Progress continues to be strong on Barwon Water’s Building a Resilient Barham project, which focuses on protecting water quality and enhancing environmental resilience across the Barham River Catchment.

We have been actively working to engage the Barham River and Apollo Bay community and have attended a number of local community group meetings and events to talk about the project. These events have provided the opportunity for the community to ask questions about the project and also the broader management of the catchment.

Working closely with Southern Otway Landcare Network (SOLN) since late 2025, we have finalised our agreement with them to supply an estimated 40,000 plants needed for revegetation. SOLN will also be leading community planting days for the project and supporting Barwon Water in their community engagement work.

The Building a Resilient Barham project is also pleased to be supporting SOLN’s ‘Reimagining the Barham’ program, which will include an exhibition in April 2026 to showcase the Barham river’s ecological values and current health challenges, all shown through a creative artistic lens.

In partnership with Colac Otway Shire, the first stages of implementation of an Onsite Wastewater Management System Data Collection program in the Barham Catchment is progressing. The program will address knowledge gaps about the risks posed by domestic septic systems in the catchment, while also supporting and educating landholders on the proper maintenance of their systems.

We are very excited to be working with landholders along the Barham to design stock exclusion fencing and revegetation plans to suit their properties and farming practices, whilst protecting the Barham River. In collaboration with the landholders, we are planning to start implementing these actions over the next 12 months.

If you are interested in the Building a Resilient Barham project and would like to know how you could be involved, please contact us via email at projects@barwonwater.vic.gov.au