Millewa Forest Project

Part of the NSW Government’s Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) program, the Millewa Forest Project aims to improve the efficiency of environmental water delivery to enhance ecological outcomes for the forest, which is located within Murray Valley National Park.

About Millewa Forest

Located on the traditional lands of the Bangerang and Yorta Yorta people, Millewa Forest is a culturally significant area for First Nations communities. The forest precinct covers approximately 38,000 hectares between the townships of Tocumwal, Mathoura and Deniliquin on the Murray River floodplain.

Together with the Barmah Forest in Victoria, it forms the largest river red gum forest in Australia and is listed under the Ramsar convention on wetlands as an internationally significant breeding site for water birds. Millewa Forest is home to several significant species and ecological communities which rely on regular flows of water into their habitats to survive.

About the project

The project will deliver a number of works packages to improve water delivery to important forest habitats while also helping to create conditions to support the naturally occurring wet and dry cycles of the floodplain environment. This will support several endangered native species, including birds, fish and aquatic flora.

The project aims to:

• increase environmental flows from east to west of the system enabling small-bodied fish to better migrate for breeding and feeding
• improve the ability to target environmental water flows and reduce unseasonal flooding
• provide a drought refuge (areas that remain permanently wet) for floodplain vegetation
• improve the ability to manage water levels in Moira Lake to better reflect seasonal variations
• support the ecological habitats of endangered species including the Australasian Bittern.

Project details

The project works will lower the commence to flow levels at specific sites and enable more water to be transferred to floodplain areas during periods of lower water flow in the main River Murray channel. These works include:

• replacing the Moira Lake regulator with a new structure enabling fish passage
• refurbishing the Little Edwards River Offtake Regulator to restore fish migration pathways
• replacing Nestrons and Pinchgut regulators to improve fish passage to and from the floodplain
• replacing the Bullatale Creek Irrigation Supply Channel offtake and regulator to improve fish passage and east-west flow in the Aratula and Toupna creek systems while maintaining the existing water supply and delivery for water users.

Stakeholder and community engagement

We are committed to working together with stakeholders to design and deliver the best possible results for the region and its communities.

We have engaged extensively with communities and stakeholders to progress the project through the planning and design phases. We will continue to keep communities and stakeholders informed as the project moves into construction.

Upcoming engagement opportunities will be listed on this webpage and on our have your say page.

Engagement with First Nations people

We recognise and acknowledge the unique relationship and deep Connection-to-Country First Nations people have as the Traditional Owners and first peoples of Australia.

The wisdom and experience of local First Nations communities plays a critical role in informing the approach to and development of the project.

We have worked closely with First Nations representatives to complete Aboriginal cultural heritage studies of the project sites. Informed by these studies, we will have First Nations representatives on site during construction to monitor works and ensure cultural artefacts are preserved and protected.