Gippsland Sustainable Water Strategy
Gippsland is fortunate to have some of Victoria’s healthiest river systems. But 12 years of drought have hit these rivers hard. Inflows have been reduced by 41 percent and even now, after all the recent rain, flows are still below average in many rivers.
Learn more about the issue here
Gippsland is the focus of the Victorian Government’s latest Sustainable Water Strategy. The strategy will assess Gippsland’s water resource availability and demand over the next 50 years, given the added pressures of changes in climate, land use and demographics. This is a critical opportunity to find a better balance between water for consumption and water for a healthy environment.
Learn more and get involved
There have been two consultation periods on the Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy. A discussion paper was released in July 2009 as a first step in the process, and was followed by a draft strategy in September 2010. We have welcomed proposals in the draft strategy for a 10GL environmental entitlement for the Latrobe River and caps on extractions form the Mitchell and other rivers in south and east Gippsland. But we don’t think the draft goes far enough in protecting the region’s rivers and the Gippsland Lakes, nor does it promote a clean energy future for Gippsland that would reduce water use.
Download our submission to the Discussion Paper here
Download our submission to the Draft Strategy here
The next stage in the process is for DSE to consider all the submissions and – with the guidance of the Consultative Committee (that EV is part of) – come up with a final strategy for approval by the Water Minister.
Please contact Healthy Rivers Campaigner, Juliet Le Feuvre if you’d like:
- A hardcopy of the Gippsland SWS discussion paper
- To ask questions about the strategy and its development
- To learn more about Environment Victoria’s response
- To discuss how you can get involved and speak up for Gippsland’s rivers
Call Juliet Le Feuvre on +613 9341 8106 or email her.
Read on for the latest developments.
Irrigation Program Audit shows all options for securing water not considered
Environment Victoria today welcomed the release of the Victorian Auditor General’s report into Irrigation Efficiency Programs and urged the state government to learn from past mistakes in planning for...
moreWater plan a 'threat to river'
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Environment Victoria's Kelly O'Shanassy talks to the The Age about why the state government's latest attempt to boost Melbourne's water supply will threaten one of Victoria's greatest rivers.
...
moreMore water to be taken from Victoria’s thirsty river system
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
In response to the Brumby Government’s plan to take an extra 10 billion litres of water for Melbourne from the Thomson River, Environment Victoria’s CEO Kelly O’...
moreLatrobe River lifeblood to the region, says community
Friday, 26 June 2009
Sale’s Alwyn Ryan is one of six Gippsland residents to take part in a new Environment Victoria project, which has revealed a passionate commitment within the community to protect, restore and...
moreDrought-stressed Yarra and Thomson need more water
Friday, 22 May 2009
Environment Victoria and the Yarra Riverkeeper Association were today disappointed with the Water Minister’s decision to consider taking more water from the already stressed Yarra and Thomson...
moreEnvironmental flows audit shows the gaps between promises and performance
April 2009
The Victorian government has made commitments to set aside water for environmental flows to improve the health of our river systems. Environment Victoria decided to take a look at how...
moreLocals committed to a healthy Mitchell River
Wednesday 4 February, 2009
A local project run by Environment Victoria has revealed a passionate commitment within the East Gippsland community to maintain a healthy Mitchell River and Gippsland Lakes.
The project,...
more
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Water and healthy rivers blog posts
2012 -
make or break for the Murray-Darling!
This year is going to be one of big questions and decisions for our biggest river system. The questions is - will the final version of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)'s Basin Plan do enough to keep our rivers healthy in the...
more
2011
a year in the life of the Healthy Rivers campaign
And what a year it’s been! I came back to work in January in the midst of some of the biggest floods Victoria has ever seen. My first appointment was a trip to Bendigo to present to the a target="_blank" href="http...
more
Here's to a Christmas
without dead fish
A little over a year ago, the beach town of Anglesea had dead fish floating down its river.
While some people pointed the finger at the Alcoa's coal...
more
What will the Basin Plan deliver
for the Goulburn River?
The Goulburn River provides more water for use in Victoria than any other river except the mighty Murray itself. In 2009/10 a whopping 974 billion litres was...
more
It's passed!
We officially have a price on pollution!
Today I went to Parliament House in Canberra to witness the carbon price legislation being passed into law. It was a humbling and exciting occasion.
The day began with the final speeches in the Senate. The public gallery...
more
Join the Backwards March
Call on the Premier to stop taking Victoria backwards on our environment
It’s fair to say that the Baillieu Government’s performance on the environment this past year has been anything...
more
What’s non-strategic
about saving a river?
Federal government water buyback is paying dividends for our river systems — since 2009 the government has delivered almost 600 GL of life-sustaining...
more
On Friday, 18 keen Environment Victoria supporters
visited the Barmah National Park, on the banks of the Murray
It was a chance for the group to experience the issues first hand, and hear a range of perspectives on Barmah, the Murray River and their future.
First up was Hilda Stewart, one of the national park's...
more
Last week I was in Sydney being briefed on the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan
and it wasn't pretty
Last week environment groups from around the Basin, from Adelaide, to Broken Hill to Brisbane, got together to hear the ‘current thinking’ on the Plan to fix the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin.
The Murray-Darling Basin...
more
Our volunteers
think we're great!
