Transcript for Recreation and leisure workplace interview

[Speaker: Holly Westbrook]

My name is Holly Westbrook. I work for Goulburn-Murray Water as a Storage Officer in Central Vic at Cairn Curran with the Loddon Campaspe team. I started in February of this year.

What does working in water mean to you?

I've always had a passion for water and the surrounding environments. I grew up camping and fishing on the lakes, as well as boating with friends. I'm very passionate about the flora and fauna in the area, and that's what led me to working in water.

In my role, we work alongside a lot of different authorities, such as the NCCMA, which is the North Central Catchment Management Authority. We work with DEECA, local councils and shires. We also work with Better Boating Victoria and the Victorian Fisheries Authority. We all work together to create a cohesive environment for recreational visitors. That might include getting new boat ramps, toilet facilities, barbecues, picnic shelters, and anything to improve our recreational waterways.

If you love being outdoors and next to lakes and rivers, I'd highly recommend a job in water to you. It's a very hands-on career, so if that's what you like, then you'd really enjoy it. And also it's really rewarding getting to see all the work you've done being enjoyed by recreational visitors.

What do you enjoy about working with recreational water?

I'm really lucky in my job because I get to spend a lot of time outdoors in nature, which is really good for me because in my free time I like to be outdoors, boating, fishing, camping, and swimming.

I work for the Loddon Campaspe team. We manage six different storages across Victoria, which means I have a lot of travel time sometimes. On the road I get to listen to my podcasts and see all different parts of Victoria, which means no two days are the same.

How have you seen your work make a difference?

So, I've always had a passion for aquatic environments. And then after high school, that led me into doing a Bachelor of marine science. So, in that I studied a lot of aquatic flora and fauna water processes, oceanography. So, that's how water works, how it came to be, where it goes, which is all easily transferred over into my job with Goulburn-Murray Water, working in recreational water.

I work alongside senior storage officers and project managers at Goulburn-Murray Water, working on projects such as flood recovery following the 2022 floods, as well as maintenance projects at Picnic Point, Cairn Curran. At the moment, we've just put in a new boat ramp to improve recreational fishing access. With the boat ramp project, we actually did it all ourselves, all the concreting, the rock drainage next to it and all the posts and it was really rewarding seeing the finished project. I actually can't wait to use it myself because I love fishing.

Why is recreation an important part of our waterways?

Leisure and recreation in waterways is great for communities. It brings people together. It improves mental health. It also brings in tourism. When people come in to use our recreational waterways, they also go to restaurants and shops, which is great for social and financial benefits for smaller towns in regional Victoria. Also, getting families and kids out into these environments is really important. because when they come out here and form a bond and a love with the area, it means that they're going to be more willing to protect it in the future and create a sustainable future for our waterways.