Co-creating Knowledge for Catchment Sustainability: Applying research in the Moorabool Catchment for more effective on-ground change

The Moorabool River is one of Victoria’s most important regional rivers. As well as providing drinking water for the expanding cities of Geelong and Ballarat, the river serves as a critical biodiversity corridor for endangered plant and animal species. It is also a popular waterway for recreational purposes and holds significance to its Wadawurrung Traditional Owners. The river’s importance was highlighted by the Victorian Government’s designation of the river as one of 19 “Flagship Waterways” prioritised for funded catchment management programs. 

The high prioritisation accorded to the Moorabool River is further justified through its identification as one of Victoria’s most flow stressed rivers. Since settlement, the catchment and river have been significantly impacted by the construction of farm dams, weirs, diversions, land-use change, and water extraction for both urban and rural use. Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA) is a statutory authority that oversees catchment management of the region, including integration of collaborative groundwork and research.  The CCMA’s Regional Waterway Strategy (2014-2022) summarises the key Moorabool River threats as flow deprivation, river sedimentation, land-use change, population growth, and (projected) climate change.

In response to these challenges, in 2017 the Victorian Government initiated the “Living Moorabool Flagship” project managed by CCMA through a partnership approach with water authorities, Aboriginal Traditional Owners and the community.  The overarching aims of the Living Moorabool Flagship are threefold: 1) to improve environmental flow releases for the river downstream of Lal-Lal Reservoir; 2) to improve riparian vegetation through incentives programs for landowners to fence off waterways, reduce weeds and re-establish native vegetation; 3) to empower the community through Citizen-Science monitoring programs.

The Moorabool Catchment is a case study of applied research employing a partnership approach to the delivery of on-ground works. This paper presents preliminary PhD results based on a project applied to the Living Moorabool Flagship program focusing on quantifying the impact of environmental flow releases on water quality and a hydrological model of the impact of farm dams on streamflow. Results indicate that integrating long-term water quality data from multiple agencies improves the analysis of water quality responses to environmental flow releases, supporting their evaluation as an intervention strategy. Hydrological modelling showed that farm dams significantly reduce streamflow, increasing low-flow periods in the system. Together, these findings highlight the value of co-creating evidence-based knowledge that contributes to the decision framework for integrated catchment management.