Environmental Flows

What is water for the environment? Water for the environment is water present or released into rivers to help plants and animals who need a helping hand at particular times of their lifecycle.

Environmental releases can be targeted releases from a dam to meet the environmental needs of the downstream river ecosystems, such as releasing pulses of water in spring to trigger fish migration and spawning, or continuous low flows over the dry summer period to maintain water quality and connection between habitat pools. It can also be a watering action such as filling or draining a wetland from a river at the right time of year to enhance its ecology.

Passing flow is water that is required by law to be released from dams by water authorities to maintain some flow in the river downstream, as water is harvested from the river. Passing flow is separate to ‘water for the environment’ held in an Environmental Entitlement, but also helps maintain environmental values and other community benefits.

The data in this tool is provided for information purposes only. No claim is made as to its accuracy or authenticity. Gauge data is sourced from the Victorian Government’s Water Measurement Information System and may have a lag time of up to 60 days. For more recent data refer to data.water.vic.gov.au. Environmental release data is maintained by the Corangamite CMA and is subject to change at any time.