Wildlife and vegetation on the Campaspe River are no longer under threat as life around the Victorian waterway bounces back from the devastation caused by the 2022 floods.
Preliminary government surveys show conditions for native fish, platypus and rakali populations are slowly improving after being devastated by damage to sections of the river from torrential rain.
North Central Catchment Management Authority environmental flows project manager Darren White said vegetation was also getting back on track.
“The Victorian environmental flows monitoring and assessment program surveys have shown similar numbers of golden perch to what were caught in the past two years,” Mr White said.
Murray cod ranging in size from 57mm to 802mm have been captured in all three reaches.
“That all points to a resilient fish population and a recovering river,” he said.
“Vegetation coming back means waterbugs are improving, which are really important this time of year for platypus and rakali.”
About 200 megalitres of water flow is expected each day down the river from the Eppalock dam until the end of November, which Mr White said would boost restoration.
“The river is doing pretty well as a result of a water for environment program that built resilience and allowed it to bounce back quickly after the floods,” he said.
