The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority has been removing Poplar trees along the Tambo River on the Bruthen Flats.

After a couple of wet years, the large Poplars are starting to fall into the river. As well as causing damage to fences, the riverbanks also collapse, creating erosion.

Bec Hemming, Acting CEO, said, “The project is going well. All landholders are really cooperative, and we are already seeing changes in the Tambo River. The EGCMA will follow up with weed control and commence revegetation with native plants in autumn this year.”

“We couldn’t do this project without the ongoing support from the landholders. Its great working together to achieve improved river health outcomes ” said Bec.

It is planned the Poplar trees will be removed over the next several years, it is a staged process. This is to allow for the transition from a Poplar and Willow dominated river to a native vegetated river corridor.

East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority has installed Fluker Posts at several locations in East Gippsland.

The Fluker Post project, named after its inventor, Dr Martin Fluker, and originating from within Victorian University, is a system that allows the public to continually monitor river health by contributing photographs from the exact location over a long time.

In partnership with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) the EGCMA has strategically placed Fluker Posts on the Princes Highway bridge at Cann River, the West Cann bridge, Eagle Point Bluff and overlooking the estuary openings at Lake Tyers and Marlo.

Each post contains a fixed photo point where people are encouraged to place their phone, take a picture, and send it to a listed email or upload it directly through an app.

EGCMA’s Acting CEO Amber Clarke said, “The Fluker Post project allows the community to directly contribute towards the ongoing care and monitoring of our waterways, including the Cann River.”
The Cann River is one of nineteen Flagship Waterway projects currently underway as part of the Victorian Governments investment into improving waterway and catchment health across regional Victoria.

In partnership with the local community, the Cann River Flagship maintenance program includes three years of ongoing weed control and revegetation, which will assist in increasing the health and resilience of the floodplain and a continuation of good river health. Condition monitoring along the river will help in gaining an understanding of the program’s efforts.

“Receiving ongoing pictures from the Fluker Post sites will also contribute to the assessment of the program of works and is a simple but fantastic way for people to get involved and provide valuable data at the same time.” said Amber

More information about Fluker Posts can be found on the website www.flukerpost.com.

The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (EGCMA) recently received the results from fish monitoring in the Buchan River prior to installing a rock ramp fishway.

The rock ramp fishway aims to address the barrier to fish migration caused by the presence of the Buchan water supply log weir. Currently, the weir is a barrier to fish as they cannot migrate upstream to breed. The EGCMA is working closely with East Gippsland Water to construct the rock ramp fishway.

The monitoring provides a snapshot of native fish populations close to the log weir and the proposed fishway. There were seven species of native fish detected from sites up and downstream of the weir.

Species identified included Longfin eel, Australian bass, Congoli, Common galaxias, Flat-headed gudgeon, Australian smelt and Southern pygmy perch. Finding Southern pygmy perch in the Buchan River is significant because they are listed as a threatened species.

The results from the monitoring confirmed there were fewer fish species upstream of the log weir compared to downstream, providing further evidence that the log weir is a barrier to native fish migration.

The installation of the rock ramp fishway is planned to commence in February 2023, but the start date of the work will depend on weather conditions and river height levels. There will be further fish monitoring once the fishway has been completed, and it is hoped that the results from post-construction fish monitoring will prove the fishway has been effective in supporting native fish migration upstream of the weir.

This project is funded by the Victorian Government’s Waterway Health Program.

Work is well underway to restore pile fields along the Buchan River destroyed during the Black Summer bushfires.

The pile fields are designed to slow the water during high flow events, preventing bank erosion and assisting in stabilising the riverbed.

Native vegetation will be planted on both sides of the banks, which will, in time, contribute to holding the banks and slowing the flows naturally. The pile fields are designed to do this until the vegetation has matured.

The vegetation’s job isn’t just to hold the banks, amongst other benefits, it also creates a habitat for all things living including insects which are vital to instream critters too.

This project is designed to go towards creating an ecologically diverse and healthy waterway.

The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority recently teamed up with Arthur Rylah Institute on a very chilly day to do some backpack electrofishing surveys in the Genoa River.

Undertaken at a historical site under the Genoa Bridge, the survey looked at the whole fish community, including smaller fish species that live in this river.

The data collected will help us understand how our native fish are recovering since the fires.

The results are encouraging, with nine species detected, including Short and Long-finned Eels, Tupong (Freshwater Flathead), Shortheaded Lamprey, Common Galaxias, Australian Smelt, and three species of gudgeon.

In particular, young Common Galaxiids and Tupong were collected, indicating recent recruitment of these diadromous species (which migrate between freshwater and saltwater).

Are you interested in creating habitat for frogs in your own backyard? Watch this video where Bryce from the EGCMA shows you how.

As well as some underwater home renovations, platypus in the Tambo River have been given a little bit more help with some native vegetation being planted along the riverbanks.

