Land and Water Management

The sustainable use and protection of our catchments' natural resources requires careful management to maintain the environmental integrity of the resource and to protect Victoria's reputation as a clean, green producer.

The condition of our catchments underpins the wellbeing of all Victorians. We rely on healthy catchments for water supply, food fibre and timber production, the conservation of flora and fauna, tourism and recreation.

Dairy N Fertiliser Advisor Tool The Dairy Nitrogen Fertiliser Advisor is designed to allows farmers and their advisors to fine tune their decisions about how much nitrogen to apply to pastures in a grazing rotation.

Victoria’s Salinity Provinces Salinity Provinces provide a framework for describing land and water salinity. These are specific geographic areas where the landscape setting and physical processes contributing to salinity are similar, and where salinity management options are also similar.

Victorian Long Term Agro-ecological Experiments The Victorian Long Term Agro-ecological Experiments form a network of research sites across agro-ecological zones of rain-fed agricultural land in Victoria. Agro-ecological zones are defined combinations of soil, landform and climatic characteristics. The LTAE network includes research sites at Hamilton, Horsham, Rutherglen and Walpeup.

Internet-based Agricultural Warnings Internet-based agricultural warnings are calculated daily by Agriculture Victoria from 7-day digital forecasts provided by the Bureau of Meteorology, and give advanced warning of weather events likely to affect agricultural production.

Primary Production Landscapes of Victoria The Primary Production Landscapes of Victoria exhibit a rich variety of terrestrial ecosystems. This variety is a result of diverse terrain (from the mountains to the plains), climate (alpine to semi-arid), geology and soils.

Salinity Indicator Plants - A guide to spotting soil salting It has been estimated to cost $50 million per annum in lost agricultural production. This section provides information, using photos and descriptive text, to guide you in recognising common plants associated with saline environments.

Invasive Plants The Invasive Plants section of the VRO website provides a range of information about many weed species of relevance to Victoria. Information provided includes: maps of potential distribution and present distribution in Victoria; invasiveness assessment and impact assessment for species, and links to relevant websites for each species.

Catchment Management

Sustainable use and protection of our catchments natural resources requires careful management to maintain the environmental integrity of the resource and to protect Victoria's reputation as a clean, green producer.

Declared Special Water Supply Catchments

Many Declared Special Water Supply Catchments supply water for domestic, irrigation or other purposes within Victoria are protected under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. These catchments have significant values as a source of water supply, both for domestic and for stock and domestic use.

Land Degradation This section describes and maps: Soil Erosion Soil Degradation Ecosystem Decline Case Studies in Land Degradation Appendix Soil Erosion Committee Report February 1938 - Photo gallery Agrometeorology in Relation to the Control of Soil Erosion	Catchment Hydrology Detailed Catchment Hydrology Reports
Irrigated Agriculture This section links to: Irrigation Water Use Efficiency Benchmarking Improving Irrigation Efficiency Publications Irrigation Technology Maize Water Use Efficiency Sustainable Irrigation Program Research and Development Project Factsheets, 2006/07 State of the Art on Irrigation Farms	Salinity Management This section describes and maps: Salinity Indicator Plants History of Salinity Management Dryland Salinity Irrigation Salinity Urban Salinity Mapping and Monitoring Salinity Incidence

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

The Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem (GDE) project addresses for Victoria the first step in developing informed management action plans for protection or enhancement of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs), namely the prediction of GDE occurrence across the State.

Development of a Method to Map Sensitivity of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems In Victoria


Related Links

Water section of VRO website

Full text downloadable versions of the former Land Conservation Council's Final Recommendations for various Victorian Study Areas together with more recent Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) studies are available on the VEAC website (external link). These provide an ongoing framework for public use of land in various areas of Victoria.

A full text downloadable version of the former Land Conservation Council's Wilderness Special Investigation - Final Recommendations (Nov 1991) is available on the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council website (external link). These provide an ongoing framework for the management of wilderness areas in Victoria. The recommendations in the text have been edited to reflect government variations and amendments at the time of approval, and subsequent changes. The recommendations are grouped under Wilderness Areas and Other Areas with Remote and Natural Attributes. These are based upon their value of wilderness quality.

The Victorian Landcare and Catchment Management Magazine (external link) is available for download.