Ep 2: w/ Tammy Partridge | Talking water, careers and looking after metropolitan SA's rivers and creeks

Welcome to the 2nd Green Adelaide Podcast episode!

Your insider scoop on all things cool, green, and wild in metropolitan South Australia.

We are talking all things water in metropolitan Adelaide with Green Adelaide's urban water team leader, Tammy Partridge and her career from regional farm hand to urban water manager.

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Do you want or have a career or interest in SA’s environment? This podcast is your insider enviro-exclusive about the people, projects, and news of SA.

The Green Adelaide Podcast is hosted by our Communications Manager Melissa Martin  We’re not your regular environmental podcast, we’re your cool cultural podcast. How we live with our environment in Adelaide is a culture that we must talk about.

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Transcript

Tammy Partridge (00:06):

I've got a really diverse set of skills I think I've mentioned earlier, but through the way that my life has unfolded and I'm really grateful for that. And I don't know, I'm a Pisces and I've always just sort of gone with the flow a little bit. I like to be in control, but I don't really stress about where I'm going next or just... And if things come up and opportunities come in front of me, I've always just gone with them and taken risks and went where I sort of felt that I needed to.

Melissa Martin (00:40):

Welcome to the Green Adelaide Podcast. We are metro SA's first environmental sector focused podcast. This podcast is for those who want to have a career in SA's environment sector. We are a monthly podcast and feature the experts, including the leaders and ecologists, to the planners and marketers, to chat the people, projects and news of SA that you, our environ listeners must know about. We're not your regular environmental podcast, we're your cool cultural podcast. How we live with our environment in Adelaide is a culture that we must talk about. Remember to subscribe to our podcast for new episode alerts where you're insider scoop on all things cool, green and wild in metropolitan South Australia.

(01:24):

I'm your host Melissa Martin, and I'm the comms manager at Green Adelaide. And I have a love of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos. This is our second episode. We are in the depths of winter now, and to stay on theme with the season in Adelaide, we'll be talking water. On this episode, we'll be joined by Tammy Partridge, who is the team lead of Urban Water Green Adelaide, and we'll be getting to know all about her and the mass effort that goes into looking after the rivers, creeks, and other waterways that make up metropolitan SA. So welcome Tammy.

Tammy Partridge (02:02):

Thank you for having me, Mel. It's good to be here.

Melissa Martin (02:04):

All right, so now we're going to just jump into getting to know a little bit about you and your career, Tammy. So to start off, just tell us a little bit about your story and how you ended up as the manager of Urban Water at Green Adelaide.

Tammy Partridge (02:25):

Oh, okay. I'll try to keep it to the point here, Mel, because it's a bit of a windy road, but pretty much I've had a love and curiosity of the outdoors my whole life. And I grew up outside playing footy and cricket with the boys at school at lunchtime, and all my spare time bike riding through the bush and swimming in the Swan River every day after school in Perth. And that sort of translated to me wanting to work outside. I ended up in the horse industry running horse tours and tourism and doing workshops for corporate people, trying to improve teamwork and those sorts of things while in the sort of tourism industry. And that sort of led me towards management and strategic planning, and team building, and governance and those sorts of things. I've sort of worked semi-concurrently in business and ag since about 1997 in a range of industries.

(03:26):

So as I said, tourism and horse riding and then agriculture, cattle and sheep farming, the organic sustainable farming industries, medical, and then into where I am now at Green Adelaide. So yeah, when I had young kids, we were working, my husband and I, in agriculture in Northwest WA, and we had a lot of dryland salinity issues there, so I got really interested in how to remediate that, and we did some really cool work up there, and that led me to doing an Environmental Science degree externally while I had the kids at home. And through that, I graduated with that degree and minors in Applied Statistics and Pollution Control, Pollution Science, and that led me from then on from when I graduated working in sustainable agriculture and now in land management.

Melissa Martin (04:29):

Was that [inaudible 00:04:29]?

