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The VMFRP is one of the largest coordinated environmental improvement programs currently being delivered along the Murray River.

The Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Project (VMFRP) will get much needed water back onto nine high-value floodplains along the Murray River. Without this water, these iconic landscapes will continue to decline – along with the many native trees, animals and plants that depend on them.

Over the past century, the Murray River has been regulated with weirs, dams and levees to support communities, agriculture and industry. While this has delivered many benefits, it has reduced the frequency and extent of natural flooding that wetlands and floodplains need to survive.

The VMFRP will improve the ecological health of around 15,000 hectares of wetlands and flood-dependent forests by buildling carefully designed infrastructure to support the seasonal wetting cycles that native plants and animals depend on. 

Through careful planning, monitoring and consultation with Traditional Owners, land managers and local communities, the environmental works at VMFRP sites will return a more natural watering regime to Victoria’s floodplains.

Why healthy floodplains are important:

Local communities and visitors

Healthy floodplains are beautiful places to visit and are great for recreation like boating, fishing and camping.

Local wildlife

Native species rely on floodplains for food, habitat and breeding, from microscopic creatures to frogs, fish, birds, bats and other mammals.

Local economies

Projects will bring substantial financial investment into the region, creating jobs and helping local economies.

Traditional Owners

Traditional Owners have cultural, spiritual, and economic connections to land, water and resources through their relationship with Country, having managed land and water sustainably over thousands of generations.

Vegetation

Flooding brings vegetation back to life, creating habitat, foraging and food for floodplain creatures. Some flood dependent species like river red gums and black box trees rely on bigger floods that once occurred more frequently. Animals like bats and birds nest in the hollows of these trees.

Project sites

Sites funded for construction

Sites in environmental planning and assessment

VMFRP Interactive Map

Latest updates

Belsar-Yungera and Hattah Lakes North Floodplain Restoration Projects EES Update

The Victorian Minister for Planning has determined that a single EES is required for the Belsar-Yungera and Hattah Lakes North Floodplain Restoration Projects under the Environment Effects Act 1978 (Victoria).

Tangled Lignum – the unsung zombie hero of the floodplains

In dry periods, Tangled Lignum may appear lifeless, but like a floodplain feature special of ‘Return of the lignum dead’, it springs back to life after flooding from high river flows, providing homes and food for a diverse range of plants and animals found nowhere else.

Talking VMFRP on Goulburn-Murray Water’s monthly water podcast

Listen to VMFRP General Manager Jane Ryan talk projects with GMW on their Talking Water podcast.

Timeline