The Macorna Channel as it heads down to the Loddon River.....but where's the water ?



There it is, kept back by the new remote controlled regulator.



Upsteam of the Macorna channel is the Gilmour Lane Bridge , and this is what the river looks like here. Note the saplings growing in the river bed which suggest to me that the river hasn't flowed for quite a number of years.



This is viewed from the south side of the Gilmour Lane bridge


Further upstream as one crosses over the river on the Wren road bridge, a small pool of water is visible through the snag pile and the frogs can be heard. Sadly, no fish are present as the river totally dried up a few short yrs ago in the height of the drought.



Near Hewitt Road in Gannawarra Shire there are also remnant pools but sadly the water is stagnant and Algea blooms are dominant, Frogs don't seem to mind that much. Pity the fish weren't as resiliant.





The local irrigation channels don't seem to have the same issue with water supply that the river does. Even though there is no draw down at this time of year the irrigation channels all seem to be rather full and there are new solar panelled, remote controlled regulators that are being installed on most channels. It seems to be that this upgrade works are all part of the system works to make the irrigation system more efficient and controllable.

On the Boort Pyramid road, a bit further south and upstream the river is crossed and this is what it looks like there.

The water you see in these pools is probably from the local rains that have fallen in the last couple of months and not from any release from the weir upstream.

And this is the total amount of water being (mistakenly) released from the Fernihurst weir. It seems as though the gate can't seal off all the water though a faulty gate rather than a controlled outfall.

And yep, thats all the water flowing down the lower loddon, it probably gets soaked up in the first few hundred metres, but believe it or not,

this little fella came out of one of the last pools just below the weir wall and goes to show the resilience of these native fish that once were so prevalent throughout this system. Not just golden perch existed in this reach from Fernihurst to Kerang, but anecdotal evidence is that Cod also existed prior to the water drying up.