Old Noarlunga was once described as the jewel in the crown for the local council, and praised with “most councils would love to have the naturally beautiful town of Old Noarlunga in their district”. We believe this is still the case, yet it is a constant struggle to preserve, protect and improve the local environment.

In the past the Onkaparinga River and local parks were under threat from poor rubbish controls and bad practices . It became nessesary to erect warning signs regarding use of the river.

The use of Poisons for weed control harmed the water quality, as does the on-going sewerage system drainage from a large quantity of houses. Consequently the parks and river system struggle to cope.

With the lack of proper ground rubbish control, road drainage carries all types of debris directly into the river.

The annual Corella invasion continues to significantly increased the nutrient input into the water course.

Oncara has constantly campaigned for the river to be better maintained and as a result poisons are now no longer to be used .

An improved street sweeping program would help with the rubbish control but as yet we have been unable to get council to honour it's promises and timetables. In the longer term underground stormwater drainage would improve the situation greatly. As more households connect to the sewerage system , the river water quality may improve to a point where the warning signs could be removed.

The current drought has placed stress on both fauna and wildlife as the promised water flow flushes from the upper reaches of the river is not happening. It has seen a reliance on tidal salt water to maintain any sort of water level in the channel ,and is detrimental to wildlife requiring drinkable water.

The Corella plague is damaging the 100 year old trees , making their prospects of surviving very slim. The damage to cliff faces from their digging is infilling the river bed.

Oncara has been active in trying to get the street sweeping schedule in place, as well as control of river bank weeds etc. With the Corella problem, our persuit of council and state government agencies has been met with marginal assistance from council to indifference or no help at all from the state government. If promises had been kept over the years then little by little things would have improved. But most of the promised action has been forgotten.

Nonetheless, Oncara will keep trying.

Oncara needs your support to ensure the local wildlife survive and the river returned to the best condition possible.