Managing a dam on your small farm
Farm dams can do more than just provide water for your livestock – a well managed dam can provide excellent habitat for a range of native species, creating a beautiful, biodiverse area on your property.
This short video features two farmers discussing what they have done, and what they would like to do, to enhance their farm dam. Featuring David Smith, an Ecologist with ANU’s Sustainable Farms, there are some great tips on how to plan work on the dams on your small farm.
Building a Farm Dam
- Building a farm dam (NSW Department of Primary Industries). This factsheet discusses the key things to consider when planning a dam, such as government regulations, dam size, location, preparation of the site and maintaining your dam. 7 pages. Download here.
- Harvestable rights (Water NSW). There are a number of regulations which surround construction of dams on rural properties, so it is important to check which approvals and licences you require before you commence any construction. Visit the website here.
Enhancing a Farm Dam for Biodiversity and Habitat
- Creating a healthy farm dam (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This factsheet provides information to help landholders transform an existing farm dam into a healthy ecosystem, with benefits for livestock and the local environment. 2 pages. Download here.
- Enhancing farm dams (Sustainable Farms ANU). This brochure describes the benefits of enhancing your farm dam for production and biodiversity, plus lots of tips on how to enhance your farm dam. Techniques include excluding (or controlling) livestock access & providing water via troughs; allowing fringing vegetation to grow; creating a grassed buffer zone in the inflow area; adding logs, rocks & vegetation to the dam area; and creating shallow areas in the dam. 4 pages. Download here.
- Enhancing your farm dam (Greta Valley Landcare Group). This guide covers the benefits of protecting and enhancing your farm dam, with the goal of creating a dam which is place of habitat for local wildlife whilst maintaining its role in the productivity of your farm. It details the steps involved in transforming your dam from a typical farm dam. 9 pages. Download here.
- Farm dam handbook (Water NSW). This is a comprehensive but simple guide to managing a farm dam for livestock health, water quality and wildlife. It discusses management in the different zones within and around a farm dam, and also describes maintenance and management requirements in relation to livestock, vegetation, wildlife and water quality. 44 pages. Download here.
Creating Habitat for Frogs and Turtles
- Frogs on farms (Murrumbidgee Landcare). This fact sheet describes some of the species of frogs found in the south-west slopes region. It explains the reasons why farms can be so important as frog habitat, and describes the ways in which we can help protect their habitat. 2 pages. Download here.
- Creating a frog-friendly habitat (ACT Frogwatch). This guide takes landholders through the steps of creating habitat for frogs. It includes structural aspects of pond and non-pond habitats, and useful plant species lists. It is useful for rural property owners, and also schools and urban residents. 8 pages. Download here.
- More turtles: River Murray turtle protection manual (TurtleSAT). Threats such as foxes and human disturbance are having an enormous impact on turtles, with the staggering statistic that only 4% of eggs survive to reach the water’s edge. To help protect turtles, and in particular their nests, it is vital that landholders are able to recognise their nesting habits and understand how best to help protect turtles on or around your property. This guide is a useful resource for this, and also covers identification of our common river turtles. 22 pages. Download here.
Protecting and Restoring Riparian Areas
- Riparian restoration (Sustainable Farms ANU). This simple guide explains what a riparian zone is, why it is important, and the steps you can take to protect and restore riparian zones on your property. 4 pages. Download here.
- Living and working on a riverbank (NSW Department of Primary Industries). This brochure covers the importance of inland waterways, and how we can help protect and enhance them. Useful things you can do include protecting snags, managing livestock around waterways, and ensuring any works in these areas do not have unintended consequences. 2 pages. Download here.
- Managing creeks and waterways in the Southern Tablelands of NSW: A woolgrower’s guide (Land & Water Australia). This detailed guide covers many aspects related to farm management and the impacts on waterways. It is aimed primarily at sheep properties, but the techniques largely apply to any grazing property. Some of the aspects covered include grazing management, streambank and gully erosion, water quality, flood management and weeds. 52 pages. Download here.
- Fencing riparian zones (NSW Department of Primary Industries). This handy page describes the types of fences, most suitable location for fences, and alternative options for flood prone areas. View here.
- Stock and waterways: A NSW manager’s guide (Water NSW & Australian River Restoration Centre). This fantastic guide has been designed to help land managers understand the impacts that stock are having on riparian land, and identify ways to best manage these areas for farm productivity and waterway health. Some of the components covered include riparian fencing, watering systems, crossings and resposible grazing. View here.
- Stream condition checklist (Rivers of Carbon). When looking at a creek bank, it is often hard to know what to look at to assess whether your waterway is healthy. This quick and easy checklist will help you to work out the health of the stream or creek by looking at six features: Management of riparian areas, bank erosion, shade and shelter, water quality, wildlife, and weeds and pests. 6 pages. Download here.
Providing Water for Livestock
- How much water does my farm need? (Agriculture Victoria). This is an excellent resource to calculate the amount of water needed on your farm for domestic, livestock and/or crop spraying needs. It includes information regarding water quality and sources, planning for peak demand and future needs, and a handy farm water calculator. View here.
- Water requirements for sheep and cattle (NSW Department of Primary Industries). This little guide includes useful information about working out how much water your livestock may require. It also details the suitability of water for stock use as influenced by water quality (eg salinity, acidity, algal growth and toxic elements), environmental factors (eg air temperature and feed quality) and animal factors (eg breed, age and condition of stock). 5 pages. Download here.
- Water for livestock (Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority). This simple brochure describes how to work out how much water you need to provide for different types of livestock, and the different ways you may be able to provide this water. 2 pages. Download here.
