Victorian waterways damaged by the year’s floods will benefit from $16 million in government funding for a range of flood recovery and repair works.
Five catchment management authorities (CMAs) will receive money through the Australian Government’s Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements to assist with flood recovery which meets the needs of individual areas.
Water Minister Peter Walsh says the money will be used for riverbed and bank stabilisation, repairs to more than 500kilometres of riverbank fencing, revegetation, restoration of CMA assets and removal of debris which pose risks to public infrastructure.
“As caretakers of our waterways, CMAs have been undertaking flood repair works for many months and this extra investment will help speed up many recovery projects across the state,” Mr Walsh says.
Mr Walsh says the works will improve water quality, restore the physical stability of rivers and help prepare the catchments for any future flood events.
“It is important we reinstate riverside fencing to keep out stock and revegetate the fenced out areas so water quality may be improved,” he says.
“And to help strengthen our waterways against future flood events, it is vital that erosion of river banks and beds are stabilised to best industry standards.”
“Our rivers are moving towards increased resilience to floods but they require continued maintenance and this funding will help the CMAs care for local waterways.”
Waterway damage recovery funding has been allocated to Mallee CMA - $468,200, Goulburn Broken CMA - $407,000, North East CMA - $5,363,484, North Central CMA - $9,046,331, and Wimmera CMA - $1,069,336.
