Management of the Goulburn River
In response to a substantial kill of native fish in the Goulburn River downstream of the Goulburn Weir in January 2004, the Minister for the Environment and Water called for an independent environmental audit of the management of the Goulburn River.
The environmental audit report and a response to the recommendations in the audit are available:
- Download the entire Goulburn River Audit Report (Adobe PDF file, 7442KB or 7.4MB).
Alternatively, download the report broken into the following:
part 1 (Adobe PDF file, 1915KB or 1.9MB)
part 2 (Adobe PDF file, 444KB)
appendices (Adobe PDF file, 943KB).
- Download the response to the recommendations in the Goulburn River Audit Report (Adobe PDF file, 1394KB or 1.4MB).
The primary objective of the audit was to obtain the information and understanding required to guide the management of the Goulburn River towards providing a healthier river system. This included improvements to meet the needs of the environment and water users, thereby reducing the likelihood of further fish kill events in the future.
This page provides information about the following topics related to the audit:
- role of EPA
- consultation
- the audit
phase 1 – Information gathering
phase 2 – Detailed scope and conduct of the audit
timing
response to recommendations
what the audit did not cover
Role of EPA
The audit was an independent, environmental audit conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Environment Protection Act 1970. EPA Victoria developed the project brief for the audit in consultation with key stakeholders and was responsible for the administration and project management of the audit.
Consultation
EPA established two mechanisms for ongoing stakeholder interaction and consultation during the audit: a reference committee and a community network.
The reference committee consisted of representatives from:
- Goulburn Murray Water (GMW)
- Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA)
- Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)
- Department of Primary Industries (DPI)
- Environment Victoria (EV)
- Fisheries Co-management Council (FCC)
- VRFish
- Victorian Farmers Federation.
The role of the reference committee was to oversee the strategic approach of the audit and provide comment on matters of fact on the draft audit report.
In addition, EPA approached local stakeholders including the Goulburn Valley Environment Group (GVEG), fishing and rowing clubs, wineries, the Landcare network and the Yorta Yorta Nation.
A community network was established to allow direct communication between the auditor and the local community.
The environmental auditor
John Nolan, an environmental auditor appointed under the Environment Protection Act 1970, conducted the Goulburn River audit. A team consisting of individuals with expertise in management of water impoundments, catchments, stream ecology, hydrology and irrigation systems provided support to the auditor.
The audit
The audit consisted of two phases:
Phase 1 – Information gathering
The first phase involved the preparation of a background chapter, summarising all documented evidence of fish kills in the Goulburn-Broken system since the early 1980s and, where possible, noting causes and conditions.
The first phase also included a workshop with technical specialists to allow the definition of the geographical and temporal scope of the audit, identification of key risk factors to the health of the river and environmental conditions and triggers. The technical workshop included ecologists and natural resource managers with catchment and aquatic science skills.
Phase 2 – Detailed scope and conduct of the audit
The second phase of audit involved the preparation of the detailed scope, conduct of the audit and reporting of the results.
The auditor, in consultation with the community and relevant stakeholders, developed a detailed audit scope. This consultation included a:
- community network
- technical workshop, and
- reference committee.
The detailed scope for the environmental audit of the Goulburn River (Adobe PDF file, 279KB) is available and a summary is provided below. This scope reflects the outcomes from the technical workshop.
Geographic scope of audit
The audit covered the following four reaches of the Goulburn River and incorporated the pre-regulation floodplain:
- Eildon Dam outlet structure to the limit of its influence of Goulburn Weir backwaters
- Goulburn Weir backwater above Kirwans Bridge and including Lake Nagambie
- Goulburn Weir pool below Kirwans Bridge, and
- Goulburn River below Goulburn Weir to Murray River.
Audit activities
The environmental audit of the Goulburn River covered the following four main activities:
- Activity A: River flow regulation
Thirteen criteria were used to examine river flow regulation in the context of:
- compliance with State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria), bulk water entitlements, DSE operational licence and environmental obligations under the Water Act (1989) and other Acts
- consistency of the Regional Catchment Strategy with State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) and river health objectives and targets which are contained within relevant strategies, plans and initiatives
- consistency between legislation, policies and strategies, and
- consistency with organisational roles and responsibilities.
- Activity B: Fish kill response arrangements
Two criteria were used to evaluate whether the extent of fish kills are an indicator of river health and if current response arrangements are sufficient to guide management in providing for a healthier river.
- Activity C: Use of biocides
Two criteria were used to assess the use of chemicals against the requirements of the State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) and Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical (Control of Use) Act.
- Activity D: Irrigation drainage
One criterion was used to assess compliance with State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) as it relates to the management of irrigation drains and whether processes were in place for implementing the Irrigation Drainage Memorandum of Understanding.
The audit also considered other activities identified as threats to river health (for example, barriers, habitat degradation and lowered water quality).
Benchmarking river health
In addition, the audit established the ecological health of each of the four designated river reaches using information drawn from the Victorian River Health Strategy and Index of Stream Condition.
The requirements for recruitment and survival of native fish were also used as key indicators of the health of the Goulburn River. It also recognised valued exotic fish species recruitment and survival in the reach of the river below the Eildon dam outlet structure and above the Goulburn Weir.
Timing
The audit was carried out during 2004 and was completed in mid 2005. Phase one was completed in September 2004. Phase 2 began in September and the draft audit report was completed in March 2005 and provided to the reference committee for a period of two months for comment on matters of fact.
The reference committee provided comment on matters of fact in relation to the findings, conclusions and recommendations. Auditees were also asked to ensure that the information they provided to the auditor was reported correctly.
Response to recommendations
In addition to commenting on matters of fact relevant agencies were asked to respond to the audit recommendations. A coordinated agency response, prepared by the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), is also available for download (at the top of this page).
What the audit did not cover
The audit was not an investigation into the most recent or any other fish kill events. The aim of the audit was to address the environmental management of the Goulburn River rather than focus on any single incident. It was not the role of the auditor to prepare a new response plan or fish kill protocol or revise the Bulk Entitlement agreements for water allocations.
Further information
If you require any further information please contact EPA via email or, alternatively, mail can be sent to:
Goulburn River Audit
Environmental Audit Unit
EPA Victoria
GPO Box 4395QQ
Melbourne Victoria 3001
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