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Southern Rural Water celebrates World Tourism Day 2025 while linking people, culture, nature, and sustainable regional tourism

World Tourism Day 2025 highlights water’s role in southern Victoria, connecting people, culture, recreation, agriculture, and sustainable tourism while supporting communities, ecosystems, and Traditional Owner cultural heritage.

By news@gippsland - 22nd September 2025 - Back to News

World Tourism Day 2025 is celebrated on 27 September. This year’s theme highlights tourism’s transformative potential as an agent of positive change. Realising this potential demands more than growth alone. It requires good governance, strategic planning, robust monitoring and clear priority setting that align with long-term sustainability goals. It also requires responsible management of natural resources and that’s what we want to focus on.

World Tourism Day 2025, on 27 September, highlights tourism’s transformative potential, requiring sustainable planning, responsible resource management, and strategic governance for lasting positive change

Water connects communities

We operate seven major dams, eight diversion weirs, three irrigation districts and regulate access and use of river water and groundwater across southern Victoria. We know that water does far more than fill our storages and flow through our channels. It connects our people, places and experiences - shaping the way we live, work and play.

From families casting a line at their favourite fishing spot to visitors travelling to places where they can taste incredible produce or spot rare wildlife, water is central to how we enjoy life at home and on holiday.

It’s why we’ve invested tens of millions of dollars modernising irrigation infrastructure to save water and help boost on-farm efficiency so farmers can keep growing the produce that attract visitors from far and wide and put Victoria on the map as a global agricultural and foodie destination.

Stewarding vital water

It’s why we work with the Victorian Environmental Water Holder, catchment management authorities and Traditional Owners to ensure we keep waterways flowing and healthy, so they continue to deliver cultural connection and thriving ecosystems people love to relax and recharge in long into the future.

We take our role as a steward of southern Victoria’s water resources very seriously because we know that from recreation and tourism to farming, food and the environment, water is at the heart of what makes our region thrive. And we’d like to give you some inspiration on getting amongst all the good things sustainable water management enables.

Step into the great outdoors

Research shows that spending time outdoors is good for our mental health and well-being. Going for a walk in the bush, trying your luck with a fishing rod, taking a swim or going boating can help clear the mind and lower stress. We manage several storages you can go recharge and relax in.

• Blue Rock Lake
• Glenmaggie Lake
• Pykes Creek
• Cowwarr

Check out our recreational page for more details on what you can do and how to stay safe in the great outdoors. A good option for those who like things a little less wild but love plenty of fresh air is to go kick a footy or tee off at one the recreation facilities or businesses we supply with water.

Take a taste tour

We also manage and supply water to farmers and growers who make some of the most delicious food and wine in Victoria. Whether you’re into homemade ice cream, award winning olive oil, chemical free fruit and veggies or learning to cook with native ingredients these producers are well worth a visit.

• Lightfoot wines: renowned for their elegant drops, gorgeous cellar door and inspiring views back on to the Mitchell River and are about a 15-minute drive from Bairnsdale
• Maffra Cheese: started 40-years ago by master cheese maker Ferial Zekiman, this thriving Gippsland farm put Maffra on Australia’s foodie map. You can find her cheese at many groceries stores across the region
• Nullamunjie Olives: who knew olives grew so well in the hot climate and hungry soils around Tongio, East Gippsland. Owner Annie Patterson did and today you can taste the truth at her restaurant that welcome lunch and dinner group bookings
• Volcano Produce: Ben Pohlner grows spray free and veggies at his farm in Illowa and you can really taste the difference. Hands down the best beetroots, carrots and strawberries we’ve tasted. Stop at his farm store and treat yourself
• Picnic point apples: These guys love apples so much they’ve created their own variety called the ‘Picnic’. They turn water from the Mitchell River into fresh, crunchy, sweet fruit you can buy at the farm story just outside Bairnsdale
• The Berry Dairy: Since moving from New Zealand to Tinamba these enterprising Kiwis have been turning heads. Taste their ice cream and chill out at their cafe and you’ll see why
• Peppermint Ridge: This former cattle property has been transformed into a shining example of sustainable agriculture by two visionaries. They grow a unique array of native plants and offer cooking lessons to show people how to enjoy them

Connect with cultural heritage

Water is profoundly important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, representing a sacred source of life and a fundamental component of their spirituality, identity, and cultural practices. We are committed to supporting Traditional Owner groups with self-determination and we’re proud of our role to support access to water for cultural use.

We have worked with the Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) and granted water licences on the Mitchell River and the Tambo River, and a groundwater licence in the Buchan Munji.

Also known as Buchan Caves Reserve, Buchan Munji, is managed in partnership with Parks Victoria and offers tours of spectacular limestone formations carved by ancient underground waterways. With onsite camping and accommodation, it’s a great family getaway.

Restoring cultural flows

We’ve also worked with the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation on the Palawarra (Fitzroy River) to support returning water flows to the landscape and re-establishing traditional eel harvesting techniques in the Budj Bim cultural landscape.

A world heritage listed site with a cafe and aquaculture centre the Budj Bim cultural landscape offers cultural tours and educational experiences that provide authentic insights into this incredible Country and First Peoples heritage.

Pictures from Southern Rural Water website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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