Reconnecting River Country program reaches out to the Murrumbidgee
Landholders and Aboriginal communities along the Murrumbidgee River are being encouraged to reach out to the NSW Government’s Reconnecting River Country program and provide feedback to improve the way water for the environment is delivered.
The NSW Government is exploring changes to river flow management which are required to deliver higher environmental flows to create healthier wetlands and floodplains. This could result in periodic low-level inundation of some private and public land.
The Reconnecting River Country program has been working with landholders, Aboriginal groups and stakeholder groups in the program area to understand the potential benefits and impacts of these changes.
While hundreds of community members have jumped on board, the NSW Government is now launching a new awareness campaign to ensure everyone who has not taken part has an opportunity to connect with the program, get involved, and provide feedback.
If the program proceeds to delivery, greater flexibility to manage water for the environment would create healthier river systems providing a range of benefits for native vegetation, native fish, waterbirds, turtles, frogs and other wildlife.
Since the program started, 115 landholders in the Murrumbidgee catchment have been engaged and there have been more than 7000 community interactions with the broader program.
To find out whether your land is within the proposed environmental flow corridor, visit our online maps for the Murrumbidgee at: Inundation mapping
To connect with the program and register for updates, please visit: Reconnecting River Country Program
Quotes attributable to Michelle Cavallaro, Director - Reconnecting River Country, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water:
“We want landholders and community groups to be brought along as part of this journey to help us refine proposed changes to river flows. This is why the NSW Government is ramping up our visibility in the Murrumbidgee over the coming weeks and encouraging more people to connect with us.
“Boosting the amount of water going back to the environment to future-proof our important wetlands and floodplains is vital and will benefit us for generations to come, but it can’t be at the expense of landholders and local stakeholders.
“We are also committed to working with First Nations people to understand how the program can improve connection and access to Country and healthy culture.
“And while we’re looking to get new people in touch with the program, we’re also forging ahead on other fronts including continuing to work with hundreds of property owners and First Nations people which is helping to refine the program and confirm our detailed mapping.”
