The La Trobe River is one of the most highly polluted rivers in Victoria (DCE 1991). The river annually washes several thousand tonnes of suspended sediment into Lake Wellington, mostly derived from erosion of the and river’s banks lower tributaries, but also through point-source discharges from industry and urban developments and diffuse-source discharges from agricultural activity and degradation in its highly-modified catchment (DCE 1991). The nutrient status of Lake Wellington is consequently eutrophic by OECD standards, and the biological diversity of the lake is poor, being dominated by phytoplankton (Bek and Bruton 1979, Robinson 1995). Lakes Victoria and King, the lower two lakes of the Gippsland Lakes system, are not as severely affected by pollution as Lake Wellington, due to their location and their more marine nature (Harris et al. 1998). Analysis of EPA water quality records shows no clear or marked deterioration in the water quality of these lakes since the mid-1980s. Reduced freshwater inflow from the catchment, together with the creation of a permanent opening at Lakes Entrance in 1889, has transformed what was previously a freshwater system into a marine system. Increased salinity levels cause suspended solids to flocculate and settle out, which in turn accommodate extensive beds of seagrasses, aquatic macrophytes and a rich benthic fauna (Harris et al. 1998).
The La Trobe River is one of the most highly polluted rivers in Victoria (DCE 1991). The river annually washes several thousand tonnes of suspended sediment into Lake Wellington, mostly derived from erosion of the river’s banks and lower tributaries, but also through point-source discharges from industry and urban developments and diffuse-source discharges from agricultural activity and degradation in its highly-modified catchment (DCE 1991). The nutrient status of Lake Wellington is consequently eutrophic by OECD standards, and the biological diversity of the lake is poor, being dominated by phytoplankton (Bek and Bruton 1979, Robinson 1995). Lakes Victoria and King, the lower two lakes of the Gippsland Lakes system, are not as severely affected by pollution as Lake Wellington, due to their location and their more marine nature (Harris et al. 1998). Analysis of EPA water quality records shows no clear or marked deterioration in the water quality of these lakes since the mid-1980s. Reduced freshwater inflow from the catchment, together with the creation of a permanent opening at Lakes Entrance in 1889, has transformed what was previously a freshwater system into a marine system. Increased salinity levels cause suspended solids to flocculate and settle out, which in turn accommodate extensive beds of seagrasses, aquatic macrophytes and a rich benthic fauna (Harris et al. 1998).
Gippsland-Lakes-Ramsar-Site-Strategic-Management-Plan-accessible-version.docx