The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (EGCMA) placed a series of instream wood structures in the Tambo River north of Bruthen. These structures will play an essential role in supporting platypus populations by providing food and shelter.

The Natural Resource Management crew from Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) helped students from Swifts Creek Primary School with some planting along the riverbanks at the site where the instream structures have been placed. 

Once this vegetation is established, it will complement the instream structures by providing a whole range of benefits.  Some of these benefits include reducing sediment runoff into the river improving water quality, and providing habitat for terrestrial animals, food for aquatic animals, providing shade for the water, which helps control water temperature. As this vegetation matures in the long term, it will also offer natural recruitment of instream habitat as it falls into the water. 

“This project is a partnership, and it was great to see the kids and GLaWAC work together to achieve a positive environmental outcome but also to see them having so much fun.” Said acting EGCMA CEO Bec Hemming. 

Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) conducted water bug surveys before any of the work was done and will repeat these surveys in spring to compare any changes in types and density of bugs. This project was funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

We promised the platypus in the Tambo River some home renovations, and we’ve delivered on our pledge!

The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (EGCMA) have placed a series of wood structures in two locations north of Bruthen that will play essential roles in supporting platypus populations. The wood structures will become home to aquatic plants to grow on, water bugs to live on and also provide food for platypus and give platypus shelter.

The 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires have affected the Tambo catchment, with increased instream sediment entering the river following rain events. Sadly, this is a big concern for the already vulnerable platypus populations, affecting their habitat and food source.

“This project is a partnership with many activities and on-ground works that will improve the environment at these sites.” Said acting EGCMA CEO, Bec Hemming.

Project partner Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) conducted water bug surveys before the structures were installed and will repeat these surveys in spring to compare any changes in types and density of bugs.

The Natural Resource Management crew from Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) will be doing weed control and planting a variety of native species along the riverbank. This vegetation, once established, will complement the instream structures by providing different habitats for bug species, shade for the water and will help reduce sediment runoff into the river.

The local Swifts Creek Primary and Secondary College students and the Swifts Creek Landcare group will also contribute to this project with planting, signage and assisting ARI with further surveys.

Platypus was listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as vulnerable in Victoria in 2021, in recognition of its decline in the last 30 years.  The species is threatened by a range of human activities, primarily related to changes in land use and water condition.

We are grateful to all project partners for getting this work done and contributing to improving the Tambo River and platypus habitat.  This project was funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

Another 50 fish habitat structures have been installed in the Snowy River.

In partnership with the Marlo Angling Club and through funding from the Australian Government’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration Program, the 50 large wood structures have been installed in the estuarine reaches of the Snowy River.

Installing these structures is part of an ongoing fish habitat project in the Snowy River and will complement previous work. The purpose-built fish habitat structures will benefit key recreational fish species by providing shelter and food sources. 

“This project is a joint effort, and we value the contribution by the Marlo Angling Club in getting work like this done and helping us plan for future projects and future generations of fish and anglers,” said Bec Hemming, A/CEO of the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (EGCMA)

A representative from the Federal Government visited East Gippsland last week to see the fish habitat project site and talk through the process of the on-ground work.  “It is great to have investors inspect the projects they have funded, and even better when they see what an important and worthwhile investment it is.” Said Bec.

As well as the wood structures, one kilometre of the river’s banks will be protected from erosion with rock.  The project will also include a trial of establishing seagrass. This seagrass habitat plays a vital role as fish nurseries.

Over the last ten years, dozens of fish habitat structures have been introduced into the Snowy Estuary. These structures, along with stocking around 600,000 Bass fingerlings, has helped native fish species thrive. Recreational angling projects on the Snowy River are a partnership with many agencies and community groups contributing, including the Marlo Angling Club, Arthur Rylah Institute, the Victorian Fisheries Authority and the EGCMA.

Plenty of froggy fun was had in the Far East last weekend, with people getting up close and personal with various frog species.

The East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (EGCMA) hosted the Frogs of the Far East community event, inviting Blacksnake Productions to showcase their private collection of frogs. 

With frog displays and talks at Mallacoota, Genoa and Cann River, people got to see the frogs and learn all about how and where they live.  People were also

shown how they can create a suitable habitat and “frog motels” in their backyards to give frogs a frog friendly environment and safe place to live.

Many people attending the event were already lucky enough to have various species of frogs living in their backyards and around their properties, with lots of comments about how loud they can be at night!

With their new frog knowledge, people were encouraged to head out into their backyard to help track frog recovery following the bushfires. By downloading the iNaturalist project “Frogs of the Far East” and tracking all frog findings, people can easily contribute to studies that will help scientists and environmental agencies track and assist these species long term.

“We have already seen the number of observations in our iNaturalist project increase since the weekend’s events which is a great sign people are downloading the app and contributing to this citizen science project.” Bec Hemming, acting EGCMA CEO, said.

This event was made possible with bushfire recovery funding from the Victorian Government.