Dunmunkle Creek looking west at Stawell Warracknabeal Rd Fencing, revegetation, weed control and pest and animal control are among recommendations to improve the health and flow connectivity of Dunmunkle Creek.
The actions are outlined in the Dunmunkle Creek Waterway Action Plan.
Wimmera Catchment Management Authority has published the final plan, which consultants Water Technology developed with input from the community during the past six months.
Wimmera CMA operational delivery manager Luke Austin said plan objectives included improving the health of the creek, protecting remnant vegetation and improving connections between vegetation.
Other objectives are to improve flow connectivity to enable environmental watering, protect drought refuges for plants and animals and maintain social, cultural and economic values.
Mr Austin said weed control was an important management action, with the highly invasive and noxious horehound and boxthorn weed prevalent throughout the riparian zone.
He said community input had been valuable in finalising the plan.
“We would like to thank the community for their contribution, and we look forward to working together to improve the Dunmunkle Creek.”
Dunmunkle Creek is a distributary of the Wimmera River and is a highly modified and channelised system. It gets natural flows through a breakout from the Wimmera River north-west of Glenorchy during times of high flow. The creek flows through Rupanyup
and continues north into the southern Mallee.
The action plan covers an area from the Wimmera River near Glenorchy to Lawler Road, Boolite.
Waterway Action Plans aim to identify the existing condition of a waterway and guide appropriate management actions to maintain and improve its condition. Action plans document values, such as remnant patches of native vegetation, recreational opportunities
and agricultural uses. They also document threats which could include bank erosion and weed infestations.