River regulation and climate change have interrupted many of the natural river and wetland processes needed for native plants and animals to survive and thrive. 

Environmental water is released into some of these rivers and wetlands to improve their health. However, existing river operating rules currently limit how much water can be delivered to enable higher river flows and small overbank flows into low-lying floodplains and wetlands. 

In 2012 the Murray Darling Basin Plan was developed to protect and restore the health of the Basin's environmental values, in a way that balances environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations.  

^{Ventia's Environmental Services team is responsible for installing streamflow and rainfall gauges in the Goulburn river system.}

Restoring the health of the Goulburn River is part of this plan and has been put forward by the Victorian Government as a project to address obstacles in delivering environmental water. These projects are called constraints measures. 

Ventia's Environmental Services team contributed to planning and is responsible for installing streamflow and rainfall gauges in the river system to broaden the coverage of the existing hydrometric network. 

Three streamflow and 10 rainfall gauge sites are being installed and commissioned by Ventia to provide important information for the calibration of rainfall run-off and streamflow forecasting, and support ongoing management of river operations. 

^{Streamflow and rainfall gauge sites are being installed and commissioned by Ventia to provide important information for the calibration of rainfall run-off and streamflow forecasting.}

The Ventia team also completed a 200km bathymetry survey on the Goulburn River between Lake Eildon and Nagambie in Victoria, providing critical information for flow behaviour simulation to help develop understanding of the river's capacity at different flow levels. 

Ventia's General Manager for Environmental Services, Adam Fletcher, said his team are proud to deliver essential services for our Local Government, Catchment Management and Water regulatory authorities responsible for managing and supplying one of Australia's most important agricultural regions.

^{The Ventia team completed a 200km bathymetry survey on the Goulburn River to help develop understanding of the river's capacity at different flow levels.}