Dowd Morass presents a formidable challenge for wetland managers to rehabilitate. It is a high-value (Ramsar-listed) wetland and so needs to be managed appropriately. Yet it suffers from the chronic salinisation that occurred soon after the Gippsland Lakes were linked with a permanent entrance to the Southern Ocean at Lakes Entrance in the late nineteenth century. This article discusses the project that demonstrated the ecological benefits that can accrue from a carefully considered and implemented manipulation of water regimes.