Region Profile
The Mallee Catchment Management Authority (CMA) region covers approximately 3.9 million hectares--almost one-fifth of Victoria. The regional population is approximately 65,000 people with the major urban centre being Mildura. Smaller towns in the region include Ouyen, Red Cliffs, Merbein, Irymple, Murrayville, Hopetoun, Rainbow, Birchip, Sea Lake, Robinvale and Nyah.
The City of Mildura has recorded strong population growth over the past five years. However, many rural municipalities in the Mallee region have suffered population declines. This has an impact on the number of volunteers available in communities for Landcare and other voluntary groups.
The region comprises the local government boundaries of Mildura Rural City Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council, West Wimmera Shire, Hindmarsh Shire, Buloke Shire, Yarriambiack Shire and Gannawarra Shire.
The Mallee CMA's main office is based at Mildura, but staff are also located at Ouyen, Swan Hill, Murrayville, Manangatang and Birchip.
Under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, Victoria is divided into ten catchment regions and a catchment management authority is established for each region. The basic structure of CMAs is to maximise community involvement in decision-making.
The concept of integrated catchment management underpins sustainable management of land and water resources and contributes to biodiversity management.
To achieve the resource condition outcomes of the Mallee Regional Catchment Strategy 2003-08, a wide range of environmental projects are delivered directly, through service providers, land and water managers (public and private) and contractors.
Projects address a range of priority natural resource management issues including river health, dryland salinity, environmental flows, threatened species, biodiversity and wetland management.