WHAT A WAY TO SPEND THE DAY - LIVING MOORABOOL TOUR & KNOWLEDGE FORUM

Last week, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) hosted community members, project partners, landcare and Wadawurrung Traditional Owners in the beautiful landscape of the Living Moorabool Flagship Waterway.

The Living Moorabool Tour and Knowledge Forum was an opportunity for interested community members to explore the landscape, share knowledge and learn about the various works being undertaken to improve the health of the Moorabool River.

The event kicked off in Fyansford on the banks of the Moorabool Yulluk (River) with a Welcome to Country by Nikki Mckenzie from the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC).

Corangamite CMA General Manager, Strategy and Planning, Helen Watts said, “the Living Moorabool Flagship is a series of integrated projects that all aim to improve the health of the Moorabool River downstream of the Lal Lal Reservoir, and the West Branch of Sutherland Creek. As a Flagship project, activities are focussed over the long-term and over a larger geographic scale”

Participants toured various projects currently being delivered on the Moorabool River, including visiting a water monitoring site at She Oaks and learning about the Moorabool River Environmental Water Entitlement. Chris Jones, Senior Research Scientist from the Arthur Rylah Institute, shared their recent study into methods for monitoring vegetation to ascertain the effects of environmental flows.

At Bunjils Lookout in Maude, WTOAC Water Project Officer Michael Cook shared his perspective on Wadawurrung peoples connection to this culturally significant landscape.

Vibrant discussions, beautiful environments and an engaged audience were the order of the day.

The Living Moorabool Flagship Waterway project is about people, their connection to the river and how they may be able to contribute to improving the waterway health of the river. This could be through citizen science programs, improved knowledge and understanding of the cultural significance of the river.

The project is also about physical works that will improve waterway health. This is through planning and delivery of water allocated for environmental outcomes (environmental water) and rehabilitating targeted areas of land next to the river (riparian land) through enhancing the vegetation.

This Flagship project is a great example of Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, community, Landcare, local governments, water authorities and the Corangamite CMA working together to improve the health of the river.

This project is part of the Victorian Government’s $248 million investment over four years (2020-2024) to improve catchment and waterway health across regional Victoria, and it is one of the actions within Rivers of the Barwon (Barre Warre Yulluk) Action Plan.

Further details about the Living Morrabool Flagship Waterway can be found here: Living Moorabool Flagship Waterway - Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (ccma.vic.gov.au)

Further details about the Wadawurrung Paleert Tjarra Dja – Healthy Country Plan, can be found here: Resources | Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation | wadawurrung.org.au

Quote attributable to Michael Cook, Water Project Officer at Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation: “The Moorabool Yulluk (river) is one of our main river systems. After working on the development of the Central and Gippsland Sustainable Water Strategy, WTOAC is determined to see the implementation of a long-term average equivalent of 0.7 gigalitres per year of Barwon Water’s Upper East Moorabool bulk entitlement in the Bostock Reservoir, which belongs to the Wadawurrung people and is on Wadawurrung Country.

“This will mean that the eastern branch of the Moorabool Yulluk will have some flows re-introduced, and importantly, this water can be used for a variety of reasons as determined by Wadawurrung people. The water could be used for a nursery, or for exploring the development of aqua-culture projects and continue good practices as our ancestors did.  

“Future state, we want to see the rehabilitation of the Moorabool Yulluk (Moorabool River) at Batesford Quarry and continue our work in making Country healthy again.”