Client: Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority
Location: Sites across the Goulburn and Broken Rivers and Broken Creek, Victoria

Key Services Provided:

• Hydrology and hydraulic investigations
• River health condition assessments
• Environmental flows

Overview

The Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring and Assessment Program (VEFMAP) is a state-wide framework for monitoring ecosystem response to environmental flows in eight high-priority regulated rivers. The program provides a consistent, scientifically defensible, framework for monitoring responses to environmental flows and aims to provide data to enhance understanding of environmental responses to altered flow regimes.

Water Technology was engaged by the Goulburn Broken CMA to assess the physical habitat at 10 selected sites on the Goulburn and Broken Rivers and Broken Creek. This project forms a component of VEFMAP with separate projects assessing riparian and in-channel vegetation, fish and macro-invertebrates in accordance with the VEFMAP methodology.

The process of physical habitat monitoring as performed by Water Technology included; selection and pegging of cross-section locations; cross-sectional surveys; installation of stage recorders; development of hydraulic models; qualitative assessment of habitat area and velocity; visual estimate of substrate composition; woody debris load assessment; and reporting of findings.

Contact:

Julian Martin (Julian.martin@watech.com.au)
Senior Environmental Engineer
Phone 03 5721 2650 or 0439 265 815
PO Box 792 Wangaratta 3676 Victoria