Merri Creek Management Committee has a Catchment Programs group which develops and delivers waterway and indigenous biodiversity engagement programs. This new video, Celebrating Merri Creek's biodiversity 2016, celebrates some of the many ways that this team works with the community to experience the beauty and wonders of nearby nature in the local urban environment.

Please get in touch with us to discuss how we could support your educative goals and curious instincts about local natural areas: or (03) 9380 8199.

Hearty congratulations to the Friends of Merri Creek on the huge success of their Help the Blue-banded Bee crowd-funding campaign.  The campaign raised $25,073 which more than 66% greater than the original target of $15,000. 441 people supported the campaign which will now receive a further $15,000 from the Dept of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. The funds will be used in a project designed by Merri Creek Management Committee to establish pollination ‘stepping stones’ between endangered Matted Flax-lily populations along the Merri Creek in Fawkner and Reservoir.

 Merri Creek's Matted Flax-lily is threatened by population isolation  

See a web version of these fabulous panels which celebrate the outstanding community achievement since 1975 in transforming Merri Creek from a weed-smothered drain to a much-loved waterway running through a bushland corridor: fronts of panels (17MB file); backs of panels (9MB file).

The two metre size panels were originally displayed at libraries and other public places throughout the Merri Creek catchment over 16 months until late 2016, in celebration of MCMC's 25th Anniversary. 

Continuous public parkland and a connected trail along the entire length of Merri Creek.

This is our vision, from the confluence of the Merri with the Yarra in Clifton Hill/Abbotsford upstream to its headwaters beyond Wallan.  Currently, the much loved Merri Creek Parklands and the Merri Shared Trail only extend along a quarter of Merri Creek’s length, from the Yarra confluence to the Metropolitan Ring Road. If you want to go further north along the creek, you can’t! 

The Marran Baba Parklands concept makes up another 25% of the creek’s length, but much of its implementation is still languishing ten years after Parks Victoria released the draft plan. Meanwhile, a huge 50% of Merri Creek is waiting for a coherent park plan. To fill the gap, community groups have developed a plan for a Greater Wallan-Merri State Park from Craigieburn to Wallan. See the details of our park proposal including a map here. 

Within a two month period two industrial fires threatened  Merri waterways. In late November 2015, runoff from at a large fire at an illegally operated wood dump had serious impacts on the ecology of  Merri Creek in Somerton and 7km downstream. Then in January, a tyre recycling facility in Broadmeadows caught fire, with runoff entering upper parts of the Merlynston and Campbellfield Creeks, both tributaries of Merri Creek. In both instances, rapid response by Melbourne Water prevented more serious impacts.

Warnings were issued about contaminated water following run off from large fire in a tyre recycling yard north of Mahoneys Road in Broadmeadows, on Monday 13th January 2016. Melbourne Water advised people to avoid contact with the wetland at Jack Roper Reserve in Broadmeadows . They warned that contaminated run off from the firefighting efforts had reached the Merlynston Creek, which flows into the wetland lake, and nearby Campbellfield Creek. The runoff could be harmful to animals or humans.  Melbourne Water worked with the EPA and Yarra Valley Water to manage the run off and actively pumped out contaminated water from the creeks for a number of days. The latest news is that pumping out of the water has been successful.

Both Merlynston Creek and Campbellfield Creek are tributaries of the Merri Creek. Merri Creek Management Committee commends the prompt and successful action by Melbourne Water's crews to limit the impact of the fire runoff on local waterways of the Merri Creek catchment.

A large fire at an illegally operated wood dump in Somerton has seriously polluted Merri Creek after burning for about a week in late November 2015. MCMC and other agency staff observed dead carp and eels downstream at Bababi marning Grassland (Cooper Street). A 7km stretch of Merri Creek between Somerton and Campbellfield was heavily impacted by runoff from the fire-fighting operations. Dissolved oxygen in the water, essential for creek life, reached the unprecedented level of zero, hence the fish deaths and presumed death of most other creek life.  This section of Merri Creek is key habitat for the endangered Growling Grass Frog.

To deal with these extreme conditions,  Melbourne Water actively pumped out the polluted Merri Creek water at Barry Rd, Campbellfield and introduced clean water into the creek.  Aerators were also put in at key creek locations to improve oxygen levels.  These efforts were effective in halting the downstream spread of polluted water and in improving the water quality in the affected area. Samples have been taken to check on any residual toxicants that may have come from the fire and regular monitoring is underway.  MCMC is participating in the formal recovery planning for the creek environment, along with Hume Council, Melbourne Water, EPA and the Victorian Department of Environment Land Water & Planning.

MCMC was one of only 24 community organisations to receive funding from the Australian Government’s Department of Social Services to showcase philanthropic partnerships. MCMC received $10,000 for the project: Stepping into Print - Philanthropic Support for Engaging the Community and Moving into the Literature, which involves exploring, celebrating and sharing the outcomes of successful partnerships through a series of innovative events. In December 2015 we’ll be holding a workshop, including a Wurundjeri Welcome, by invitation only (let us know if you’re interested by email). The project is supported by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal.

Merri Creek Management Committee planned, developed and delivered a conference Inspiring Women in Environmental Science. Expert women scientists from nine environmental scientific organisations addressed over 130 high school students from four different schools at Melbourne Girls College alongside the Yarra on 18th June 2015. Read more about this conference here.

July was a great month for biodiversity and water conservation at local schools. Almost 2,300 plants were planted at Brunswick North West Primary School by nearly 1,000 of the school community, students, teachers and parents. This work has completed the transformation of a derelict part of the school’s grounds which lies above Melville Creek, buried in a drain long ago.

At Thornbury Primary School about 300 students created a Woiwurrung Garden by planting about 350 indigenous plants during NAIDOC Week. This was after the removal of a large concrete path and all non-indigenous plants.

Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) played a pivotal role in both projects. Read more here.