COMMUNITY FIELD DAY - WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR RIVER?  

On Saturday 13 June, a community workshop and field day was held at Forrest to showcase progress on the Barwon Flagship project. The event was co-hosted by the Gerangamete and Forrest Landcare Group, Corangamite CMA and Barwon Water with strong attendance from the local community with approximately 40 attendees. 

This event was an engaging day filled with updates on the riparian re-vegetation and willow removal program, environmental water program and Barwon Water’s catchment management program and included a panel Q&A with time for questions and discussion, as well as a site tour.  Despite the borderline torrential rain, attendees travelled by mini-bus to a willow removal site on Boundary Road followed by a warm lunch afterwards hosted by the Gerangamete and Forrest Landcare Group.

Learn more about this event through the lens of Mary Dracup, Gerangamete and Forrest Landcare Group President below. 

Barwon Water and Corangamite CMA staff present to community members

Attendees brave the rain and cold to visit a past works site

A WORD FROM GERANGAMETE FORREST LANDCARE GROUP
President, Mary Dracup  

I was one of around 40 locals, Landcarers and river enthusiasts at the June event who heard from CMA and Barwon Water managers how long stretches of river in the Upper Barwon region that flows through Forrest to Birregurra are being rehabilitated. Endangered little galaxias fish and platypus are returning to their historical sites and river flow and quality is improving.  

We learned the changes were due to six out of eight major clusters of choke points created by willows and glyceria weed grass having been cleared and fenced from stock as part of the CMA’s Barwon Flagship Project. The works look like bomb sites at first, and landowners and managers do need to ‘hold their nerve’ and manage weeds until the native revegetation grows to create shade. 

We also learned that managing the transition to a healthier river while some choke points remain is tricky. Releasing the 1000 megalitres (average) of ‘environmental water’ allocation that is held in the West Barwon Reservoir for when natural flows slow can re-inundate some pieces of swamp-turned-farmland. The river can also sometimes find alternative pathways on its own. For some farmers a periodic influx of fertile river silt is a bonus but every property is different and negotiations are ongoing. 

The experts’ presentations were jam-packed with analysis and research, and the following panel Q&A session gave the audience a chance to question not only presenters, Landcare and Friends of the Barwon representatives, but also the CEOs of Corangamite CMA, Amber Clarke, and Barwon Water, Sean Cumming. Information and insights flowed freely and by the end I think it was plain that the agencies, Landcarers and river advocates shared similar goals and concerns around how to rehabilitate our rivers in the face of the declining rainfall. A key message was to clear the remaining choke points. 

We were well due for some fresh air as we headed out to visit a rehabilitated stretch of the West Barwon at Boundary Road. Despite the rain, we were able to see the results of willow removal works at a previous river choke point.  

Gerangamete Forrest Landcare members had cooked us a warming BBQ lunch by the time we returned, and we had a chance for more informal chats and information sharing with the experts as we munched. On the whole, finding out what was going on with our river sparked a surprisingly positive conversation.