Tammy Partridge (04:29):

[inaudible 00:04:29].

Melissa Martin (04:29):

Was that in South Australia or-

Tammy Partridge (04:31):

No. Through Murdoch Uni in WA. Sorry, I started in WA and finished in SA, but still through Murdoch University. So yeah, even quite remote in Northwest WA. It was a sort of external degree with the whole juggle of finding people to look after kids for the one semester trip down to Perth for the intensive lab week and all of those things. Good fun.

Melissa Martin (04:57):

So you're not originally from South Australia, you are originally from WA.

Tammy Partridge (05:01):

No, I'm from WA. So yeah, born in Perth, moved down onto the south coast when I was about 18 or 19, but had sort of worked and lived around, sort of traveled out to farms to work before that, even when living in Perth and then moved to Northwest WA, and then took a year off to do a trip around Australia with the husband and kids, and then came back from that and then moved to South Australia.

Melissa Martin (05:31):

Was that for work or you?

Tammy Partridge (05:33):

That was for my husband's work, yeah. He was sort of farm manager for corporates, lived on KI for a little while and then moved to the Fleurieu and ended up where we are, along the south where we are now.

Melissa Martin (05:49):

Yeah. And so, were you a farmhand as well? Is that when you said you worked in agriculture?

Tammy Partridge (05:55):

Yeah. So I started out doing it as a farmhand and then assistant farm manager. Before that, when I was a bit younger, I was a stable manager for horse stable with 130 horses in it. And I did that shift from sort of its mud stock is livestock. Once you've been and happy working with one, it's quite easy to shift over to another. So actually the farm that I started working on with cattle and sheep, the manager was my now husband. So yeah, started as my boss and ended up marrying him. And so then we pretty much work together for the management.

Melissa Martin (06:40):

What is a usual day for a farmhand? Early morning, I assume?

Tammy Partridge (06:44):

A farmhand, oh, yep, early mornings really diverse, which suits me. The seasons, the changes of the seasons, the jobs change. So you know you have seasons where you're [inaudible 00:06:59] or carving, and that's pretty intensive. You got to make sure if you've got stud cattle, we do that. We're picking up and weighing the calves that are born every morning so you can record all their babies for a plan and those sorts of things. Different times of the year you're feeding out because you're supplementing, other times of the year you're making silage and hay, and then get your down times where you start doing the maintenance. And that sort of can entail things like machinery, but also fencing off creeks and replanting and rehabilitating and those sorts of things, and improving the land and the water. So yeah, [inaudible 00:07:40].

Melissa Martin (07:40):

So from doing, you did that. Was that your first taste of that kind of more land management kind of role? Yes?

Tammy Partridge (07:48):

Yes, it was.

Melissa Martin (07:50):

How have you found, because obviously you had more of a regional focus and obviously working at Green Adelaide that's more of a metro focus, obviously there's huge differences there, but what have you found the most, I guess, jarring in the difference of the land management between the regional and metro?

Tammy Partridge (08:08):

I think just the vast number of stakeholders. And it was a really natural progression for me because I moved from regional areas to a metro area. So we live in Port Noarlunga South now, and this is the first time that my husband has ever lived in a suburb, a non-rural suburb. It's in his entire, so it made sense for me to move into an urban area. And I think just, yeah, that the biggest jarring difference would be the amount of stakeholders and the difference in how we need to engage. We have 1,700 kilometers of water courses in the Green Adelaide region. Most of that is privately owned, goes through private land. So understanding and coming to terms with how to communicate to all the stakeholders so that everybody's on that same page, I think it's the biggest difference for me.

Melissa Martin (09:18):

And next question. So what do you wish you would've known before you started your career?

