Abstract:
Stormwater is considered to have the single largest impact on the ecological health of urban streams within the Auckland Region. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a stormwater ‘treatment train’ in mitigating the environmental impacts of an open-air car park on the receiving waters of a nearby stream. To achieve this, the structure of bacterial biofilm communities both upstream and downstream of the site of stormwater discharge into the receiving stream were documented and used as a novel indicator of freshwater ecological health. In addition, bacterial communities were sampled within the stormwater pipes (where traditional biological indicators [i.e., fish and macroinvertebrates] are not present) to assess the potential ecological impacts of stormwater at different stages of the treatment train, and to monitor the quality of stormwater throughout the site.
