At Victoria Creek and Tilba Tilba Lake on the NSW South Coast, many years of clearing vegetation and livestock accessing the water have caused bank erosion, sedimentation and bacterial contamination from livestock trampling the banks and faeces washing into the waterway.
As a result, the lake has received poor to fair ecological health scores compared to similar coastal lakes across New South Wales.
To improve the health of Victoria Creek and Tilba Tilba Lake, the Marine Estate Management Strategy has funded a series of rehabilitation activities since 2019, coordinated by South East Local Land Services with landowners and local Wagonga Aboriginal rangers.
These activities will have a range of social, economic and environmental benefits for the surrounding environment and landowners, with the goal of improving the system health of Victoria Creek and Tilba Tilba Lake.
Our scientists were engaged to develop a scientifically rigorous monitoring program to better understand the ecosystem health of Victoria Creek and Tilba Tilba Lake system and determine the baseline conditions for the system.