The launch of this centre could not have come at a better time as the condition of nearly 80 per cent of Victoria’s waterways is severely declining.

Scientists at the new research centre - Victorian Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management (CAPIM) – have developed novel techniques to identify and manage previously undetected pollutants and overcome limitations in current monitoring techniques.

In the past, scientists faced significant challenges when attempting to monitor aquatic pollutant levels including an inability to distinguish where the pollutant is coming from and an inability to measure pollutants at a variety of concentrations. CAPIM will use highly sophisticated monitoring approaches broadly based around macroinvertebrates and biomarkers to tackle Victoria’s aquatic pollution problem head-on.

CAPIM CEO Dr Vincent Pettigrove believes that drought, climate change, the increasing human population and demands on our water resources mean that we face great challenges to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems.

“Pollution is a major threat to these systems, but currently it is difficult to know what effect pollution has on aquatic ecosystem health, what specific pollutants are causing stress and what can be done to reduce pollution impacts.  CAPIM brings together world-class researchers to use available technologies and develop new ways to isolate pollution impacts,” says Dr Pettigrove.

 “We didn’t have the right tools to be able to identify certain toxins, but the new monitoring approaches developed at CAPIM allow us to measure chemicals that have never been measured before.”

“CAPIM brings together a wide range of expertise to tackle our aquatic pollution problem - zoologists, entomologists, geneticists, chemists and ecotoxicologists are all members of the team,” says Professor Ary Hoffmann, the Research Director of CAPIM.

“The Centre provides an opportunity for partners to develop new research tools for monitoring pollution and identifying remediation strategies in waterways using the latest chemical detection methods and new biological approaches that take advantage of rapid advances in DNA and protein technologies. The research team will work to provide a deep understanding of pollution problems in freshwater and estuarine systems.”

The Centre will be led by the University of Melbourne with the main research centre housed in the Bio 21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, working with experts from Melbourne Water, the Department of Primary Industries (Vic), Environment Protection Authority (Vic), and RMIT.

In addition to environmental benefits associated with healthier waterways, Victoria is likely to benefit economically as well. Victoria's inland waterways and estuaries provide an estimated $368 million of benefits a year as a source of recreational activities such as fishing, water sports and camping, with river-dependent tourism and fishing expenditure worth an additional $533 million a year.

The Centre will receive $2.94 million of Victorian Science Agenda Investment Funding over three years from 2010 with additional funding being contributed by partners Melbourne Water, DPI Victoria and EPA Victoria.

The first scientific results on the health of some of our waterways are expected to be release in the upcoming months.