At a celebratory dinner last week, North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) presented the final results of their Drought Employment Program (DEP).

Running for the first six months of this year, the DEP concluded with an impressive list of accomplishments, all which are benefiting local communities throughout the region.

The DEP was part of the Victorian Government's drought relief efforts. It represented an investment of $2.4 million and provided employment and training to over 150 farmers and others affected by the drought.

According to Allison Long, North Central CMA's community and partnerships manager, who coordinated the DEP, the outcomes have exceeded expectation.

"The real benefit with this funding from the Victorian Government meant that we were able to provide people resources to existing projects throughout the region, and at the same time support people struggling with the drought," she said.

"We had the situation where existing improvement programs with material resources were in place across the region, but were looking for assistance with people on the ground to complete the works.

"This is where the DEP crews have been invaluable to achieving great results at a local level."
During the six months of the DEP, a total of 20 crews have completed a vast amount of work throughout the whole Catchment including: 

• 809ha of terrestrial and 256ha of riparian zones fenced with an additional 144km of riparian zone fencing covering nearly 320km of river
• 386ha of indigenous revegetation in terrestrial and riparian zones, including 30km of river
• 3,070ha targeted weed control works including blackberry, gorse, Paterson's Curse, wheel cactus and others 3,000ha of fox and 65ha of rabbit control works

Full training and skills development was also provided to all DEP crew members which was essential to undertaking the work they were required to do, but will also be of value to them in the future.  Fully funded 1080 Endorsement and Farm Chemical Users Permit (FCUP) courses were also provided for landholders.  "1080 endorsements are now required by the Victorian Government to use 1080 fox bait. As part of the DEP funding we were able to run FCUP and 1080 Endorsement courses for landholders across the region," Allison said.

"The support we've had has been fantastic. Our crews worked with teams from across the region including Department of Primary Industries, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Goulburn-Murray Water, local Landcare groups, Northern Grampians Shire Council, Parks Victoria, and other community organisations."

Dale McGraw from Goulburn-Murray Water has been very thankful for the extra support provided through the DEP.  "We were pleased to be asked to participate in the DEP. It's proven to be a great program, and without the extra assistance provided, we just wouldn't have been able to meet some of our objectives and targets for the year," Dale said.

"With the shortage of water at the moment, we've had to hold off employing new people for a while, so we're currently running around 12 to 13 people shorter than if we had full entitlements. The DEP guys were able to get things done that we would have managed to do eventually, but the benefit is that the work was done earlier, and our staff were able to concentrate on other areas.  "All of our DEP crew participants were from around the local area, and we have been fortunate enough to employ one of them on a permanent basis. Whilst we would have loved to keep a few more of them on, we just don't have the funding at the moment.

"Overall it's been a great experience with the DEP and has ensured that our irrigation infrastructure and services are well maintained for our customers."

Allison agreed: "It's been a great opportunity to help all our communities in the Catchment - from individuals involved in each of the projects, to the larger local community who will benefit from the works we have been able to complete with our partners.

"It really has been an exercise in community spirit and the results speak clearly for themselves. They have been outstanding."

For further information please contact: 

Communications Officer, North Central CMA
PO Box 18, Huntly VIC 3551
t: 03 5448 7124
e: info@nccma.vic.gov.au