Water and Healthy Rivers
Imagine a Victoria where we talk about our rivers with pride. Where clean water flows freely. Diverse ecosystems thrive. Nutrient-rich flora and fauna grow in abundance. And your favorite spot beside that babbling brook is still around when your children’s children are grown-up. Now imagine yourself getting involved in one of the many ongoing campaigns and programs designed to restore and protect Victoria’s precious waterways.
The Basics
The water out of your tap comes from a river. Each year, Victorians draw 5 trillion litres of water out of our rivers for irrigation and use by towns. This leaves many of our river eco-systems trying to get by on half the water which would naturally be there. Environment Victoria’s Healthy Rivers Campaign has a long and proud history of working to get some of that water back into our rivers, with plenty of successes. Over the last few years we have worked hard on the national Murray-Darling Basin Plan to make sure it delivers for northern Victoria’s rivers and wetlands. While the final plan is deeply flawed, it is at least a step in the right direction, and we’ll be keeping the pressure on to make sure it is properly implemented to benefit our rivers. This year we’ll be taking a look at the condition of rivers around Victoria and assessing the major threats and opportunities for action. We’ll be looking for interesting and innovative ways of presenting the information to inform and inspire, and developing an action plan in the lead-up to next year’s state election. We aim to have the state of our rivers firmly on the agenda. And to do that we will need your help, so stay tuned!
Sign up to our fortnightly Water and Healthy Rivers eBulletin here
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