Coliban River 

The Coliban River between Malmsbury Reservoir and Lake Eppalock is home to a significant population of breeding platypus and small-bodied native fish.

Dams at either end isolate that section of the river, and prevent natural flows. Under bulk entitlement rules, we have some flexibility to withhold and bank water for later use.

Benefits to flow through water partnership

To attempt to reach the objectives under the Coliban Environmental Management Plan, our flow regime focuses on banking some of the winter and spring flows, releasing them later to provide summer flows, helping prolong river pools and mitigate against poor water quality.

The objective if the plan is to rehabilitate resilient breeding populations of platypus and small-bodied native fish un the upper half of the Coliban River through maintaining and increasing the cover and diversity of in-stream, fringing native vegetation communities, and to provide opportunities for these animals too disperse throughout the lower half of the river and beyond.