CONSTRUCTION work on the Third Reedy Lake Bypass Project is now finished, with a new pump station, access bridge, regulator, fish passage and bypass channel completed.
Water has been diverted from the lake, 10km north of Kerang, through the new 1.4 kilometre bypass channel since the start of the irrigation season.
The project, which was five years in the planning before construction started in February, is part of the $2 billion Goulburn-Murray Water Connections Project.
It aims to save 1.6 gigalitres of water annually and return the lake to its pre-irrigation-system state as a deep freshwater marsh.
The initiative came out of a requirement for GMW to carry out a special environmental and water saving project under the business case of the Connections program.
Its cost was estimated earlier this year at around $10 million.
Connections media advisor David Lee said the project would now move to the next phase.
As part of the Kerang Lakes Complex, Third Reedy Lake is listed under The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.
Project director Frank Fisseler said the changed watering regime in the area would improve its ecological condition and restore habitat for aquatic flora and fauna.
“This will improve water bird breeding and feeding opportunities and management of pest plants and animals,” Mr Fisseler said.
Under the five-year management plan, in the absence of flooding, the lake will be filled every five years.
Lake Charm resident Stuart Simms, who was the chair of the community consultative committee for the project, said the committee hadn’t met since work was started on it.
“It’s a pretty elaborate system,” Mr Simms said.
“We scrutinised it pretty well as a consultative committee.
“I think it’s come up to plan, though it’s a bit over budget.
“I think they’ve had a bit of trouble with the pipeline but they’re addressing that. It’s not something they won’t be able to overcome.”
According to GMW, a meeting in Kerang on Thursday night was not a public meeting about the project but a briefing for local anglers which was requested by Fisheries Victoria.
GMW said the project’s fish management strategy involved detailed design and planning.
Mr Lee said more information about the fish exit strategy and the drawdown of the lake would be available soon.
“The fish passage is pretty impressive,” he said.
