Today we spoke to David Ryan about Melbourne Water's constructed wetlands. Melbourne Water uses wetlands to treat stormwater by settling solids in suspension and using plants to remove nutrients such as nitrogen. Nitrogen is of great concern because at high concentrations it can cause algal blooms which in turn impacts on the fish and animals that use the waterways.

Many wetlands have been funded by Melbourne Water, but many also have been funded by land developers. Householders can make a contribution too. Melbourne Water has a 10,000 RainGarden project where householders can install their own small stormwater buffering systems. The aim of these is to prevent large pollution laden storm flows from entering local water courses.

We also talked about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and Barack Obama's Oval Office address possibly signalling a tipping point in government policies on energy, the Orange Bellied Parrott, and the hazards of mineshafts to wildlife.