Mid-Murray Region

The Mid-Murray Forest Management Area is located in northern Victoria, approximately 250 kms north of Melbourne. It covers the northern Victorian riverine plains from Rutherglen in the east to Lake Boga in the west, and also State Forest along the Goulburn River, downstream of Murchison and the Ovens River. Most of the forested public land occurs along the Murray River, Gunbower Island and Barmah, and totals approximately 50,000 hectares.

Current Issues - see below

Forest Watering

In this section

Current Issues

Forest Watering

The most fundamental issues affecting Mid Murray forests is the alteration of the natural flooding regimes. This seasonal flooding is crucial for the regeneration and rejuvenation of River Red Gum forests and their floodplain flora and fauna. Water in the Murray River system has been regulated for many years in order to capture winter and spring rainfall for later release for irrigation and for consumptive use for the cities and towns throughout the Murray Darling Basin. This affects the forest ecology and the breeding and life cycles of the thousands of birds and animals that have evolved and adapted to a regime of winter-spring flooding.

High flows in the Murray River system during the summer and autumn irrigation season result in prolonged inundation of the lower parts of the floodplain at a time when under natural conditions, it should be dry or drying out. Trees can die as a result of prolonged inundation and are more vulnerable to parasitic insect attack if stressed by altered flooding regimes. The breeding patterns of colonial nesting waterbirds, native fish and amphibians are also disrupted by these unseasonal changes.

In order to best manage these changes Forest Management staff are utilising state of the art satellite imagery to study flooding patterns. The aerial scanning of topography is used to identify high and low lying areas which would have naturally received regular flooding. The data is used, along with key ecological and other Forest Management information, to devise water management programs to determine, where best water can be allocated to maximise environmental benefits. Then depending on climatic conditions and the availability of Environmental Water Allocations a range of delivery options are planned so that flooding can be enhanced in priority areas of the Red Gum Forest estate.