Tammy Partridge (09:25):

I think just to have had the certainty and belief that all things happen for a reason. Yeah, I'm really stoked with the way my career has gone. I love my job and I've got a really diverse set of skills I think I've mentioned earlier, but through the way that my life has unfolded and I'm really grateful for that. And I don't know, I'm a Pisces and I've always just sort of gone with the flow a little bit. I could be in control, but I don't really stress about where I'm going next, and if things come up and opportunities come in front of me, I've always just gone with them and making risks and went where I sort of felt that I needed to. So just trusting that knowing that trusting in those things was the right decision, I think, and encouraged to keep doing it.

Melissa Martin (10:22):

Totally agree. I feel like there's times where you don't get something or something doesn't work out and you're just so upset or deflated by it, then a year later you're like, "Oh, it wasn't meant to be that way."

Tammy Partridge (10:34):

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that one didn't work out because it wasn't the right one.

Melissa Martin (10:40):

All right. So we're going to jump into another lightning round or rapid fire round as some people like to call it. It's an idea from our first episode, and we got some I never knew I needed to know that comments about our guest, Chris Daniels and Brenton Grear. So I reckon I'll make it a thing for every episode to get to know our guests differently. So Tammy, in this rapid fire round, I'll ask you this or that questions or your favorite something and you answer the first thing that comes to mind. We have 10 questions and here we go. So Tammy, summer or winter?

Tammy Partridge (11:18):

Summer.

Melissa Martin (11:20):

Your favorite cake flavors?

Tammy Partridge (11:23):

Chocolate.

Melissa Martin (11:24):

How do you start your day?

Tammy Partridge (11:26):

Meditation.

Melissa Martin (11:28):

What subject were you worst in at high school?

Tammy Partridge (11:36):

Maths.

Melissa Martin (11:40):

Cats or dogs?

Tammy Partridge (11:43):

Dogs.

Melissa Martin (11:44):

What advice would you give your young self?

Tammy Partridge (11:47):

I have absolutely no idea.

Melissa Martin (11:57):

In life, work, fun?

Tammy Partridge (12:02):

I think to just remember to take the time for balance and to have fun. And yeah, I've pretty much ended up doing something that I love. So just pretty much I'd be pretty happy if I could get to where I'm now. Again, I wouldn't change a hell of a lot.

Melissa Martin (12:18):

Good. What scares you?

Tammy Partridge (12:24):

Failure.

Melissa Martin (12:24):

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Tammy Partridge (12:30):

Maldives.

Melissa Martin (12:32):

Sunrise or sunset?

Tammy Partridge (12:35):

Sunrise.

Melissa Martin (12:36):

Favorite TV show or movie?

Tammy Partridge (12:44):

Recently, The Last Thing He Told Me.

Melissa Martin (12:46):

I haven't heard of that. Is that new?

Tammy Partridge (12:52):

Yeah, it's a series that was just on Apple recently and it's based on a book series. Very cool. If you haven't watched it, it's worth a lot.

Melissa Martin (13:00):

I just suss it out.

Tammy Partridge (13:01):

It's Jennifer Garner in it.

Melissa Martin (13:05):

Oh, yeah? Cool. I'm surprised I've never seen it. Cool. Thank you for that.

Tammy Partridge (13:11):

You're welcome.

Melissa Martin (13:18):

That's the end of the 10 questions. There are nine rivers in metropolitan Adelaide with River Torrens being the most famous one and the longest one. So Tammy, working in and around all these rivers, which one is your favorite?

Tammy Partridge (13:30):

Well, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to have a favorite, but, well, if I did have to say, I'd have to say the Onkaparinga simply because I spend so much of my time around the Onkaparinga. I see it every day. I make sure that I take a long way when I go to work every morning and every night so that I can drive along near the mouth. So yeah, I have to pick one, I'll say the Onkaparinga.

Melissa Martin (13:59):

So what's one thing you wish every Adelaidean knew about these river systems and you wish that they knew about the river system?

Tammy Partridge (14:07):

I think that just how incredibly unique they are to each other in their ecology and biodiversity. So the range of different plants and animals that exist and depend on them, they all provide different things to us and how many benefits that they have for our communities sort of environmentally, culturally and socially.

