Furious landowners along the Broken Creek at Youarang have demanded more environmental flows to ensure the survival of platypus along the waterway.
Residents living along the Broken, about 50 km north east of Shepparton, say not enough is being done to restore environmental flows to the creek, and blame the installation of the Tungamah pipeline for the decline in water levels.
Since late 2006, stock and domestic water has been delivered through the pipeline instead of down the creek system.
Youarang resident Carol Rennison said the lack of water meant large numbers of wildlife had left the area.
``We had black swans, brolgas, pelicans and all sorts of other wildlife _ where have they gone?
``What we need is some environmental water to come down the creek for all the animals,'' she said.
Mrs Rennison said she felt let down by authorities managing the waterway. She said: ``They're useless, they all live in cities and towns _ they wouldn't have a clue about country people.''
Fellow resident Jenny Lawrence said the decline of habitat for the platypus was a serious problem.
``We would love to keep our platypus along the creek, but no one seems to care,'' she said.
``All we want is some water for the animals _ we don't care about anything else, we just want some water so the wildlife can survive.''
Landowners Barry Saunders and Laurie Ford's families have lived in the area for generations, and said the creek's current situation was the worst they've seen it. Mr Ford said it was frustrating their voices were not being heard where it matters.
``Every time they talk to us about a change, they're already doing it _ it's always too late for us to have our say and make any changes,'' he said.
``The (Tungamah) pipeline was forced on us _ we didn't want it but we had no choice.''
Mr Saunders , whose family has lived in the area since 1923, said he had seen the creek lose water before, but not to this level.
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority's environmental water flow co-ordinator, Geoff Earl, said future investigations would look into protecting platypus along the creek.
``Unlike the Boosey (creek), there's a feeling that there's quite a lot of platypus along the Broken,'' he said.
``What we're doing now is we're trying to get some survey work done to determine their exact numbers along the creek.''
Mr Earl said the Broken Creek now received flows from excess irrigation run-off upstream, but said no irrigation meant no environmental flows for the waterway.
``We don't see the pipeline as the problem _ we see the drought and the lack of irrigation as the problem,'' he said. ``It's not easy to send flows down the Broken at the moment _ the creek's main source is the Broken River _ and we're struggling to keep that running as it is.''
Mr Earl said there was plenty of consultation with the community before the Tungamah pipeline went in.