Healthy catchment systems provide environmental, social and economic benefits to the region. WGCMA has a key co-ordination role in the development and implementation of action plans and strategies that identify our natural resource assets and outline management actions that can be undertaken to reduce the threats that impact upon those assets.
Salinity Management
Salinity costs the West Gippsland region approximately $10.8 million per year, with over 50,000 hectares of land and infrastructure affected. Salinity affects productivity of pastures and can reduce the economic viability of land. It also impacts on infrastructure maintenance costs in urban areas and degrades environmental assets such as wetlands, rivers and native vegetation.
The WGCMA co-ordinates programs to help landholders with their on-farm nutrient management in order to reduce off-site impacts that harm the environment (E.g. algal blooms in waterways).
Programs are run in partnership with the EPA and DPI and include Effluent Management Auditing, Planning and Incentives in the Macalister Irrigation District for irrigation farm planning, installation of re-use systems and conversion to spray irrigation. Efficient irrigation can also help reduce the amount of excess nutrients leaving farms and entering the Gippsland Lakes.
Soil Health
The maintenance of healthy soils in West Gippsland is fundamental for productive and sustainable farming systems and for the health of our waterways and native vegetation. Threats to soil health include erosion, soil sodicity and acid sulphate. Our current soil health program focuses on the impacts of soil erosion particularly in the Strzelecki Rages.
The CORE 4 program is aimed at improving the quality of water entering the Gippsland Lakes catchments by retaining phosphorous, nitrogen and sediment on dairy farms in Gippsland.
Dairy farmers from selected areas between Warragul and Glengarry and Boolarra to Neerim East have submitted applications to participate in the program, which aims to invest in on-farm improvements to reduce nutrient run-off.
The CORE 4 program, which is Australian Government funded through the Caring for Our Country initiative is part of the Gippsland Lakes Enhancement Program.
Co-managed under the auspice of the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and Gippsland Lakes and Catchment Taskforce, the program will now assess all submissions received with evaluations to be completed by the end of July.
Healthy Soils, Sustainable Farms - Building soil carbon and managing PH in West Gippsland Theproject aims to build soil literacy amongst farmers & service providers and enable them to apply knowledge to build soil carbon and manage pH for healthier soils and more productive farms across the West Gippsland region.
Small grants will be provided to eligible groups of farmers for agronomic advice and to support trials and demonstrations. A directory of past trials has been developed to help build the evidence base.
For more information about the project and trials, click here .
This project is funded by the Australian Government's Caring for our Country
Healthy catchment systems provide environmental, social and economic benefits to the region. WGCMA has a key co-ordination role in the development and implementation of action plans and strategies that identify our natural resource assets and outline management actions that can be undertaken to reduce the threats that impact upon those assets.
Salinity Management
Salinity costs the West Gippsland region approximately $10.8 million per year, with over 50,000 hectares of land and infrastructure affected. Salinity affects productivity of pastures and can reduce the economic viability of land. It also impacts on infrastructure maintenance costs in urban areas and degrades environmental assets such as wetlands, rivers and native vegetation.
Nutrient Management
The WGCMA co-ordinates programs to help landholders with their on-farm nutrient management in order to reduce off-site impacts that harm the environment (E.g. algal blooms in waterways).
Programs are run in partnership with the EPA and DPI and include Effluent Management Auditing, Planning and Incentives in the Macalister Irrigation District for irrigation farm planning, installation of re-use systems and conversion to spray irrigation. Efficient irrigation can also help reduce the amount of excess nutrients leaving farms and entering the Gippsland Lakes.
Soil Health
The maintenance of healthy soils in West Gippsland is fundamental for productive and sustainable farming systems and for the health of our waterways and native vegetation. Threats to soil health include erosion, soil sodicity and acid sulphate. Our current soil health program focuses on the impacts of soil erosion particularly in the Strzelecki Rages.
Current Projects
<!--[if !supportLists]-->·<!--[endif]-->Enhancing the Strzeleckis The Strzelecki Ranges form a remarkable landscape. Once covered in a great forest and known as the “land of the Lyrebird”, the Strzeleckis now support a range of natural assets and land uses that are intricately interconnected..
