The Gippsland Lakes continue to support significant social, cultural, economic and ecological values, according to the latest environment report.
East Gippsland CMA has released the 2024 Gippsland Lakes Environment Report (PDF 4MB), which indicates the Gippsland Lakes’ current condition as ‘fair to good’.
“Over the last ten years the Gippsland Lakes and the catchment have experienced unprecedented events, including extreme drought conditions and the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, followed by consecutive wet years with storms and flooding,” said Bec Hemming, CEO of East Gippsland CMA.
“This latest report represents a snapshot that describes and interprets the environmental condition over the five year period from 2019 to 2023”.
“It shares the enormous amount of knowledge we have about the Lakes and the long term trends that we use to inform future management actions.”
“Since the last report in 2021, the Lakes remain recognised as a Wetland of International Importance for their important values such as seagrass, coastal saltmarsh and waterbirds that all continue to be supported and maintained.”
The report presents results across the themes of fauna, habitats, water quality and other key indicators. It draws on the most current and relevant data available and follows the framework established in the 2018 Gippsland Environment Report which is consistent with the State of the Marine and Coastal Environment Reports.
The high rainfall years have led to the Lower Latrobe wetlands filling with freshwater and improved the water quality in Heart and Dowd Morass, with wetland vegetation extent and condition both rated as ‘good’.
Waterbird abundance and diversity is rated as ‘good’ with over 20,000 feeding and roosting in the Lakes each year. Regular records of breeding of target species were recorded including the establishment of an Australian pelican colony at Crescent Island, one of only two permanent colonies in Victoria and of a very few sites in Australia.
The overall assessment of saltmarsh condition rated the wetland community within the Gippsland Lakes in good to excellent condition.
Water quality data has shown high variability over the five year period, ranging from poor to good. Above average rainfall resulted in nutrients and sediments entering the Lakes system with lowered salinity in the main lakes and increased turbidity in areas such as Jones Bay.
“The Gippsland Lakes program has included many hours of volunteer effort over a vast landscape and the involvement of 40 formal partners demonstrating a high level of commitment to the Gippsland Lakes. New jobs have been created for Traditional Owners and community groups, and new partnerships have been developed.
“This report will further help guide and inform future efforts to maintain and improve the health of the much loved Gippsland Lakes,” Ms Hemming concluded.
Recognising the importance of the Gippsland Lakes to the community, the Victorian Government has invested $20 million since 2015 to protect and improve the ecological and community values supported by the Lakes. In addition, a further $6 million was recently announced by Minister for Water Gayle Tierney to continue support for the Lakes.
The Victorian Government also established the Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee in 2015 to improve the environmental health of the Gippsland Lakes. The committee plays a critical role in advocating and supporting for the long-term health of Gippsland Lakes and their catchments, overseeing investment in community and agency projects.
The following Water Quality Key Facts are available to download:
- Nutrients and algal blooms (PDF – 2MB)
- Salinity and dissolved oxygen (PDF – 1MB)
- Turbidity and seagrass (PDF – 1MB)
