Summer days: Anglers say they have enjoyed fishing and camping along the lower Goulburn River this summer, thanks to minimal inter-valley transfers.
Photo by
Rodney Braithwaite
Native fish are set to benefit from water for the environment being delivered along the lower Goulburn River.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s Simon Casanelia said the water delivery, which started on March 10, aimed to attract silver and golden perch into the Goulburn River.
Water for the environment is generally delivered in autumn each year to help maintain river health, increase bank soil moisture to help plants to grow and move sediments from the riverbed to maintain habitat for water bugs and native fish.
It also increases the habitat for platypus and water bugs by inundating connected anabranches and wetlands and provides a cue to native fish to migrate into the river.
“There are large numbers of all sizes of these fish moving up the Murray River, which we hope to attract into the Goulburn River to make it their home, through higher flows into the Goulburn River,” Mr Casanelia said.
The fresh is planned to peak in late March around 6000 Ml/day (a river height of 4.3m at Shepparton) before slowly dropping back to around 1000 Ml/day (a river height of 2.7m at Shepparton) in early April.
This is well below the minor flood level (9.5m at Shepparton) and within the interim operating rules for the lower Goulburn River in place from November to April.
Monitoring of fish movement in response to the fresh will be undertaken by the Arthur Rylah Institute and funded by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
Tagging of silver and golden perch has started at Torrumbarry Weir and their movement will be tracked with acoustic receivers.
Meanwhile, recreational fishers say the Goulburn River is thriving after a “rare summer which saw more natural flows than inter-valley transfers in the waterway”.
“We regard this river as a jewel in the crown for Victoria’s native aquatic species, from Murray cod to critically endangered trout cod and Murray spiny crayfish,” VRFish chair Rob Loats said.
He said the best flows for the lower Goulburn in summer were around 600 to 800 Ml/day, as they replicated river flows before dams and weirs were built.
Anglers, the community and other river users had expressed concern about damage caused to river banks as a result of higher than usual flows in previous summers due to inter-valley trade transfers to downstream users.
Mr Loats said this summer, for the first time in a long time, the lower Goulburn had seen some of the most natural flows with minimal IVTs, resulting in good riparian vegetation and great fishing and camping.
To check flows in the Lower Goulburn, view the hydrograph on Goulburn Broken CMA’s website: http://fchmccoys.hydronet.com/
Silver lining: Silver (pictured) and golden perch will be tagged at Torrumbarry Weir and their movement will be tracked with acoustic receivers to see if they end up in the Goulburn River. Photo: Wayne Koster
31°C