Water for the Environment Winter 2023
MONITORING
How do we know if a waterway is living up to environmental and community expectations? What can waterways tell us about the landscape?
These are key questions Wimmera CMA seeks to answer by keeping a close eye on what’s happening in our waterways through constant monitoring and sample analysis. This is to maintain an understanding of our waterways in changing seasonal and environmental circumstances. It also helps understand how water for the environment can be best managed. Monitoring can be broad, but also targeted, to understand very specific triggers, events or influences.
Fish-spawning
What Anecdotally, natural flows prompted a golden perch fish spawning event in November 2023.
Where Below Horsham weir pool.
TIME TO MONITOR
How Monitor fish downstream of spawning event with electrofishing.
Why Can we stimulate fish breeding events that increase native fish numbers in the Wimmera River using water for the environment?
RESULTS so far
During a small-scale electro-fishing survey we found eight juvenile golden perch (yellowbelly) including two likely ‘young-of-year’ (less than one year old) downstream of Horsham Weir. Further monitoring will confirm the magnitude and success of the fish spawning event.
Monitoring tools include
- Gauges to observe volumes of water travelling past a certain point
- Electrical-conductivity meters to measure salinity
- Electrofishing and nets to capture and identify fish
- Vegetation ‘quadrants’ to measure how much of a particular native plant is emerging near a river or wetland
Winter flows
Due to rain events creating natural flows, we have stopped water for the environment.
Rivers, creeks and other water bodies are fundamental to the health and vitality of the region
If you notice something new, let us know! We’d love to hear from you!
*Published June 14 2023
