Water Quality, River Health and Management
Water management of the Wimmera catchment area has previously emphasised improvement and protection of water resources to be based on altered catchment management practices. However, interim measures have been required over the past decade to address more urgent water quality and other river health issues. Victorian Government funds have previously invested in development of a Wimmera Catchment Water Model, to be used to assess options for better managing Wimmera River flows and salinities. Measures adopted to manage the catchment’s natural resources included broad scale and targeted catchment management, groundwater control, irrigation management and urban runoff control (Govt. of Victoria, 1994).
Water resources health in the Wimmera region can change rapidly under differing environmental conditions and individual streams can differ significantly in quality between upstream and downstream. Therefore, river management is required, which involves assessment and monitoring of environmental flows, fish passage, floodplain management and implementing waterway health plans. Management of rivers and streams also relates closely to a whole catchment’s water health and surface water management throughout the region. Consideration of water status and monitoring river water health is also necessary when preparing river and stream management programs in the Wimmera region. A Wimmera Catchment Management Authority (external link) report relevant to managing water quality in the region is listed below.
References
Government of Victoria, (1994). Victorian Government Support for Salinity Management Plans: Wimmera Catchment, Victoria.
WCMA, Wimmera Water Quality Strategy, (in draft), Horsham
© The State of Victoria, 1996 - 2012.
This document was last reviewed on 09/12/2011