The Bow River is over 20 kilometres long and the majority of the catchment is under remnant vegetation.

The annual rainfall in the Bow River catchment in excess of 1100mm and diminishes slightly further inland. The major channels of the River carry large volumes of water in the height of winter.

The Bow River eventually flows into the Irwin Inlet. The Inlet is usually breaches naturally each winter and closes over the summer months of the year.

The Bow River was sampled in October 2007.

Western Pygmy Perch, Western Minnow and Night Fish were found at both of the sites and Balston's Pygmy Perch was recorded in the lower catchment.

Marron and two fresh water crayfish species (Cherax crassimanus, Cherax quinquecarinatus) were found in the Bow River.

Pictures of these can be viewed in the gallery.

Both sites sampled were considered to be in a pristine condition.

Water samples were taken once from each site so while they help describe the water quality at the time of sampling they can not be used to explain the overall condition of the River for the rest of the time.

The Bow River is a fresh water system with an average conductivity of 0.5 ms/cm.

Both sites recorded acidic readings less than 5.6 pH. The level of turbidity of the River ranged between moderate to high.

The level of total phosphorus at BOW06 was low, however the level at BOW07 was high at 120μg/L. The level of total nitrogen for both sites ranged between moderate to high.