AGR3RAH Essay: Dams Restoration Initiatives in Victoria, Australia

This essay explores the significance of dams in Victoria, Australia, examining their historical importance, utilization, and the issues surrounding their reconstruction and management. The essay identifies the diverse uses of dams, from agriculture to hydroelectricity, and discusses the role of government regulations and private ownership. It highlights the Elidon Dam as a case study, detailing its reconstruction efforts and the challenges faced, such as climate change, population growth, and tourism. The essay emphasizes the importance of restoration initiatives, the prospects for future dam management, and the need for effective partnerships between the government and landowners to ensure sustainable water resource management. It also includes references to relevant literature and government resources, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic, and is contributed by a student on Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools.

Dams restoration initiatives, prospects and potentials in Victoria, Australia

Introduction
Dams are useful for society; these are available in natural form, also made by human for
many purposes. Uses of dams are commonly linked to human life in agriculture and
cultivation but large dam projects operated and controlled by the commercial landowners and
government. Large dams' projects are not operating for a single purpose but these are utilised
in many ways to meet multitasking projects in different sectors. This essay aims to identify
the historical importance of dams in the state of Victoria, Australia, with discussion of their
utilisation, issues, and reconstructions with the development and changes of time, considering
the development and reconstruction activities of the Elidon Dam in Victoria. This essay aims
to include privately owned dams and reconstruction process of these dams with effective
control of the Victorian legal regulation and policies.
Use and importance of dams
Dams are reservoir of rain after filling the multipurpose activities according to their size and
capacity. Victoria has approximately 450,000 dams reflecting the importance of dams in the
living and cultivation field of the states. Uses of these dams base on their size and ownership.
Small size dams are most popular dams in Australia; along with the large size dams alone,
Victoria has dams with the storage capacity of 13,400,000ML (Assistance, grants and tenders
- Department of Agriculture, 2020). These dams have economic, political, social, and
environmental importance as commercial level, major dams of victoria aims to store the
rainwater to use it later.
Dams have important place and directly regulated and governed in the rules implemented by
the government, this direct regulation guides the owners to maintain the dams and reconstruct
them when needed. Privately owned farm dams face more issues in the management of dams,
majorly in the application of direct controlling rules laid down by the government

(Governament, 2020). ). Dams have important place and directly regulated and governed in
the rules implemented by the government, this direct regulation guides the owners to
maintain the dams and reconstruct them when needed. Privately owned farm dams face more
issues in the management of dams, majorly in the application of direct controlling rules laid
down by the government (Governament, 2020).
Characteristics of dams
Dams are made far from the crowded area to ensure the effective quality of water for the
crops and irrigation. Generation of hydroelectricity, gas-filled power stations, recreational
activities including adventures boating and fishing activities, attracting tourism industries to
invest in the development activities in near the dams, supporting the sustainable development
of nearby surrounding (Assistance, grants and tenders - Department of Agriculture, 2020).
Dams are built to control the high water flow during the rainy season and protect lives from
the flood and stored water helps the government to supply water to the household and
farming area in drought situations. Climate affect the living stock and human being storage of
water allows a positive impact over the natural climate; it helps to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions impacts for a healthy environment. Dams are designed to store and release water
according to the need, Farm dams is important in many sectors. Environment management
with the utilisation of dams is the main issue, local and state Government Issue guidelines in
partnership with the landowners to implement the rules (Arlettaz et al., 2011).
Restoration initiatives, prospects, and potentials of Elidon Dam
In the late 20th century, the state government made efforts to introduce guidelines for
partnership with farm dams' owners and private owners and department of environmental

