Manly Dam Freshwater Catchment Lab

Manly Dam widens the collection beyond beaches and rock pools. It introduces the idea that every coastline depends on what happens inland first. Rain does not simply vanish after a storm. It runs across streets, soil and bushland, gathers in creeks and catchments, and eventually feeds larger freshwater systems like this one before continuing toward estuaries and the sea.

Kids often understand the water cycle as a diagram, but this stop makes it tangible. Families can talk about what happens when rain falls on concrete compared with bushland, and why clean catchments matter for everything downstream. Fresh water, stormwater and coastal water are part of the same connected system, even if they look very different on the surface.