A new wetland area in Belgrave will be created to help prevent stormwater erosion, habitat destruction and localised flooding, thanks to a partnership between Council, the State Government, Melbourne Water and University of Melbourne.
On Monday, 18 May, Member for Eastern Melbourne and Minister for Water, Harriet Shing, announced grant funding to establish a new wetland at Birdsland Reserve.
A new wetland system on council land will divert water from the Hazelvale Creek to slow the flow and, and capture sediment and pollutants. The wetland will be upgraded with real-time communication technology, allowing for cleaner water to be released slowly back into the Monbulk Creek.
Yarra Ranges Mayor, Richard Higgins, said the works will address an ongoing issue with stormwater from the Hazelvale Creek impacting Monbulk Creek at Birdsland reserve.
"When the Hazelvale Creek drains into Monbulk Creek, it enters very quickly and in high volumes, which causes erosion, deteriorates the water quality, increases flood risk to nearby homes and, crucially, causes biodiversity loss by damaging or destroying habitat - including platypus habitat" Cr Higgins said.
"The Monbulk Creek is one of our significant platypus habitat locations, and this project will help manage the water flow into the creek.
The Birdsland project is an extension of the Tanks for Platypus project, set up in 2021, where Council established rainwater tanks on private land with similar technology, to catch and release rainfall to manage the health of Monbulk Creek.
"When a storm is forecasted, the smart technology installed will be able to release water into nearby creeks. When the storm hits, the wetlands and tanks will have greater capacity for storing rainwater, which will help prevent flooding, manage creek flows and protect local platypus."
"This technology has already been fitted onto Melbourne Water existing wetlands at Birdsland, and the new wetland will complement the work of the last five years.
"With an additional storage capacity equal to about 200 household water tanks, this will have an exceptional, generational impact on our local waterways.
"Our sincere thanks to the State Government for their support in making this project a reality."
This Hazelvale Creek wetland project is funded through a grant from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action's Integrated Water Management program, with contributions and support from Council, Melbourne Water and the University of Melbourne.
These partners are key to the Monbulk Creek Smart Water Network (Tanks for Platypus) success along with South East Water and funding from the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