We'll that's what they said at our volunteer night last week, although admittedly we did supply them with alcohol and snacks before hand…
We had 20 or so people come along, some of them existing volunteers keen to meet each other and...
more
Time for a reality check
in the Murray-Darling basin
There’s been a lot of talk about the numbers in the Basin Plan, the actual volume of water that it will recommend returning to the river systems of the Murray-Darling.
a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/river-...
more
All about yabbies
Environment Victoria volunteer Kaye Cleary takes a look below the surface
Where are our yabbies going and are they getting smaller? Do you have childhood memories of sitting in the shade by the waters edge, pulling out yabbies; big monsters, fat-tailed mums-to-be, and...
more
The Fight for the Murray-Darling Basin
Greenies vs ?
The debate on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is often presented as the ‘greenies’ versus the ‘struggling Aussie farmer’. But how accurate is this?
Recently there's been a lot of media coverage about large corporations and...
more
STILL sitting, wishing, waiting
for the plan to save the Murray
Just as my last blog post went live suggesting a plan for how we use water in the Murray would be released in August, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority a href="http://www.mdba.gov.au/media_centre/media_releases/progress-on-proposed-basin-...
more
What do you do when there's too much...... sewage?
If you're Barwon Water, you pump the excess recycled water into the creek
Bannockburn is a picturesque township 20 km west of Geelong. Nestled next to the town is the steep sided valley of Bruce’s Creek, home to birds, koalas, echidnas and stately gums. What could...
more
Sitting, waiting, wishing
for the Basin Plan
Excitement is growing here in the Healthy Rivers team about the imminent release of the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
We hear that is should be made public by mid August, and we are very curious to know what it is going to propose for our...
more
Last chance to pull Murray-Darling back from the brink
How quickly we forget
Last year, the Murray River and its tributaries were on the brink of collapse because of a dire lack of water. Yet we've allowed one good season of rain and a political water-fight to almost wash that memory away.
From the late 1990s to 2010...
more
Check out our
billboard on Australia's life-blood
I thought it was about time we told you about our billboard on saving the Murray. If you're a politician you probably already know about it, because you pass it on the Tullamarine Freeway every time you head to the airport for a...
more
G'day and welcome (err, to myself)
I'm Environment Victoria's new Healthy Rivers Campaigner...
Taking over from Amelia Young, who after a fine effort of sticking up for our rivers is off on other adventures.
I've been at Environment Victoria for a few years now, as part of the a href="http://www...
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Moorabool River
Working together to secure flows
The month of June has seen two significant improvements in environmental water for the Moorabool River, long considered the state's most flow stressed.
The first was on 6 June when pumping from the Batesford Quarry commenced,...
more
Windsor Inquiry
Reports
The Windsor-chaired Inquiry into the socio-economic impacts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was announced in the aftermath of the release of the Guide to the proposed Basin Plan last October. In a bid to calm irrigator hysteria (who could forget the books burning...
more
You may have heard the shocking news
that that the Victorian Government is slashing Environment Victoria’s funding
We don’t know exactly how much funding we’ll lose but here’s what we know so far.
On state budget day, the Transport Minister pulled our funding to engage...
more
Science and the Plan
Tracking the ordeal of science and the Basin Plan
more“Worst-case scenario is that in five or six years' time when we have another drought we'll be in the same situation as we are now, we'll be seeing the same impacts as we have seen in the recent drought....
MYTH: The Water Act is too focused on the environment – social and economic impacts have been left out
FACT: The Act states that the amount of water that can be taken out of rivers must be environmentally sustainable and based on best available science. Social and economic considerations are an essential part of deciding how to deliver and implement new levels of water extraction,...
more
Reconnecting floodplains
with rivers
There’s been a lot of water in northern Victoria in the last year and some of it has remained trapped on low lying land for months. This has been a big problem for farmers trying to access their land but has great potential for environmental benefits...
more
Paddling with the Water Minister
at the gorgeous Hattah Lakes
Last week I had the exciting opportunity to spend a day with the federal Water Minister, Tony Burke, giving him a first hand experience of the beautiful environment at Hattah Lakes in north western Victoria and showing him the benefits of...
more
Will the state government reveal its environment agenda
at next Tuesday’s budget?
Budget time is where the real priorities of governments are revealed. As has been said many times, real commitment is demonstrated when you put your money where your mouth is!
To date, the...
more
April 22nd- 41 Years of Earth Day
The times, they are a-changin… Are we?
Earth Day, so the story goes, was born out of the aftermath of a devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in 1969.
The spill, like others of its kind, had tragic consquences for marine...
more
MYTH: Returning water to the environment will cost jobs and destroy regional communities.
What we need is a balance between economy and the environment.
FACT: For a healthy economy we need a healthy river.
It was the Danish Worker’s Union that first coined the term “No Jobs on a Dead Planet”. Now it is used by environmentalists,...
more
The Save the Murray campaign is picking up steam (Echuca style)
and we’d love you to jump on board
We’ve officially launched our Save the Murray campaign into the world of Facebook and we’re just a little excited.
This month, help us spread the ...
more
Flickr
- An Audit of Seven Environmental Bulk Entitlements – Recommended, Planned, and Actual Release of Environmental Water to Victoria’s Stressed Rivers |
- Submission to Productivity Commission on Rural Water Use and the Environment: The Role of Market Mechanisms |
- Environment Victoria's submission to Securing Our Water Future Green Paper |
- Mitchell River dam debate |
- Submission to the Gippsland Region SWS Discussion Paper |
- 2011 Annual Report |
- Environmental flows audit shows the gaps between promises and performance |
- Latrobe River lifeblood to the region, says community |
- Drought-stressed Yarra and Thomson need more water, not less |
- Locals committed to a healthy Mitchell River |
