Undestanding Glenelg River Estuary Responses to Freshwater Inflows

⁠⁠⁠Glenelg Hopkins CMA is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified consultant to investigate the significance of freshwater inflows to the Glenelg River estuary, southwest Victoria.

Environmental water management in the Glenelg River currently does not consider environmental requirements of the estuarine reach. There is an increasing awareness that there are potential impacts on plant or animal species due to changes to water conditions.

Flow gauging over recent years has indicated that environmental watering actions targeting reach 2 have been observed at the upstream extent of the estuary at Dartmoor. This project will provide an initial investigation of the potential to deliver environmental water to support ecological objectives in the Glenelg River estuary and associated wetlands.

It will identify whether a full estuary environmental flow assessment is warranted. The project will quantify water delivery to the estuary under different flow and tidal conditions and assess how inflows and the status of the estuary entrance (i.e. open or closed) effect water conditions (e.g. water level, salinity, temperature and oxygen profiles) in the estuary and associated wetlands. Learnings from similar studies recently undertaken in the Snowy and Latrobe rivers shall be incorporated. The results of this study may inform future use of the Estuary Environmental Flows Assessment Method (EEFAM) to determine the water regime requirements of the Glenelg River estuary.