The Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Coordinating Committee (UMCCC) progressively formed during the 1990s as an interjurisdictional body supported by the NSW government’s Total Catchment Management program. By 1996, UMCCC formed a subcommittee of the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Committee (a precursor to the Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority, now part of South East Local Land Services) and provided an opportunity for natural resource management practitioners in both the ACT and the surrounding areas of NSW to contribute to planning and landscape management at a catchment scale.
While the focus of UMCCC was to facilitate coordination and collaboration between natural resource management practitioners across borders, there has been a history of leading strategic projects that have had wide ranging and long lasting impact. The early focus for UMCCC was the management of vegetation across the catchment and one of the key outputs was a Regional Willow Management Strategy. This was first produced in 1998, revised in 2010, and continues to provide the guiding document for NSW and ACT governments on willow management in the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment. In 2010 UMCCC brought together stakeholders and the wider Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment community to develop the Actions for Clean Water Plan (2012) (ACWA) following a series of high turbidity events in the upper Murrumbidgee River. This plan provided a catchment wide prioritisation of actions to help improve water quality in the catchment.
Between 2013 and 2016 UMCCC underwent significant changes with a loss of funding to support the operation of the organisation. UMCCC members shouldered the administrative roles and the organisation operated on a volunteer basis. During this time, the organisation gained independence and strength of purpose as a community-based network and in 2016, the name was changed to Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment Network (UMCN).
Nearly ten years on, we’ve grown into a strong and effective network, continuing to champion natural resources management across the catchment. Building on our early work, we remain committed to collaboration, practical solutions, and advocating for healthy waterways and resilient landscapes.
We extend our gratitude to the ACT Government and the ACT & Region Catchment Management Coordination Group for their generous support, which has been instrumental in advancing our network of many years.
