4 July 2008
$2 MILLION TO IMPROVE STEELE CREEK
Melbourne Water will invest up to $2 million over the next five years in an effort to vastly improve the health of Steele Creek in parts of Hume, Brimbank and Moonee Valley.
The investment is part of Melbourne Water’s Regional River Health Strategy – a major initiative designed to protect and restore key waterways right across the Port Phillip and Westernport region. The strategy itself is one of several aspects of the Victorian Government’s Our Water Our Future program.
General Manager of Waterways, Chris Chesterfield, said the creek’s significance to the local community was a large part of the decision to invest heavily in its rehabilitation.
“The discussions we had with community members as part of our initial scoping of this strategy highlighted how important Steele Creek is to the area – not just from an environmental perspective, but for its cultural heritage and as the backdrop to recreation activities,” said Mr Chesterfield.
“Given it runs past a major airport, an old quarry and lots of new development, Steele Creek has some significant environmental stresses on it. Like many of our waterways, it’s also showing the affects of a long drought.
“The health of the creek has been helped along by a series of smaller projects over the years by Melbourne Water, Hume, Brimbank and Moonee Valley city councils, and the Friends of Steele Creek – who will be a big part of these new works,” added Mr Chesterfield.
Melbourne Water’s works to improve Steele Creek over the next five years will include:
- A rolling weed control program along 14km of the creek, removing varieties such as desert ash, broom, boxthorn and some willows.
- Over 6km of revegetation, planting native trees to restore the system to a more natural appearance and creating more habitat for frogs and fish.
- Preventing erosion of vulnerable parts of the creek bank.
“Over the next five years, we hope to gradually improve the appearance and health of Steele Creek so that it remains a major community asset,” said Mr Chesterfield.
Melbourne Water recently launched an advertising campaign explaining simple things people can do to reduce pollution in their local waterways through stormwater runoff.
The ‘I love living here’ campaign features a platypus, growling grass frog and blackfish asking people to bin their rubbish, pick up after their dog and fix oil leaks from cars – so rain doesn’t wash these pollutants into rivers and creeks. More information is available at Melbourne Water website.
Media Contact: Andrew McGinnes +613 9235 7277 +61 (0)403 930 846