Having been made the terminus for discharging flows from the Bunnugal Rural Drainage Area from around 1900 (bringing water from the drained Heifer Swamp), both Gooseneck and Brady Swamp were themselves subsequently drained in in the 1950s.
Although Gooseneck Swamp naturally discharges into Brady Swamp, it must fill to a certain height before the natural discharge channel and wider connecting floodplain receive flows. As a result, the artificial cutting in the lunette bank that separates Gooseneck Swamp from Brady Swamp, was enabling the swamp to freely drain to its bed level once inflows ceased. The images below show the location of the lunette bank that separates the two swamps, the original flowpath and the artificial cutting.
Interest in the restoration of Gooseneck Swamp began in the mid 1980s, when the property was acquired by the Victorian Government and eventually incorporated into the Grampians National Park. In 2013, after many years of work, modelling studies and biological investigations by a range of organisations, Nature Glenelg Trust began working towards a staged process of restoration at the site in partnership with the Glenelg Hopkins CMA, Parks Victoria and local landholders – starting with a proposal to construct a low cost and low risk trial sandbag weir structure in the Gooseneck Swamp artificial outlet drain.
Thanks to the support of the Department of Environment and Primary Industries – Communities for Nature Grants, the restoration trial structure was completed and in place in August 2013.
For more information on the step-by-step progress of the trial, please browse the project blogs, via the links below.
- Wannon River Insights Part 3: How long does it take water to flow through the system, and what is the impact of long-term rainfall patterns? 27/05/2024The Wannon River catchment begins in the Grampians National Park and influences important wetlands like Brady Swamp, Gooseneck Swamp and NGT’s Walker Swamp Restoration Reserve along the way. We have been investigating the Wannon River system for a few years now, through our study into the ecology and hydrology of the Wannon River, funded through ...
- Revisiting Gooseneck Swamp 10 years later – NGT’s first restoration site in the Grampians National Park 28/03/2024During a recent visit with a couple of supporters to NGT’s Walker Swamp Restoration Reserve, we briefly hopped over the fence into the adjoining National Park, to take a look at the view over Gooseneck Swamp. What drew our attention to this wetland was that fact that – in the beautiful, clear autumn daylight – ...
- ‘Wetland Restoration 101’ – Reading the landscape with NGT (recorded at the Tasmanian Landcare Conference) 26/10/2021On Saturday the 2nd of October, I had the pleasure of being invited to present at the 2021 Tasmanian Community Landcare conference in Launceston. The only problem is that thanks to Covid-19 impacting on travel options, I couldn’t attend in person! But every cloud has a silver lining. Because I was a virtual presenter, you can ...
- Grampians remote monitoring – The wetlands fill as the fun begins! 31/08/2021At the end of July, Lachie and Tom met with an eager group of volunteers to complete the first round of data retrievals for our remote monitoring project in the Grampians. Field cameras and AudioMoth sound recorders had been deployed a month prior at various sites across Walker Swamp, Green Swamp, Gooseneck Swamp and Brady ...
- A glimpse back to the good old days – early season upper Wannon River flows 31/08/2021In the south west of Victoria we are currently experiencing one of the wettest winters for a long time. Driving across the landscape, it has been quite revealing to see lots of wetlands showing their face, and many streams running at levels usually seen in a wet Spring. We’ve had a particular interest in the ...
- An exciting citizen science opportunity in the Grampians awaits You! 27/04/2021We are in the early stages of developing a volunteer-based wetland monitoring program to learn more about the ecological responses of two restored wetland systems in the southern Grampians. The Walker, Gooseneck, and Brady Swamp wetland complex, and Green Swamp, have undergone significant hydrological changes over the past few years, with support and involvement from the ...
- A weekend of wetland exploration with the South East Australian Naturalists’ Association 27/04/2021On the weekend of the 17th and 18th of April, the Hamilton Field Naturalists’ Club hosted the South East Australian Naturalists’ Association (SEANA) autumn 2021 campout. The event had been cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, so it was great to see it go ahead this year! The South East Australian Naturalists’ Association links Field ...
- Exploring NGT restored wetlands – School holiday adventures 21/01/2021A lot of ecological restoration, management and science involves sitting at a desk, but I have a strong belief that ecologists should regularly spend time in the ecosystems on which they work. Not just focused work time, with specific tasks to achieve, but leisure time as well. Just relaxing and playing around nature improves ecological ...
- Under the surface – the latest round of aquatic fauna assessments in the Wannon River wetlands 21/01/2021Since the initial restoration trials at Gooseneck and Brady Swamp, we have been keeping an eye on how the fish and frogs are doing. A key justification for restoring hydrology is to ensure that these species have an opportunity to breed and for many species, wetland inundation into late spring is crucial. Being at the ...
- Revisiting the RRR Conference – Part 2 – Breaking long-term deadlocks to restore wetlands on public and private land 10/05/2018Next up in this series (note: you can see Part 1 here) of short 2-page papers I wrote-up after presenting at the Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate (RRR) Conference in Armidale last year, is a story describing how NGT worked with a wide range of people to progress two proposed restoration projects that stalled for many years (for different reasons) and as ...
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