It may not be the Ritz Carlton, but a new fish hotel installed just outside of Narrogin is hoping to provide respite for the inhabitants of the Harvey River.

For the first time in WA, scientists have installed the wooden structures that will hopefully become a breeding ground for endangered freshwater species.

The nine “hotels” are constructed out of crisscrossed wooden beams over a cement base that sits through a 500m section of the Harvey River floor for fish to shelter in, breed, rest, and feed, before moving downstream.

The hotels were built by constructed by Waroona Men’s Shed and students from WA College of Agriculture-Harvey and they will imitate the environment that naturally occurs when trees fall into waterways to help marron and other freshwater species survive the warming climate.

Murdoch University ecologist Dr Stephen Beatty says the Harvey River has been ‘heavily modified’ and had trees removed in the past to increase drainage.

“There are no trees along the river, which makes it a very hot environment for native freshwater species because there is no shade,” Dr Beatty says.

These conditions are exacerbated by the lack of rainfall and water levels, with rivers across the South-West having experienced a decline in streamflow of up to 80 per cent since the 1970s.

Murdoch University climate change expert Dr Animesh Kumar Gain says that whilst the hotels are a good initiative, they are ‘not adequate’ in preventing the effects of climate change.

“The extent of climate change is not just local and the rate of change is so high that this management is not so effective in reducing the impact on temperature changes, season level and habitat loss,” Dr Kumar Gain says.

If the hotels in the Harvey River are successful, the program aims to expand the initiative across other WA sites.

Government officials, volunteers and Murdoch University scientists have teamed up as part of the $1.5 million, 4-year Creating Climate Resilient Rivers program, funded under the Climate Adaption Strategy.