It advised anyone using the river for recreation they could experience respiratory, eye or skin irritations. Fish kills were a risk after blooms in the rivers near East Perth, West Midland, Bayswater and Riverton. Locals are reminded to avoid swimming in water that looks or smells bad. My Clean River includes chemical industry consultant Remco van Santen, urban strategist Professor Mike Mouritz and business development consultant Brian Grindrod. Its report was contributed to by current and former employees of government agencies such as the Swan River Trust, Environmental Protection Authority, Department of Agriculture and National Resource Management program.

None could be identified here for fear of professional repercussions. "These are passionate people who are frustrated with the system that allows the problem to bubble on and on," Mr van Santen said. "Enough is enough of this political nonsense." These are passionate people who are frustrated with the system that allows the problem to bubble on and on. Enough is enough of this political nonsense. Algae, on decaying, absorbs oxygen from the water, affecting aquatic and therefore bird life.

The report said nearly 80 per cent of the algae was due to pollution from cheap soluble fertilisers containing excessive phosphorus, and animal waste, which contains nitrogen. It explained growth of the toxic karenia diflagelates algae, the subject of the recent warnings on potentially toxic shellfish, was stimulated by these chemicals. It said about half of the problem is coming from the Avon River, at present excluded from management strategies. Treatments, including the oxygenators, had not addressed this problem, while more direct action had been stymied by political controversy. The report said before it lost government in 2008, the then-Labor government began to address the problems through the progressive Swan and Canning Rivers Management Act 2006, which Mr van Santen described as "perhaps the most robust river legislation in Australia", which allowed agencies to issue River Protection Notices to polluters.

But it followed up with its "sledgehammer" Fertiliser Action Plan 2007 seeking use of higher cost fertilisers including where they were unwarranted and likely to damage broadacre farming. The "overkill" plans excessive costs allowed the National Party to protest it as "cause celebre" when campaigning rurally. Upon forming a coalition government with the Nationals, the Liberals dumped it in favour of the "ineffective" Fertiliser Partnership 2008. He said this plan only legally reduced household fertilisers' phosphorus content, and was otherwise non-enforceable, focusing on "educating" and "involving" farmers and the chemical industry. Meanwhile, the taxpayer had borne the brunt of costs, and the loss of river amenity.

In other political machinations, the Swan River Trust had its 2012 and 2013 reports twice rejected by their minister at the time, the report said. It could not issue River Protection Notices as they could not pinpoint the source of the pollution. The head of the University of WA's Centre for Water Research, Professor Jorg Imberger, controversially said in 2013 the river would be just about dead in as little as five years. In 2015 the internationally acclaimed centre was shut down, leaving WA without an independent, authoritative voice on the state of the rivers, despite a state Auditor General's report in 2014 saying the river was in decline. Also in 2015, the staff and operational functions of the Swan River Trust merged with DPaW to "improve resources for the management and protection" of the rivers.

"I couldn't help but get a sense of low morale and frustration in government circles," Mr van Santen said. Problems lurk beneath a beautiful surface. Credit:Emma Young "One government agency manager talked of the "Big G" in alluding to why there is no action to deal with the predominant pollution." Mr van Santen said the target to halve pollution had "barely progressed" and was unachievable under the current approach. He said the oxygenators and other measures such as soil amendments served only to "suppress the underlying trend", with signage on the oxygenators referring only to "nutrients" in the river, with pictures of houses and cattle only hinting at the nature and causes of pollution.

"Now some 20 government agencies, managed by DPAW, are now proposing to deal with the problem again largely symptomatically through the Swan Canning River Protection Strategy," he said. "The document produces glossy images of a family catching prawns, when these have had to be restocked. "This approach largely exempts the polluters from responsibility for the damage. Mr van Santen says DPaW's policy documents, and their imagery of families prawning, belie the reality of pollution and prawn restocking programs. Credit:DPaW "The absence of relevant and understandable information has left a void in understanding of the problem and diminished any incentive to help from the wider public."

The report said direct action to reduce fertiliser consumption and promote more sophisticated fertilisers would stimulate the industry in a country still importing half its fertiliser and offered strategies to achieve this. It wanted land use reviewed for animal and recreational activities and for exclusion of the Avon from the catchment to end. It said its recommendations, in their adoption, would affect perhaps 15 per cent of the land area of the Swan, Canning and Avon catchment. It called for a single agency to be responsible for the river. Mr van Santen said direct action would save taxpayer money but also eventually reverse the river's decline, though it was unlikely it would ever again reach full health.

The report was submitted to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson, DPaW and Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan. Mr van Santen will meet with DPaW policy advisers to go through the report in detail on May 16 before publishing it online and Minister Dawson said he would get an update from them following this meeting. He said that while Labor had been "concerned" about the amalgamation of the Swan River Trust into DPaW when it occurred, he was "comforted" by the retention of the Trust's board and saw no point in "going backwards" when the change was already cemented. "But as I settle in I am keen to ensure decisions are made," he said.

"If we find the Avon is a big contributing factor we need to take action and I am open to reaching out to the sector. "This is a collegiate government and I will also reach out to whatever other ministers are necessary. "The rivers are obviously one of Perth's greatest assets, up there with Kings Park, and I want to ensure they get the highest level of protection." A recent algal bloom on the river. Credit:Remco van Santen The new government has also promised $300,000 per year for community-led river care projects.

A DPaW spokeswoman said the department acknowledged the nutrient load from the Avon catchment was significant and there were opportunities for more to be done, but remained committed to the protection and management of the rivers. "The Department of Parks and Wildlife has been working with other government agencies and natural resource management (NRM) groups in the Avon Catchment on programs to improve fertiliser efficiency and soil health," she said. The timeframe for halving the pollution had been scientifically modelled to extend over several decades. She said the oxygenation plants brought immediate improvement to conditions in certain parts of the rivers, while the long-term work to reduce nutrient and organic inputs at their source continued. The signage around them was intended to inform the public about the operation of the plants, the causes of low oxygen conditions and the associated problems.

Signage at the oxygenation plants. No River Protection Notices had been issued as other mechanisms, such as the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 or the Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations had been applied where needed. In terms of transparency on river health, she said, DPaW provided weekly algae activity reports, and estuary and catchment water quality monitoring reports throughout the year. It also, alongside Murdoch University, monitored and evaluated fish communities and publicly reported on this throughout the year. In recent years it had also produced a River Protection Strategy Community Update to consolidate this information into a succinct report.

It was now working with organisations such as BirdLife Australia to collect data on birds using the river and develop this area of reporting. The Department of Fisheries, which is responsible for managing the diversity and abundance of fish communities and publishes the annual 'state of the fisheries' report, said recent projects to restock the Swan River with prawns and mulloway, were not only to "re-enliven river-based fishing experiences" but were consistent with similar restocking projects in other states. "One of the valuable research components is to help build knowledge around the factors affecting natural recruitment and what can be learned from that to benefit the health of the Swan and Canning River Estuary into the future," the department said in a statement. The My Clean River report also called for an indigenous cultural heritage centre to be installed on the river at Elizabeth Quay as per the original vision for the area, but with a river focus, to allow for better indigenous custodianship. Loading

The South West Land and Sea Council has expressed interest in the idea, as has the Committee for Perth. Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority chief executive Kieran Kinsella said while the Elizabeth Quay Master Plan did make provision for a nationally significant centre of Indigenous culture, art and learning, it did not form part of the first stage of the project and no funding was allocated for planning or construction. Follow WAtoday on Twitter