Coordinator Catch-up

EstuaryWatch Coordinator: Matt Khoury, West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority

What is your role at the Catchment Management Authority?

Waterway Projects Officer

What excites you the most about the EstuaryWatch and Waterwatch programs?

Working with the volunteers/community and other Coordinators.

What is one of your most memorable community monitoring events?

Estuaries Unmasked ‘Off the Hook’ tour of the Powlett Catchment. This was an electrofishing and macro sampling tour of the Powlett Catchment, starting at the coast and moving upstream. It involved Waterwatch and EstuaryWatch Community Monitors, Landcare, and a wide range of other stakeholders (more than 50), looking at the effect of catchment health on aquatic species diversity and abundance.

What role has your local waterway taken in your life?

My local waterway has generated a huge interest and passion for all things waterways, in particular the biota they that rely on it for survival.

What do you wish other people knew about community monitoring programs like EstuaryWatch and Waterwatch?

I would love other people to know how important our local waterways are in supporting life, and how crucial Waterwatch and EstuaryWatch are in connecting people to and improving their knowledge and understanding of, their local waterways.