing this far down the valley?
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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby jonnosan » Sun 12 May, 2019 9:38 pm

I haven't been there for a few months but I reckon it will be flowing as the other creeks in the area all seem to have a bit of water lately.
The only time that I have seen Waterfall Creek completely dry, there was water flowing in Reedy Creek (alhtough be aware that where Reedy Creek crosses the road is inside the red zone)
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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby outjb » Mon 13 May, 2019 5:07 am

We were down there a few weeks ago. My friends looked in waterfall creek upstream from the road bridge (there were 3-4 grading machines moving dirt around at the bridge so downstream wasn’t really an option).

Despite them having a good look up there we all ended up getting water from Kedumba, just below the campsite/weir. Treated with tablets. Visually looked nice. None of us had any issues.

I’ve been reluctant about Kedumba at other times over the years but never had any issues after treating with tabs.
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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby wildwanderer » Mon 13 May, 2019 10:05 am

Thanks Guys thats very helpful.

Outjb did your friend not draw water from waterfall creek because there was none or because it was challenging to access?

Treating is fine for getting rid of organic bugs like giardia etc but its the (potential) discharge from the old mines and (known) cheminal run off from the mountain towns that im wary of. Probably wont hurt as a one off but id prefer to avoid if i can.
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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby outjb » Mon 13 May, 2019 10:29 am

I arrived just as they were exploring options in Waterfall Creek so got distracted with greetings etc, but given they both ended up getting all their water from Kedumba they must have either not liked the look of the water in the creek (or there wasn’t any). Sorry not sure which.

I’m sure they would have taken water from there if it looked ok.
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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby skibug » Thu 16 May, 2019 12:29 pm

Following normal rainfalls, Waterfall creek is usually fine. After a dry spell, it gets kind of skanky, mainly from brumbies walking into it for a drink. You may also see pigs, foxes, roos, wallabies etc around, all probably contributing to general turbidity.

Kedumba river has such a good flow it usually looks clean, and it probably has acceptable levels of biological contamination (with appropriate treatment), but the unknown is chemical contamination - pesticides, herbicides, industrial and residential waste (paints, oils, etc) from the three towns in the headwaters. A further option is the dam north of the camp-site (near the graves), but the flock of ducks usually in there, plus lack of flow, puts me off.

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Re: kedumba crossing/waterfall creek water.

Postby wildwanderer » Tue 21 May, 2019 9:37 am

Visited a few days ago.

Very pleasant grassy spot with stunning views of the cliff line. Interesting historical ruins. Wildlife aplenty, large herd of Roos and plenty of bird life. No Possums! I was awoken about 10pm to the noise of a brumby moving rapidly over the grass. Glad I camped among the trees not in the field.

Sadly, waterfall creek is virtually dry. A couple of revolting pools remaining. Id have to seriously think whether Id prefer dying of thirst before drinking from them.

waterfall2a.jpg


waterfall1a.jpg


Ended up using an ‘alternative source’.

NPWS should think about installing one of the rainwater collection shelters/tanks at Kedumba crossing similar to what they have at ruined castle, especially as their ‘plan’ once was to have people camp at Ruined Castle and Kedumba Crossing, thus avoiding fouling Chinamans on Solitary (as much).

There is a lot of infrastructure at Kedumba Crossing already: picnic tables, fire pits and toilets. Several big weatherproof equipment boxes are at the site seemingly waiting for the day future infrastructure upgrades are scheduled.

The climate is only getting drier, waterfall creek is getting more unreliable it seems... I ran into a large party of dads with their kids and they had all been drinking from the Kedumba River. It seems most people now do. Not great!

Quite a bit of restoration work currently being done on the Kedumba slab hut. There was a large several hundred litre plastic container of what could be water at the site. Though I wasn’t game to have a taste in case it ended up being some sort of chemical or wash being used for the restoration work.

slab hut.jpg
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