Victoria's inland waterway and estuary health will be the focus of a research centre officially launched at Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne on 17 June by The Hon. Gavin Jennings, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Innovation.

The Victorian Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management (CAPIM) will take a novel approach to tackling aquatic pollution in Victoria's inland waters and estuaries and will benefit waterway health and biodiversity.

The centre will also help the industrial and rural sectors to better manage the environmental impact of their water‐dependent activities.

CAPIM CEO Dr Vincent Pettigrove believes that drought, climate change, the increasing human  population and demands on our water resources means 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 contribution pollution has on aquatic ecosystem health, what specific pollutants are causing stress and what can be done to reduce pollution impacts," Dr Pettigrove says. "CAPIM brings together world class researchers to use available technologies and develop new techniques to isolate pollution impacts," 

CAPIM Research Director, Prof Ary Hoffmann, says "CAPIM 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 includes ecologists, chemists, and ecotoxicologists working on common problems, sharing information and providing 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 Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, working with experts from the Melbourne Water, Department of Primary Industries (Vic), Environment Protection Authority (Vic), and RMIT.

CAPIM 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. Read the media release. Read more about CAPIM.