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Your local Catchment Management Authority location and contact details Restoring our rivers Address: 64 Dennis St, Colac, Vic 3250 Tel: 03 5232 9100 Fax: 03 5232 2759 Web: www.ccma.vic.gov.au Email: [email protected] Rivers are the lifeblood of

Address: 3/107 Nicholson St, Bairnsdale, Vic 3875 Tel: 03 5153 0462 Fax: 03 5153 0458 Web: www.egcma.com.au Email: [email protected]

Address: 79 French St, Hamilton, Vic 3300 Victoria’s Approach to River Tel: 03 5571 2526 Management Fax: 03 5571 2935 Web: www.glenelg-hopkins.vic.gov.au Rivers make up only a small portion of the Victorian Email: [email protected] landscape and yet their overall significance for the economy, the ecology and the social fabric of Victoria Address: 55 Welsford St, , Vic 3630 is immense. Tel: 03 5822 2288 In making decisions on river protection, management Fax: 03 5831 6254 Web: www.gbcma.vic.gov.au and restoration, communities need to balance the Email: [email protected] economic, social and environmental values associated with rivers. Address: DPI Complex, Cnr Koorlong Ave and However, it is helpful to have identified what a healthy Eleventh St, Mildura, Vic 3502 river is to assist communities with these decisions. Tel: 03 5051 4377 Fax: 03 5051 4379 The Department of Sustainability and Environment’s Web: www.malleecma.vic.gov.au River Health Branch and the Catchment Management Email: [email protected] Authorities’ River Health teams are working together as the key caretakers of Victoria’s rivers. The Victorian Address: 100 Wellington Pde, East , River Health Program work is supported by a range of Vic 3002 (PO Box 4342, Melb 3001) partners, at a regional, state and national level. Tel: 131 722 The program is tackling the causes of poor river health Fax: 03 9235 7200 Web: www.melbournewater.com.au affecting two thirds of Victoria’s rivers. By collectively Email: [email protected] treating the problems of low flows, declining water Partners in catchment quality and degraded riverine habitats, the program will and river health Address: 40 Ballarto Rd, Frankston, Vic 3199 restore stressed rivers while protecting healthy ones. (PO Box 48. Frankston. 3199) This will sustain riverine habitats for our unique animals Tel: 03 9785 0183 and plants; provide ongoing recreational, tourism and Fax: 03 9773 6521 Web: www.ppwcma.vic.gov.au fishing opportunities; and reduce the costs of providing Email: [email protected] high quality water.

Address: 628-634 Midland Hwy, Huntly, Vic 3551 Tel: 03 5448 7124 Contact details: Fax: 03 5448 7148 Department of Sustainability and Environment, Web: www.nccma.vic.gov.au Water Sector Group - River Health Branch Email: [email protected] Address: 6/8 Nicholson St, East Melbourne, Vic 3002 Tel: 03 9637 9972 Address: 1B Footmark Crt, Wodonga, Vic 3690 Fax: 03 9637 8487 Tel: 02 6043 7600 Web: www.dse.vic.gov.au/riverhealth Fax: 02 6043 7601 Web: www.necma.vic.gov.au Email: [email protected]

Address: 16 Hotham St, Traralgon, Vic 3844 The Victorian Government and its Catchment Management Tel: 03 5175 7800 Fax: 03 5175 7899 Authorities are working together to leave a clean, Web: www.wgcma.vic.gov.au Email: [email protected] green legacy for future generations.

Address: 26 Darlot St, Horsham, Vic 3400 Tel: 03 5382 1544 Fax: 03 5382 6076 Web: www.wcma.vic.gov.au Email: [email protected] ourwater.vic.gov.au ourwater.vic.gov.au GSDM 6916 0405 6916 CMA A3 BROCHURE.qxd 5/4/05 9:23 AM Page 3

ourwater.vic.gov.au

Victoria is built around Goulburn Broken CMA Area: 24,000 km2 Pop: 189,500 Agriculture, food production and tourism Victoria’s rivers and waterways are ensuring the prosperity of the support our communities by Goulburn Broken Region. A healthy providing water for homes, environment is essential if the region is to rivers and waterways remain a great place to live and visit. The recreation, farms and industry. CMA is working co-operatively to balance Victoria’s natural waterways also the region’s social, environmental and have recreational and cultural economic needs. Priorities are river health, North Central CMA Area: 30,000 km2 Pop: 230,000 salinity, biodiversity, weeds, feral animals significance. and soil health. Goulburn Broken The Hon John Thwaites However, a third of our rivers are The North Central region features Catchment contributes 11 per cent of water Minister for Environment internationally-significant wetlands, a flows in the Murray Darling Basin and many of the projects Minister for Water in poor or very poor condition. healthy agricultural industry and a vibrant underway involve works to sustain waterways. For example, The Victorian Government’s ‘Our community. Three rivers from this region improving fish passages through weirs on the ; urban Water Our Future’ action plan outlines a number of – the Campaspe, Loddon and Avoca – stormwater programs; irrigation efficiencies and the replanting of important projects that will be undertaken by Victorian contribute flows to the Murray River, native vegetation. Catchment Management Authorities in their role as Robinvale impacting on the river’s aquatic life and water quality. caretakers of river health which will ensure our rivers 2 The is home to many North East CMA Area: 19,570 km Pop: 95,000 and waterways have a viable and sustainable future. threatened plants and animals, including Here’s a sample of how they’re doing it! the Murray Cod. Government funding is helping maintain and The is one of two rivers listed improve the river’s health for future generations. Projects in the Victorian River Health Strategy that undertaken will improve water quality and the habitat available for requires special management because of 2 Lalbert CMA Area: 43,000 km Pop: 62,500 Creek Murray River birds, animals and fish – both in and beside the river. its environmental values. It contributes

