IN the Gannawarra Times (April 26, 2023) North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) announced that they have planned an “environmental flow in Gunbower Forest in winter and spring”.
Thus the forest will be receiving its third environmental flow since April 2021 in addition to the recent large natural flood.
The reason given is based on bird breeding as “waterbird surveys over spring and summer conservatively recorded more than 1000 juvenile waterbirds in Gunbower Forest, most of which hatched within the forest”.
NCCMA chief executive Brad Drust then goes on to add, “We have an opportunity for the first time on the floodplain to build on a significant waterbird breeding event with a follow-up flow from our Hipwell Road channel, help these young birds survive to adulthood, and help their parents rebuild condition after raising their chicks”.
The only problem being there is not 1500 (juveniles plus adults) in the forest and an inspection of the lagoons and swamps in the forest reveals no sign(s) of the 250+ nests that would be required.
In the 10 years since environmental watering began, the most nests that has ever been recorded in the forest was 48 by Birdlife Australia in 2018, hence several questions need to be answered:
A. What is going to attract these birds to the forest considering all that is going to occur is “just add water”?
B. Where are these birds going to come from?
C. At a recent meeting, NCCMA were not able to produce a “carp management strategy”, nor provide any actions that had been taken before the last flood, so are we in for a repeat of the carp fiasco?
In the media release, it mentions a list of possible reasons, given by the CSIRO, as to why there might be a high mortality rate. There is no mention of a shortage of water.
Community consultation consisted of our representative being told that the watering was going to occur.
Geoff Wakeman
Environmental committee
Central Murray Environmental Floodplain Group Chair
