The Young River was sampled on the 30th of August and 11th of September in 2006.

Three different types of fish were found, the Gobi, Spotted Minnow and Hardy head. Pictures of these species can be viewed in the gallery. Some tadpoles were found in Cascade Creek which was site YOU05.

The vegetation condition next to the sites varied from near pristine at sites YOU01 and YOU03 to degraded with heavy weed infestation at site YOU02 which is on the Yerritup Creek. Most sites had plants growing under the water and eucalypts and paperbarks on the banks.

A recent survey of the vegetation along the whole river indicates that weed infestation in places is one of the greatest degrading threats to the foreshore.

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.

At the times of sampling the river was between 15 and 22.6°C with the highest temperature recorded in a pool of water in Cascade Creek that was not flowing.

Salinity was very low in the pool on Cascade Creek (site YOU05) where the tadpoles were found. Site YOU02 on Yerritup Creek measured 37.85ppt which is saltier then seawater (35ppt) and the remaining sites ranged from 10.75 to 22.34ppt which is salty but less then seawater.

The water measured ranged in acidity from pH 5.97 to pH 8.18 which is both slightly acidic and basic (neutral is pH 7). Nutrient levels were greatest for both nitrogen and phosphorus at site YOU05 which is the pool on Cascade Creek which was not flowing. The lowest phosphorus levels were recorded at site YOU01 and the remaining sites had similar nitrogen (1100-1300µg/L) and phosphorus (24-31µg/L) levels.