Autumn environmental flows
Published: 28 March 2024

Autumn environmental flows now on

With the weather beginning to dry and below average rainfall forecasted for the next three months, our Environmental Water team are back to busily planning how to keep our rivers and wetlands in best condition.

A ‘low flow’ has already begun in the Macalister River and will continue until the end of June. This small lift in river volume will connect all parts of the river to help native fish to move around and to find food and shelter. This will be complemented by two autumn ‘freshes’. The April fresh will trigger the downstream migration of the Australian Grayling, towards Lake Wellington to spawn. The May fresh will trigger Tupong and Australian Bass to follow the Grayling downstream to spawn as well.

The Thomson will also receive a fresh in April, followed by a low flow through to the end of June. The fresh is intended to trigger a spawning migration for Australian Grayling and Australian Bass, with the low flow delivered to help small native fish and platypus move around the river and give them access to more food and shelter.

Flows have now commenced and will continue until the end of June. All flow details and updates are available on our water release page where you can also sign up for notifications.