WETLAND RESTORATION ON PRIVATE LAND CASE STUDY 4: CASHMORE DISTRICT

This project involved the installation of a temporary sandbag weir in an artificial drain on a private property near Portland, in far south-western Victoria. The temporary weir was constructed using sandbags made from geo-textile material placed to form a weir wall and overflow sill within the existing drainage channel. The trial sandbag structure is designed to function as a drainage regulation weir, where water flowing out of the drainage channel is retained to promote pooling of the backwater into the natural wetland depression located directly upstream. In this instance, the landholder was interested in restoring the natural wetland area – noting that this area had become much drier since the construction of the drain – as the wetland area itself was considered to be of marginal value for agricultural purposes.

The temporary sandbag weir was installed in early June, prior to the above average July rains in that district, being completed by the landholder, members from a local landcare group and Nature Glenelg Trust.  The weir structure has been designed to recreate a 4 hectare wetland area by restricting drainage outflows by up to 60 cm within the existing drainage channel.  NGT’s Lachlan Farrington put together a short summary of the action, which can be viewed below:

Temporary trial weir structures provide both Nature Glenelg Trust and the landholders we work with, with an inexpensive and low risk approach to trialing wetland restoration measures. Once the functionality of the structure and its wetland restoration impact have been assessed by both parties – under real conditions – a permanent structure can be designed and installed according to a set of agreed criteria. In this way, trial structures can provide a valuable (no-obligation) first step, along the path to providing lasting, self-sustaining and effective wetland restoration solutions in the region.

Trial structures are not necessary at every site, but are a good option for people who are tentative about making the leap to a permanent structure, without having the opportunity to see what the potential inundation effect will be first under a range of settings and conditions. If you are interested in having a wetland restoration trial undertaken on your property, please contact us here.

This Case Study is the fourth in a series to illustrate wetland restoration in practice, delivered through Nature Glenelg Trust’s Wetland Restoration Program on Private Land and funded by the Australian Government.

• Final opportunity to reserve a place to join us for NGT’s ‘Grand Tour’ of ecological restoration sites this October! 19/09/2023
  Places are limited and the countdown to the start of the NGT Grand Tour is now on! After a fantastic experience in last year’s South Australian Nature Festival, where NGT hosted a bus tour of the Fleurieu Peninsula, this year we have decided to do something a little bit different… Instead of just reading about our ...
• Your last chance to book a spot at our special celebration at Walker Swamp this spring 19/09/2023
  Part of the land addition at Walker Swamp. Photo: Mark Bachmann As we reported previously, thanks to the generous support of over 200 donors, on 30th June 2023, NGT successfully settled the purchase of an additional 390 acres of land adjacent to the northern end of Walker Swamp. We also promised that we’d hold another event ...
• Two opportunities in Tasmania this October, to hear NGT’s perspective on wetland restoration 19/09/2023
  In what is already a big October for NGT community events, with the NGT Grand Tour and Walker Swamp Celebration set for the mainland, it is great to be able to announce that NGT’s wetland restoration work (like the example shown below) will also feature at two different community events in both the south and ...
• Renewal of the NGT Board officially marks the end of NGT’s establishment phase 19/09/2023
  Just over 12 years ago, on the 10th of September 2011, a small group of six colleagues that I had approached over the couple of months prior met with me formally together as a group for the first time. That was the day we formed a committee to oversee the creation of a new multi-regional ...
• Fond memories of Kath Alcock, our botanical artist and a dear friend 19/09/2023
  I first met Kath way back in 1992, when a university mate (Karen Beaumont) was undertaking a project at Sheriffs Reserve near Naracoorte in the Limestone Coast. I came down to help with the field work documenting the plants and management issues for the reserve. On this particular trip Karen wanted to identify a few ...
• Volunteers give Walker Swamp a boost at Field Work Fridays 19/09/2023
  Hello there, Tom reporting in from Walker Swamp.  After a massive effort from NGT volunteers and staff we have planted around 1600 plants back into the Walker Swamp landscape.  We successfully planted the remaining 700 seedlings that were kindly donated to us from Ella Plumanns Pouton at Melbourne Uni. Many thanks to Ella and her team for the ...
• NGT Out and About in September – Photos from the Field 19/09/2023
  What a lovely day for a bird survey – check out Sam’s list of species from her latest survey (below). We’ve also been hosting an environmental education program at Walker Swamp, with school and TAFE student getting some first-hand experiences in conservation work, and a taste of bird-watching too. Here (above) Samantha is completing a monthly ...
• The sound we were waiting for… the Growlers are calling in the Mt Burr Swamp Stage 2 restoration area! 19/09/2023
  In the July newsletter, we gave a glimpse into the hydrological restoration of wetlands in the Stage 2 area of Mt Burr Swamp, an area previously planted to blue-gums that you will see reappear in the pdf viewer below in 2023, by clicking through the four aerial images shown. More recently, I made a routine visit ...
• A surprising field photo gives a glimpse into vegetation recovery at Scale Swamp 19/09/2023
  Sam Greiner sent me a photo last month while she was out at Scale Swamp to do some bird surveys. Scale Swamp, in western Victoria, is one of the first wetland restoration projects we tackled under the Australian Government funded Biodiversity Fund Project – Wetland Restoration on Private Land project – back in 2014. The ...
• Aldinga Washpool investigations will continue thanks to a Green Adelaide Grassroots Grant 19/09/2023
  NGT’s investigations into the potential for hydrological restoration of the Aldinga Washpool commenced in early 2021, thanks to a Green Adelaide Grassroots Grant. That grant culminated in our 2022 Ecohydrological Restoration Assessment Report, which outlines several options to restore the original shape, depth and general character of this highly significant wetland on the southern margin ...

Click here for the full list of project related blogs