Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
Environment

Canberra's had weird weather lately — now a creek is bright green

Water in the system could be fluorescent green for up to a week.

From thick smoke blanketing the city to stifling weather that is breaking records, Canberrans have seen their share of unusual environmental phenomena this week.

Then a stormwater system turned green.

Jonah Lafferty stumbled across the creek in Canberra's inner-north this morning and was struck by its vivid colour.

"It looked bizarre. I had absolutely no clue as to why the creek was lime green," he said.

"It looked like perhaps a scene from when the Canberra Raiders were in 'the grannie'.

"I've lived in Canberra for a while. I'm a big fan of our stormwater system, but I've never seen it lime green."

The ACT Government, as it turns out, was behind the vivid change to the water in Sullivan's Creek in Lyneham.

A spokeswoman for the government said the Environmental Protection Authority had used the dye as part of a pollution investigation.

"The dye, Fluorescein, is non-toxic and causes no environmental harm," she said.

"It is expected that the dye will flow into the Lyneham pond and to be clear within a week."

Mr Lafferty said he was relieved to learn the creek was not in any danger.

"It was a pretty interesting spectacle to see the creek lime green," he said.

"But I'm surprised that they didn't put up any signs or anything just letting people know what was going on."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.