The decommissioned water storages at Merrigum should be full in about a fortnight and ready to be stocked with fish.
Recycled pipes and logs will soon be the homes to native fish in a 50-megalitre lagoon at Merrigum.
Photo by
Murray Silby
Merrigum is set to become a major attraction for fishers, with Goulburn Valley Water transforming two decommissioned water storage dams into community fishing lagoons.
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Goulburn Valley Water’s Ricky Bertoli said the lagoons were previously used as part of Merrigum’s water supply, but that is now piped in directly from Kyabram, freeing up two dams for other uses.
He said it was decided, in partnership with the Burnanga Indigenous Fishing Club, to repurpose the dams as fishing lagoons.
“We’ve got what we call our 10 meg (megalitre) dam, which is just on the other side of the channel between this one and closer to the plant, and it’s also being decommissioned,” Mr Bertoli said.
Goulburn Valley Water’s old storage dams will soon be community fishing lagoons.
Photo by
Murray Silby
“It was a secondary stage settling dam that worked with this dam, so we’ve already filled that dam. We’ve already placed six or eight pipes in that dam at the moment. Concrete pipes, and four nesting boxes that have been in there for a couple of months with water over the top. It’s already well away.
“We’ll keep the 10 meg, the smaller dam for if you want to catch a fish and take it home, that’s fine, and this will be catch and release in the bigger 50 meg dam.”
Burnanga Indigenous Fishing Club president Corey Walker is a proud Yorta Yorta man and said his group collaborated with Goulburn Valley Water and Victorian fishing authorities on the project to enhance the area, but also to provide cultural and mental health benefits for his people, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“One of the reasons we set the club up was to provide a service for community, basically for our youth, our young people to get back on their Country and to participate in cultural activities, such as fishing and also the Elders passing on that traditional knowledge to the younger generation,” Mr Walker said.
“There’s going to be some real prospect for tourism and recreational fishing activities in the future, so it’s about collaboration and partnerships.”
The project, to be known as Dunyak Moira — meaning ‘fishing lake’ in the Yorta Yorta language — has been supported by Bushfire Recovery Victoria, local businesses and contractors, who have donated time and recycled materials for fish habitat, including tree root balls and concrete pipes.
Merrigum Community Group chair Russell Speed said residents in the area would be excited by the news after being curious as to what was happening on the site.
“I’ve lived in Merrigum for 50 years and I knew this was here, but we’ve never been able to get in and have a look, and when I walked in here this morning I went, ‘Wow, this is going to be a hell of an asset for this town,’” Mr Speed said.
“The community will be right behind this for sure and we’re hoping to be able to help them out with some fundraising.
“Potentially it’s going to bring a lot of people to town, that’s for sure.”
The larger dam is expected to take about two weeks to fill and both will be stocked with native species such as Murray cod, yellowbelly (golden perch) and silver perch.
Fishers are likely to be able to throw in a line next spring.
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