Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt zipped into Shepparton on Wednesday, January 19.
Flanked by Federal Member for Nicholls Damian Drum, who is retiring at the next election, candidates Sam Birrell (Nationals) and Stephen Brooks (Liberal) and Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie, Mr Pitt announced $280,000 in Murray-Darling Healthy Rivers Program funding for three projects.
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority will use its share of the funding to establish a new population of the vulnerable southern pygmy perch.
“The project will control invasive willows and re-snag along the upper Goulburn Rivers to provide habitat for the fish, while injecting $88,000 into the local economy,” Mr Drum said.
“Nature Glenelg will work with First Nations and the local community to revitalise Rowan Swamp, focusing on erosion control and invasive weed control. This will provide a critical habitat for migratory bird species and a pocket of critically endangered grasslands.”
The third grant will be used to improve habitat at a property near Bearii.
Mr Pitt also announced $66 million to upgrade 24 Murray-Darling Basin models.
The models are used by river managers to make decisions about planning and running the basin’s rivers.
“If we want to see a healthy river system that supports agriculture and communities, we have to keep getting better and more efficient in how we use our water, and this modelling upgrade will contribute to that effort,” Mr Pitt said.
“Our river models are already world-leading, but they’re currently being used independently of each other and require significant manual intervention to provide a whole-of-basin view.
“Once upgraded, we will have improved capability to explore a range of future scenarios, for example, droughts, high-rainfall events and bushfires, and what this will mean for inflows and river connectivity.
“For environmental water holders, the modelling upgrade will help inform their longer-term strategies to get the best outcomes for floodplain and wetland health, and therefore bird and fish populations.”
Mr Drum said part of the investment included developing a public-facing portal, giving water users access to better information.
All the existing river models are expected to be integrated by July 2024 and ongoing maintenance to the updated technology will begin from then.
Read more about the visit in next week’s Country News.