Melissa Martin (14:35):

So it's winter and people tend to see more trash around the rivers in the winter because there's more rain and the rain pushes the trash into the rivers. What is done to manage this and I guess how have you found, I guess the extent of rubbish over the years?

Tammy Partridge (14:56):

That's a really good question. So there has been quite a lot of litter recently, particularly in the Torrens. It has been through all the systems, but particularly in the Torrens. And that's predominantly because it's such an urban catchment, especially through the lower reaches. So there's really high population, but then the upper reaches is quite heavily tree, there's a lot of foliage. So you sort of get a combination of a whole heap of debris as well as then the whole heap of litter coming down the system. So there's a lot of councils and entities at the moment working overtime trying to clean up that extra sort of litter that's coming down. The things that Green Adelaide does to help to clean that up is we have a range of gross pollutant traps that are in the Torrens and the feeding in waterway, and that's in the sort of booms trash racks and sediment basins.

(16:00):

And they sort of work to catch up to Adelaide oval pools of rubbish each year, which is a lot of that is vegetation, but there's also a range of litter plastic and other household refuse that goes into there. There has been some quite high rainfall events this winter and that sort of has probably got to areas of the catchment that wouldn't otherwise and it's sort of increased the amount of litter coming down. This is my first full year of being in Green Adelaide, so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but the conversations that I've had with people, there's usually some, but this does seem to be worse than usual. So not sure if that's simply because of the rainfall or whether somehow people are maybe not putting as much of their rubbish into the bin securely. So it's a combination of things.

Melissa Martin (17:03):

Yeah. Because I remember reading, maybe it was last year, about how... It was something about how I think people assume people aren't putting trash in the bin, that's why it's ending up in the lake. But I think what I was reading or what someone was telling me was around that it's not about that. I think it's about stuff being blown over, it's not about people trashing more or chucking stuff out more on the crown instead of in the bin, but I guess how it's captured is maybe not working.

Tammy Partridge (17:38):

Yeah. And I think if you looked at, if you wanted to get a look at the science of it, I think if we really looked into it and had a look at the combination of wind and rain events, I think that there's probably something in that because it doesn't take long. I mean there are drains in pretty much every residential street and everything that goes into that drain is going to end up in the waterway. So if people's bins do get blown over and there's a bit of a storm, then all of that stuff that comes out of the bin when it falls over is going to end up in waterway unless it gets picked up. And we have had some quite high winds in some of our rainfall this year.

Melissa Martin (18:28):

What do you think people can do to help stop? Is it about containing your rubbish better or about something else that people could do to help prevent all this trash ending up in the river?

Tammy Partridge (18:39):

I think everyone can play a role in making sure that they are putting their rubbish in the bin properly. I think most of us do that, but yeah, maybe if it's windy, leave it until as late as possible before you put your bins out when they're going to be picked up. And if you do see some rubbish lying around and it's safe to do so, pick it up and put it in the closest bin. And in terms of not only the plastics and those sorts of things, but the organic matter, raking leaves up and putting them in the green waste bin rather than letting them go down the stormwater drains or blowing them down the stormwater drains, it can help make a big difference as well.

(19:23):

Especially in the summer months when the water is flowing a lot slower, it can increase the amount of algal blooms and decreases the amount of oxygen in the water when there's a lot of organic matter breaking down. So if you think about every household in the region, if every household is blowing their leaves down into the drains, it's going to accumulate and make a whole heap of organic matter, and so it can make a big difference.

Melissa Martin (19:52):

And what have you heard is the craziest thing someone's found in a trash rack?

Tammy Partridge (20:02):

There's so many things. Gas bottles, toilet seats, prams.

Melissa Martin (20:14):

Yeah, they're just [inaudible 00:20:15].

Tammy Partridge (20:16):

Yeah, so I don't know. Is it getting blown in or what the deal is, but I mean it's going to be a fairly decent flow of water to get a gas bottle down the river and into a trash rack. You got to think that maybe there's a bit of a flooding or something happening somewhere that's pushing some of this stuff in. But yeah, lots of very cool things wash up in there.

