Water to benefit native fish in Broken River

Goulburn Broken CMA environmental water and wetlands manager, Simon Casanelia, said the water release was referred to as the Broken River Autumn fresh.

“This will be the third time an Autumn fresh has been delivered in the Broken River using environmental water,” Mr Casanelia said.

“The fresh was last delivered in March 2023 and there is now sufficient water available to provide a similar flow for the river.”

Freshes help promote the growth of instream and bank vegetation, maintain water quality and increase habitat for water bugs, platypus and native fish.

“The Broken River supports a diverse and abundant native fish population including Murray cod, Macquarie perch, Golden perch, Silver perch, Australian smelt, River blackfish, Southern pygmy perch and Murray-Darling rainbowfish. The river also supports a healthy platypus population,” Mr Casanelia said.

“The fresh is expected to start next week and take approximately 10 days to deliver. It will have a peak magnitude of approximately 400 ML/day which is expected to increase water levels by approximately 30-60cm.”

Environmental flows are planned by the Goulburn Broken CMA in consultation with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) and the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) as well as Goulburn-Murray Water, who manage the releases of environmental flows from its storages.

This use of water for the environment is authorised by VEWH in line with its Seasonal Watering Plan 2024-25, which is available for download from  www.vewh.vic.gov.au, with regular watering updates posted on the Goulburn Broken CMA website  www.gbcma.vic.gov.au

Timing of environmental flows takes into consideration seasonal conditions, delivery orders by irrigators and other water users and feedback from the community via the Goulburn Broken CMA’s environmental water advisory groups.

Find out more about river health, water for the environment and monitoring activities at www.gbcma.vic.gov.au.