From little things, big things grow!  One bonus of the extended dry period has been time to gain access to some usually wet floodplain areas along the lower Kiewa River. Here we have been filling in some areas to reinstate some small wetlands that used to retain water in the landscape before channels were built to drain these and make the land more “productive”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The restoration of wetland plants in floodplain channels will slow water runoff, cleaning the water before it enters the major waterways of the Kiewa and Murray Rivers. Wetland plants play a significant role in cleaning stormwater by filtering pollutants and improving water quality. They achieve this through various mechanisms, including physical capture of sediment, biological uptake of pollutants by microorganisms and plants, and transformation of pollutants.

With housing developments proposed for around Huon Hill in the next decade, these restored wetlands will be key refuges for native fauna as well as cleansers for stormwater running down the hill.

This is what this old channel could look like once restored!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers are welcome to join us after the much-anticipated heavy rainfall this weekend, planting native grasses and shrubs into the channel and abutting floodplain on Tuesday the 29th and Thursday the 31st of July.

Thank you to the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal for their financial support for the “Restoring Bonegilla’s Blue Carbon Sink Wetlands and Waterways” project.