To improve water security for the ACT, a pipeline to transfer water from the Murrumbidgee River at Angle Crossing to Googong Reservoir (M2G) via Burra Creek has been constructed. The M2G infrastructure will be able to remove up to 100 megalitres of water per day. The Murrumbidgee River is the largest river in the ACT region and supports a number of native fish species, including Murray Cod, Trout Cod and Macquarie Perch. These species are threatened by a number of existing processes such as sedimentation and loss of habitat, which have been exacerbated by flow reduction following the construction of Tantangara Dam in the Murrumbidgee’s headwaters.
The Upper Murrumbidgee Fish Monitoring Program has an important role in assessing the effects of the M2G abstraction scheme on the fish community of the upper Murrumbidgee River. The results from the program are used by the ACT Government and Icon Water to inform management actions related to water abstraction from the Murrumbidgee River.
The aims of the program are to:53
- assess the fish community of the upper Murrumbidgee River
- confirm the presence of threatened fish species in the upper Murrumbidgee River
- continue a baseline study of the fish community in the upper Murrumbidgee River upstream and downstream of the M2G abstraction point to enable assessment of the impacts of future M2G abstraction on fish communities (to date, M2G has not been used to extract water for supply).
Three sites are surveyed upstream of the abstraction point, one site at the abstraction point, and three sites below the abstraction point. The survey is conducted every two years, and the most recent survey for which there are available results was done in 2013.
2013 program results
In the 2013 survey, Carp dominated the fish catch, forming more than 73% of fish biomass at each site. Despite the dominance of Carp, threatened species were recorded at all but one of the sites. Key findings from the 2013 survey include:
- juvenile Murray Cod caught above and below Angle Crossing
- Macquarie Perch recorded above Angle Crossing and, for the first time in this program, at Casuarina Sands.
Juvenile Murray Cod, Carp and Macquarie Perch (left to right) captured during the 2013 survey. Photos: Mark Jekabsons, ACT Government
M2G abstraction point at Angle Crossing on the Murrumbidgee River. Photo: University of Canberra
Boat electrofishing. Photo: Mark Jekabsons, ACT Government