Melissa Martin (20:39):

So are these structures, so the gross pollutant traps, are they along all the nine rivers in Adelaide or certain sections of those rivers?

Tammy Partridge (20:48):

Certain sections of the rivers where they're most meadows.

Melissa Martin (20:52):

And then we're going to move on to e-flows, which means environmental flows for those that don't know. So we're going to talk a little bit about that and which I understand e-flows as water allocated for nature, but tangibly, can you explain a bit about what it is and how it works, especially in a metropolitan environment?

Tammy Partridge (21:15):

Yeah, you're absolutely right. It is water for nature or water for the environment. And the reason that e-flows came about is that we have modified our waterways by building dams and reservoirs and storage systems along our waterways also by clearing the land and building houses and those sorts of things and changing the land use around our waterways that changes the way that water flows in. So because we hold so much water in the reservoirs, that water would normally just run down the river, but it can't because we need it to be able to have water for human use and those sorts of things.

(22:01):

So the aims of the environmental flows program is to try to release water from those reservoirs down the different stretches of waterways to mimic natural flows as closely as possible. And then the secondary aim is to try to safeguard refuges that have got really high environmental ecological impact so that if we have periods of drought, that we can try to maintain some refuge populations of fish and other biota and plants so that when that dry period finishes and we get water back through the full system, that those populations can spread back out through the whole systems. So there's two primary reasons there.

Melissa Martin (22:55):

And for someone like me who maybe doesn't know how that logically works, how do you take up water and chuck it into one location? How does that practically work?

Tammy Partridge (23:06):

So that's a good point. It can work in a couple of different ways and it depends on what sort of river, what reach you're talking about, how severe the dry period would be, but it can be anything from just releasing from the closest reservoir to that area of high significance, to an extreme situations, you potentially would look at carting water in just specific areas in extreme circumstances. But on a-

Melissa Martin (23:37):

Yeah. So it would usually be put out from the reservoir and just flow down that river that's connected to the reservoir, that would usually [inaudible 00:23:45].

Tammy Partridge (23:45):

Yeah. That's right. So we release e-flows or environmental flows pretty much every month. They're across the four different stretches. So there's two stretches, the upper and the lower Torrens, the Onkaparinga and the South Para. They're the systems in the Green Adelaide region that are part of the environmental flows program. And there is a decision-making tool that's been developed that sits behind the scenes and takes things like climatic conditions, storage levels, forecasted environmental conditions, those sorts of things, and puts out a recommended program of what to be released in the next month. And then the stakeholders meet up each month and discuss that, and then the program goes from there. But most months, there's some sort of flow released and that can be something from a base flow, which could be sort of five to 15 megaliters a day up to a flush fresh flow of up to sort of 150 megaliters a day. And that's sort of to mimic the [inaudible 00:25:05], we're just trickling down, got low flows just coming in and to... Oh, yeah, we've had a big rainfall event and now there's two or three consecutive days of power flow.

Melissa Martin (25:16):

And so obviously the demand in summer, it's higher to do these kind of e-flows.

Tammy Partridge (25:23):

Well, yes and no. I mean, the natural flows that you would have down the system are less in summer than they're in winter. So yeah, because one of the aims is to mimic that natural flow, you have to have summer storms, so there will be some larger flows through the summer. But yeah, predominantly we'd be looking at base flows.

Melissa Martin (25:52):

Some people are lucky enough to have a little creek in their backyard.

Tammy Partridge (25:55):

Yes, I have.

Melissa Martin (25:57):

Which would be such a treat, but having this little slice of heaven dropping through your backyard means that you need to look after it, your little piece of nature. So just talk us through, Tammy, why do people need to look after their backyard creeks and why do we, I guess, at Green Adelaide care about that so much?

