CHEERS erupted from the crowd as Premier Daniel Andrews held down the button to release 5000 megalitres of water into Lake Toolondo on Saturday.
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Champagne corks popped as Wimmera people and the recreational fishing community celebrated the rescue package for the lake, where storage levels have languished at 16 per cent.
One of the central protagonists in the community-led fight to secure the water was Toolondo spokesman Trevor Holmes.
Addressing a crowd of Wimmera residents and keen anglers, he stressed the importance of the move to communities that were boosted by recreational waterways.
‘‘On behalf of the Toolondo community, you’ve put life back into Toolondo,’’ he said.
‘‘Look at these people, they love this place – this is what we’re all about.’’
Mr Holmes said he had battled to keep the water allocation a secret after finding out about it.
‘‘I was very excited – it was a great result for Toolondo,’’ he said.
‘‘It is very hard to contain yourself and hold onto news when you get it a little bit early, but we had to keep everyone at bay.’’
Mr Holmes said it was a fantastic result.
‘‘It’s going to be a very sustainable fishery from here on in,’’ he said. ‘‘I think we’ll get some back-up stock in the middle of next year.
‘‘There’s obviously going to be that year’s void between the two restockings, but in the long-term it’s going to be a great investment by the Labor government and it’s just a massive result.’’
Mr Holmes said the future was bright for Toolondo and he hoped the water allocation would spark growth in the town.
‘‘As a lot of people know, Toolondo’s not only known Victoria-wide or Australia-wide – it’s known internationally,’’ he said.
‘‘It should be promoted because it’s an iconic waterway with unprecedented growth rates and needs to be sustained, it’s only commonsense.’’
Mr Holmes paid tribute to a wide range of people from the community and recreational fishing circles who had played a part in the battle to get water for Lake Toolondo.
‘‘It’s been a massive team effort – I’ve only sort of been the person up front of it,’’ he said.
