Lake Macquarie is Australia's second largest salt-water lake. It is bound by the Wattagan Mountain Range on the west and the Tasman Sea on the east. The lake can appear with picture perfect waters great for recreational boating, swimming or just to look at, but contains fully functional ecosystems complete with mudflats, salt marshes and saline wetlands. But this is not all the lake is made out to be, over the past years the lake has been attacked by Weeds, Salinity and marine life invasion. There are many areas that are the cause and that are affected by the pollution and not all of the environmental problems are human interaction problems. There are also some natural problems that have arisen.
             When we think of a waterway we often think of cascading waterfalls bursting with lush vegetation and wildlife. In many areas of the lake Macquarie, waterways remain picturesque parts of the environment, but in others this is not the case.
             Our Lake drains an area of approximately 605km2 through huge networks of waterways varying in size and texture (example: concrete). Cockle Creek and Dora Creek are the two main waterways in the lake Macquarie area. Dora Creek Drains the west of the lake which is relatively a natural landscape compared to Cockle Creek which drains a more urbanized, developed environment.
             More than 12,000 storm-water systems drain along streets in Lake Macquarie which all drain into waterways effectively draining into our lake. The problem is that is many areas the vegetation has either been removed or damaged to the point where it can no longer do its environmental purpose of removing sediments and nutrients from the storm-water. Degraded waterways can suffer from:
             • Reduced Water Quality as their ability to filter nutrients and sediment is reduced. This can lead to algae, muddy water and reduced recreational amenity
             • Erosion and sedimentation of the waterway
             • A reduction in available habitat ...