Tammy Partridge (26:19):

Yeah. So as you said, amazing to have a creek or river running through your backyard. The Landscapes Act in South Australia legislates that if you do have one of those, then it's actually your responsibility to maintain and care for that part of the waterway. And what that means is that you need to keep it in good condition. If you want to do any work on the waterway, then you might need a water affecting activity permit. The reason that they exist is to make sure that somebody in Green Adelaide gets a chance to have a look at what you're planning on doing to make sure that there's not going to be any environmental or social impact space from that activity.

(27:15):

And that includes things like flooding. So somebody could think, "Oh, I'll just put this piece of equipment, this bridge, this something in the middle of the waterway and that'll be great, that'll help us to get across. But doing that actually changes the way that that waterway functions and it can end up with flooding and things like that. So it's really important before we do any work on a waterway that you have a look at the Green Adelaide website and sort of figure out whether you might need a permit or not. And if you're not sure, then just get in touch and have a chat with us in Adelaide.

Melissa Martin (27:51):

So I guess for people that have a creek in their backyard, it's more about looking after it, but then if you're going to build something, you need a permit to do that.

Tammy Partridge (28:01):

That's right. Yeah, absolutely.

Melissa Martin (28:02):

And do you have any top tips of how people can keep their backyard creeks looking good?

Tammy Partridge (28:08):

Yeah. Just make sure that you keep the areas clear of rubbish and that any leaves that are coming from other plants around your yard, if they can get raked up and put in the bin, any dog poop as well, they've got a lot of nutrients in it and that can reduce the oxygen levels in the water and help make algal blooms be more prevalent. So yeah, keeping clear of rubbish and getting sweeping, raking up your leaves and popping them in the green bin.

Melissa Martin (28:50):

And to finish off, just wondering if you have any key takeaways for people that want to get into the environmental sector in South Australia. And what would you suggest or what are some learnings that you've had? You talked a little bit about it earlier, but what are some learnings that you've had that you would want to pass on to people that are trying to get into the sector?

Tammy Partridge (29:12):

Yeah, I think diverse skills are a huge plus. So I don't think that anybody should ever think about the fact that I've not been in an environment before as a negative because so many skills are transferable between different industries. And I think it makes you unique and valuable in different areas. And also that working in the environment sector is extremely rewarding, knowing that things that you are doing in your day-to-day work can have a really big impact, a positive impact for the community and for the future and for the environment is really, really rewarding and makes going to work every day a real pleasure.

Melissa Martin (29:56):

I always found, because obviously I work in comms and marketing, it's not like traditionally the environmental sector.

Tammy Partridge (30:03):

That's right.

Melissa Martin (30:05):

But so many people make up the sector and it's not just the scientists and it's not just maybe a certain thing that people think. And so yeah, it's diversity that you bring, because you worked in different fields and not necessarily all environmentally focused fields.

Tammy Partridge (30:19):

That's right.

Melissa Martin (30:22):

Make you, I guess, not a more wholesome, but a more wholesome different view to bring to the sector instead of maybe someone who's traditionally just gone through the uni, went straight to the sector.

Tammy Partridge (30:33):

That's right. Totally. Yeah. I mean, I know that when I applied for the job at Green Adelaide, my governance experience and experience on boards, I was previously on the pastoral board and several other community boards, and had an executive role before here. So a lot of governance and management experience. And there's a lot in my role now where those skills are very useful and it's definitely a factor in me getting the job here. So yeah, there's people in finance working in Green Adelaide, and so many different areas. You don't have to be an environmental scientist or ecologist to work in environment, for sure.

Melissa Martin (31:26):

And that brings us to the end of episode two of the Green Adelaide podcast. Thank you to our special guest, Tammy Partridge who went from regional farmhand in Western Australia to Urban Water Management in South Australia. This podcast is your insider scoop on all things cool, green and wild in metropolitan South Australia. I'm your host, Melissa Martin. And remember, subscribe to our podcast for new episode alerts and I'll catch you for our next episode in late August. Bye.