Catchment authority 'gets serious' about saving Curdies River

The authority set up a consultative committee with local, industry and government representatives to plan a way forward after the river was ravaged by a toxic algal bloom in April 2022. This consultative committee never had decision-making power, but in October, 2023 it was transformed into a coordinating committee, which is able to initiate and oversee programs vital to rescuing the waterway.

One of the committee's community representatives, Barb Mullen, said it was a hugely positive step.

"It seems the CCMA has determined to prioritise the Curdies situation, which is really heartening," Ms Mullen said.

The Peterborough resident has been strongly critical of government inaction and buck passing on the Curdies River in recent years, but she said giving the committee teeth was a sign the CCMA was "getting serious" about a meaningful, long-term effort in the Curdies catchment.

The committee brings together a range of groups with different priorities, from Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, to Agriculture Victoria, WestVic Dairy, Wannon Water, Parks Victoria, Environment Protection Authority Victoria, the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, and the Corangamite and Moyne councils.

Ms Mullen said having those groups around the same table and getting them to agree to create a decision-making committee had required "an enormous amount of good will from everyone involved".

"It's all in the very early stages, but this will be more of an action body that can actually initiate programs," she said.

She said it was incredibly important to have an organisation that kept pushing for improvements in the catchment regardless of the public pressure.

"It's all well and good for there to be anger and pressure when blue green algae is wiping out fish and bird life, but people have short memories," Ms Mullen said.

"People quickly stop caring when there's not a crisis in front of them.

"So in that respect I think this coordinating committee is the absolute best outcome possible at the moment."

One of the first initiatives from the renamed committee was a survey asking the community to tell the CCMA what they valued most about the Curdies River. Ms Mullen said it was incredibly important for locals to tell the authority what the river brings to the area recreationally and environmentally.

"This survey is crucial because many of these other organisations represented on the committee are all about the economics, the money the river represents, which is all pushing in one direction, so we need the community to balance out those views," she said.

You can fill out the survey here.