Spring refresh planned for the Goulburn

Sep 5, 2022

Going with the high flows: Water for the environment may be released later this month along the lower Goulburn River.

The higher flows along the Goulburn River downstream of Nagambie look set to last for a few more weeks.

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On Saturday, September 3 the Goulburn River at Shepparton peaked at around 7m with flows of about 13,000 megalitres a day after recent rain and high inflows from tributaries.

The river flows have slowly started to recede but more rain is forecast for the region later this week.

The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority says it plans to release water from Goulburn Weir from mid-September to improve habitat and food sources for native fish, platypus and water bugs in the Lower Goulburn River.

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

“A fresh is flow that increases the height of the river for a short period of time and scientific monitoring has shown this is one of the most important flow events for the ecology of the Goulburn River,” Mr Casanelia said.

“It occurs when flows would naturally be high and brings food and nutrients into the river to feed plants and animals ahead of summer.

“The flow boosts food resources and available habitat for native fish, platypus and water bugs by inundating connected anabranches and wetlands, increases bank soil moisture, which helps stabilising plants to grow, and moves sediments from the riverbed to maintain habitat for water bugs and native fish.”

Lake Eildon releases may be used to provide the spring fresh, but if the rainfall continues the fresh may be provided by natural flows.

The planned fresh is due to start on September 15 and peak late September with releases of about 9500Ml a day (a river height of 5.6m at Shepparton) before slowly dropping back to about 1000Ml/day (a river height of 2.7m at Shepparton) in mid-October.

This is well below the minor flood level  (9.5m at Shepparton).

Timing of the fresh could vary depending on natural flows in the river, be reduced or stop if there was any risk of flooding, the Goulburn Broken CMA said.

This use of water for the environment is authorised by VEWH in line with its Seasonal Watering Plan 2022-23, which is available for download from www.vewh.vic.gov.au, with regular watering updates posted on the Goulburn Broken CMA website.

To check flows in the Lower Goulburn, view the hydrograph at http://fchmccoys.hydronet.com/ (updated weekly).