Tyrrell 14 per cent of the total flow in the Murray Rivers and waterways in the Mallee Creek Darling Basin, is critical for environmental include the Murray River and its Murray River Yarriambiack flows in the Murray River and sustains a anabranches and floodplain as well as Creek vibrant forest and wetlands system in the sections of Yarriambiack and Outlet lower reach. The CMA will be trialling a Creeks and Tyrrell and Lalbert Creeks. riparian Bushtender program that will There are over 900 wetlands with several encourage adjacent landholders to manage their land for recognised as internationally significant. Murray River In a region with rapid irrigation environmental outcomes. development the Mallee CMA plays a key role monitoring new irrigation development, managing salinity and reducing regional inflows of 2 salt and other pollutants to the river. Frontage Action Plans improve CMA Area: 21,050 km Pop: 42,000 river health and environmental water flows and support Living Murray "icon" sites such as Hattah Lakes and Lindsay Wallpolla. The rivers and estuaries of East Gippsland are important natural CMA Area: 23,500 km2 Pop: 44,000 & systems, Westernport CMA highly The System, the largest and Melbourne Water regarded landlocked system in Victoria, is heavily by Victorians harvested to supply water to the for a range of social, Wimmera-Mallee and consequently environmental and economic suffers from lack of flows and salinity. values. Some East Gippsland rivers are particularly special and recognised as being worthy of ‘Victorian Returning water to the system through Heritage River Status’. Within two of these ‘Victorian Heritage piping the Wimmera-Mallee stock and River’ catchments, the Mitchell and Bemm, we are working with domestic channel system assists reviving stakeholders to protect and encourage natural river restoration by the Wimmera and protect some of its high removal of significant weeds (including willows), river bank value tributaries. stabilisation and provision of suitable habitat. Wimmera CMA is managing environmental flows to alleviate salinity in the lower Wimmera and protect platypus and blackfish habitat in the MacKenzie River. Port Phillip & Westernport CMA and Melbourne Water CMA Area: 17,685 km2 Pop: 169,094 Area: 13,000 km2 Pop: 3.4 million (approx) 2 Corangamite CMA Area: 13,340 km2 Pop: 330,000 Glenelg Hopkins CMA Area: 26,770 km Pop: 98,850 The West Gippsland Region provides This region’s 8,000 km of rivers and 95% of Victoria’s electricity, 60% of The estuaries of the Great Ocean Road The Glenelg Hopkins region has many creeks are highly valued environmental Melbourne’s water storage capacity, and region are some of the most diverse in diverse and unique waterways, dominated and recreational assets for 3.4 million 20% of ’s milk production. Australia. by two major rivers, the Glenelg and urban and rural residents and many The region’s catchments drain south to A number of these estuaries in particular, Hopkins rivers. The , rises in tourists. There has been significant Anderson and Corner inlets, and east to , , Barham the Grampians and flows to the sea at improvement in recent years, but nearly the . Activities within the River and Painkalac Creek come under the Nelson. Highly-valued for conservation, half of these waterways remain in poor catchments alter water flows and quality, pressure of a huge population growth each social and economic reasons, large condition. The CMA and Melbourne Water affecting the health of rivers and these summer. sections of the river are in very good shape. work to ensure our rivers and creeks are internationally important wetlands. However, elsewhere, water diversion, By working with the widest range of healthy with increased numbers of native Community, industry and government are working together to erosion, pests, salinity and de-snagging stakeholders the Estuaries Improvement fish, platypus and plants. The Port Phillip restore the health of the Thomson and Macalister rivers and, must be addressed. While piping of water channelled to the Wimmera Program will raise water quality, protect and Westernport Regional Catchment Strategy and Regional River ultimately, that of the Gippsland Lakes. Mallee will see more water in the Glenelg, river health works such as water frontages, reduce the number of invasive weeds and give fish Health Strategy help water authorities, councils and community riparian protection and in-stream rehabilitation are vital. better access to our rivers. groups work together to improve our rivers and creeks.