ONE of the enduring happy consequences of the 2022-23 flood event is the revival of Fletchers Lake near Dareton.
Last filled in 1976, the usually baron lake system was the fortunate beneficiary of a breach of the Curlwaa levee.
Wentworth Shire staff had to act quickly to mitigate rising floodwater, and made a decision to carve out a section of Old Wentworth Road to re-establish a link between Tuckers Creek and Fletchers Creek, a tributary of Fletchers Lake.
The decision allowed the lake system to burst to life as water raged along Fletchers Creek into its connected system of lakes, filling them over a three-week period.
It significantly eased pressure on the Curlwaa levee, dropping the water level by 300mm during the flood event.
To this day water remains in Fletchers Lake, as hundreds of pelicans, terns, pied stilts, crested grebes, cormorants, tea ducks and whistling kites made the unanticipated habitat their home.
“The birds had all rung up everyone and said there’s plenty of fish here,” retired irrigator and conservationist Howard Jones said.
“The place was just a mass of feeding birds, and the change in the tree canopy of these box trees, you could see through them prior to that water getting in there.
“I’ve never seen box trees seed like they have in this time, that makes me pretty optimistic that maintaining some sort of flooding regime is hugely important.”
Becoming a haven for birds, and a mecca for bird enthusiasts, Fletchers Lake was increasingly the subject of countless birdwatching excursions and photography trips.
Barrie MacMillan from Birdlife Mildura said the diversity of the wetlands attracted a spread of particularly wetland birds, as well as international migratory birds seeking a fuelling station.
“The volume includes an extended period of probably two to three months of high activity in many water birds,” Mr MacMillan said.
“The outcomes were very, very material, and would contribute to those bird populations.
“One of the features the Fletchers Lake system has is that its proximity is good to local populations.”
Describing it as “Lake Eyre without the drive”, Wentworth Shire councillor Peter Crisp helped excavate Old Wentworth Road during the flood to allow water to flow into Fletchers Creek, noting that resurfacing on the road had only been completed six days prior.
“There was a breach of the Curlwaa levee early one morning and that gave the emergency management committee the authority to close the road and open this up to take pressure off the Curlwaa levee,” Cr Crisp said.
“Circumstances meant that a local decision could be made.”
Wentworth Mayor Daniel Linklater said the rejuvenation of the lake system through happenstance had caught the attention of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.
“There is definitely strong interest from the likes of the CEWH to see this as an environmental asset going forward,” Cr Linklater said.
“What started as an exercise in problem-solving or flood mitigation resulted in an amazing environmental outcome.”
Water in the lakes is now slowly receding, as the link between Tuckers Creek and Fletchers Creek has been largely severed due to the restoration of Old Wentworth Road, with only a small pipe running under the road for drainage purposes.
Despite intentions to install a culvert and other infrastructure at the crossing when it was being repaired, Wentworth Shire was restricted in what it could do.
“Flood recovery grants only cover reconstruction back to original state, so any betterment is something that we have to plan for going forward, and council will be supportive of trying to achieve better ongoing environmental outcomes here,” Cr Linklater said.
Mr Jones said the renewed vibrancy of the oftentimes arid habitat demonstrated the need for a culvert, and more controlled and regular natural flows into the lakes system.
“I would like to see it used when we get floods somewhere around 70,000 megs a day and hopefully we can put in a structure here that can do that,” Mr Jones said.
“If you can manage the drawback when the water is flowing back to the Murray River, which we can, we’ve proved that we can do this again.
“We need some friends to help pay for it.”
