Volunteers have contributed more than 1000 hours monitoring the quality of the region’s waterways during the past 20 years and along the way have achieved a milestone anniversary and invaluable environment data.

The Corangamite CMA Waterwatch team recognised its volunteers as part of the Waterwatch’s twentieth anniversary celebrations. Volunteers from Apollo Bay, Inverleigh, Meredith and Geelong, along with Corangamite CMA Board member Hugh Stewart, CEO Gareth Smith and past and present Waterwatch staff joined celebrations on the Barwon River in Geelong.

The Australian Government established Waterwatch in 1993 in response to concerns over declining water quality and as a means of working more closely with the state and territory governments to encourage community-based solutions to environment problems. More

Pictured left: Louise Blersch and her children celebrate Waterwatch's 20th anniversary celebrations on the Barwon River in Geelong.

Corangamite CMA has a new Indigenous NRM Facilitator.

Angela Jeffery started with the Corangamite CMA in October and will have a lead role in encouraging Aboriginal participation in natural resource management (NRM) in the Corangamite catchment region.

Her role includes implementing actions of the new the Regional Catchment Strategy 2013-2019 this includes, developing new and strengthening  existing relationships between the Corangamite CMA, Aboriginal communities and other regional NRM stakeholders.

This will include cultural awareness training which will be available for Corangamite CMA board and staff, and also for Landcare and community group members.  

Other program projects include developing the Eastern Maar Country Plan, due to be finalised in late 2014. 

Pictured left: Corangamite CMA's new Indigenous Facilitator Angela Jeffery.

Member for South Barwon Andrew Katos officially opened a newly-installed fishway on the Barwon River in Geelong, which is already benefiting native and vulnerable fish.

Mr Katos said experts from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries’ Arthur Rylah Institute recently found large numbers of a wide variety of fish moving up the fishway into freshwater - an essential part of the life cycle of a number of native fish species.

“The new fishway will help species such as estuary perch, bream and mullet to move upstream into the Barwon River through Geelong, improving angling opportunities,” Mr Katos said.

“It will also help a number of small fish move along the river. Species such as galaxias, gudgeon, smelt and hardyhead are important in themselves but also support a healthy native fish community.” More

Left: Department of Environment and Primary Industries' Arthur Rylah staff lift out a fish trap in the fish way, for monitoring surveys. Pictured centre left standing on the fish way Corangamite CMA's Denis Lovric, Member for South Barwon Andrew Katos and VRFish Executive Officer Dallas D'Silva.

Participants at a wetlands conference at Queenscliff discovered that for some of their counterparts environment work requires putting your life on the line.

As Colombian and Nigerian wetland researchers shared their experiences of dealing with the additional risks of working in areas of military conflict.

Guests from China, Russia, USA and India were among the 70 delegates at an international workshop on wetlands at the coastal town.

Ballarat University’s Collaborative Research Network hosted an international workshop to examine how the Ramsar Convention reviews wetland status on its register, particularly in relation to the impact of a changing climate.

Workshop presentations included:
• Paleolimnology in directing management of Ramsar wetlands in the UK
• changes to the wetlands of the Lower Nile and Yangtze
• significant decline in the number and condition of wetlands in China, NZ, and India.

Delegates also came from Tanzania, Sri Lanka, UK and NZ.  There were also local agency representatives from Parks Victoria, five CMAs including Corangamite, Goulburn Broken, North Central, West Gippsland and East Gippsland.

The group will develop a briefing paper on wetland change for the 168 signatory nations to the Ramsar Convention.  This includes a special issue of papers on site research, a synthesis paper on understanding change in ecological character, and a briefing note for the contracting parties to deal with past and future change to wetlands of international significance.

Workshop presentations were streamed live on ustream and the conference ran a twitter feed @ramsarwetlands.   The workshop was supported by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the CRN, Corangamite and Glenelg Hopkins CMAs, Parks Victoria and International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme PAGES project.

Above left: International visitors tour the Ramsar wetlands on the Bellarine Peninsula as part of the Ballarat University's wetlands conference. 

The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and Surf Coast Shire Council are supporting the natural recovery of the Anglesea River estuary heading into the peak summer holiday period.

The Anglesea River is currently acidic. To protect public health, Council and EPA Victoria advise the public not to eat dead or dying fish and not to swim in the river as this may cause eye or skin irritation.

Generally, the river returns to normal naturally as the catchment upstream dries out. More

A series of workshops in the New Year will help Colac district farmers dealing with dying cypress hedges across the region.

Cypress trees across the region are falling victim to the condition, killing off valuable shelter for stock, which are also a feature of the south-west Victoria's landscape.

Representatives from Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Land Health team, Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) Bio-security division and the Otway Agroforestry Network will develop a series of informative field days.

More on this story

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DEPI information page and Otway Agroforestry website

The Corangamite Region Brown Book is an online sustainable agricultural information resource. It provides solutions to problems in managing soils to enhance productivity. More