protection, to list the mismanaged dams and target them to restore and reuse these dams after
reconstruction. Farms dams are important in many ways hence targeting them for the
reconstruction, is found an important step (Assistance, grants and tenders - Department of
Agriculture, 2020). Lake Eildon was reconstructed with the aim of effective management of
water because this water was used for many purposes (Tingey-Holyoak, 2014). Dams are
reconstructed with the aim of sustainable development of the climate and nature for the
development of living stock, urban development, and changes in the habitat. Another
successful reconstruction project in 2008, at Victoria, was introduced to manage the rural
Victorian farm's dams for the use of stored water, due to some challenges project faced issues
(Ivins, 2018). These issues were relevant to the climate changes previously occurred in the
state of Victoria for several years.
The Elidon Dam is constructed over the Goulbern river, have important place in the
utilisation of stored water for the commercial purpose and for the tourism as well. Its stored
water is used for the generation of electricity, irrigation, and supply of the pure water the
urban houses. It was built between 1915 to 1929 with the storage capacity of 377,000 ml
water in one time. Reconstruction of this dam took place in the 1951 to enlarge the capacity
of the dam to store water and use of this water to fulfil the need of commercial and
agricultural purpose. Issues causing the challenges to the reconstruction projects and Farms
Dams are related to weather changes, regular draught in the country, rapid growth in the
population result urbanisation, excessive tourism activities affect the natural climate of the
dams, and increased use of land for the cultivation and agriculture purpose affect the density
of place for the dams (Tingey-Holyoak, 2014).
Hence, plenty of issues in process of reconstruction for the farms' Dams affect the
management of dams for the utilisation and state government needs to focus deeply into
matter with effective strategic planning (Pisaniello, Burritt and Tingey-Holyoak, 2011). A

dam natural or artificial are made to hold back stored water and form a lake, water reservoir
or basin to use for multipurpose projects according to the management authorities.
Management authorities are owners of dams these are private landowners, business or
commercial landowners and government agencies (Morris, 2020).
Conclusion
Dams are important for the state of Victoria in Australia, fulfilling the multipurpose schemes
of the state and government related to livestock management, agriculture development,
hydroelectricity generation and utilisation and for any purpose. State government focus to
make effective strategies for the landowners and for their partnership relations with aim to
manage the dams and reconstruct mismanaged dams for long-term profitable return, for the
landowner, related community, and entire environment. Farm Dams aims to store water for
the long-term use in many ways, these are made for domestic purposes like irrigation, stock
for the household and the cultivation of crops and pasture. Farm dams supply water in
streams to make the effective utilisation of the stored water. Government understand their
role and impact of direct regulations on their partnerships with the dam owners, they made
efforts to find the better solution for the issues in the state, and future of the dams use and
management is very bright and positive in the state of Victoria. An effective partnership
between state government and landowners is supposed to deliver the effective reconstruction
process in the Victoria building a strong foundation for the developed community and society
in future.

References
Anon, 2020. Assistance, grants and tenders - Department of Agriculture. [online]
Agriculture.gov.au. Available at: <https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/assistance-grants-
tenders> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].
Arlettaz, R., Lugon, A., Sierro, A., Werner, P., Kéry, M. and Oggier, P., 2011. River bed
restoration boosts habitat mosaics and the demography of two rare non-aquatic
vertebrates. Biological Conservation, 144(8), pp.2126-2132.
Government, V., 2020. Dams. [online] Victoria State Government. Available at:
<https://www.water.vic.gov.au/managing-dams-and-water-emergencies/dams,> [Accessed 20
Jan. 2020].
Ivins, D., 2018. Welsh dams and reservoirs. Dams and Reservoirs, 28(3), pp.89-90.
Morris, C., 2020. Management of the environment using a combination of policy instruments:
a case study of farm dams in Victoria. [online] Hdl.handle.net. Available at:
<http://hdl.handle.net/11343/92347> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].
Pisaniello, J., Burritt, R. and Tingey-Holyoak, J., 2011. Dam safety management for
sustainable farming businesses and catchments. Agricultural Water Management, 98(4),
pp.507-516.
Tingey-Holyoak, J., 2014. Water sharing risk in agriculture: Perceptions of farm dam
management accountability in Australia. Agricultural Water Management, 145, pp.123-133.