Goulburn Broken CMA environmental water and wetlands manager Simon Casanelia said the short videos explore the topic of environmental water, which is water held in storages such as Lake Eildon and released at a planned time and flow rate, to benefit plants and animals in the waterway.
“Community and researcher-led work has occurred on the lower Goulburn River for the past eight years to monitor the effects of environmental water on the health of the river and these videos provide a range of perspectives on it from community members to water managers and scientists,” Mr Casanelia said.
“Local business owner and recreational fisher Steve ‘Trelly’ Threlfall shares his views on water management in the region, including the importance of getting the flows right for native fish and the ways monitoring helps our understanding of how fish are responding.
“Community member John Pettigrew talks about the importance of the Goulburn River to the community, and how longer term, reconnecting the river with the floodplains will be key to having healthy and abundant aquatic life.
“Goulburn Broken CMA environmental water coordinator Daniel Lovell shares his insights on the ways long-term monitoring in the lower Goulburn River helps improve the management of all water in the system, including environmental and irrigation water.”
The videos are part of the Goulburn Broken CMA’s inclusion in the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s Science program — Flow Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (Flow-MER).
The Goulburn Flow-MER project studies ecological outcomes of environmental water use in the lower Goulburn River, between the Goulburn Weir near Nagambie and the Murray River upstream of Echuca.
Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder Simon Banks said the videos were another innovative approach to help explain the numerous benefits of water for the environment.
“This is our day-to-day business and we’re pleased to have provided the funding for this video project,” Dr Banks said.
“As benefits often happen over the long term, it’s great Goulburn Broken CMA has captured the evolution of environmental flows and research outcomes showing the benefits of water for the environment.”
In other videos in the series, scientists discuss environmental flows and their impact on fish, vegetation, physical habitat, macroinvertebrates, stream metabolism and the role of shallow, slow-moving water habitats.
Go to www.gbcma.vic.gov.au to access the videos.