Printer friendly PDF (156Kb)

1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose and content of this Foundation Report

The main purpose of this Foundation Report is to provide a synthesis of knowledge on each of the six significant ecological assets (SEAs) targeted in the First Step Decision of The Living Murray (see Table 1.1). This introductory chapter gives a brief account of how the First Step Decision came about and what it involves. The following chapters (one for each of the six SEAs) detail relevant knowledge about the assets. This information was a major part of the resource base that informed the First Step Decision.

This Foundation Report concentrates on the biophysical characteristics of the SEAs. The chapters on each SEA generally provide a greater volume of information on vegetation compared to other aspects of the biophysical environment. Although not the primary focus of this report, the SEAs have social, economic and cultural values.

Each chapter contains an account of the scientific understanding of the SEA, and includes the most up-to-date research available at the time of preparation of this Foundation Report. Also included is information about opportunities for actions that may contribute to improve the health of each Asset. This report complements (and therefore does not review) the interim report of the Scientific Reference Panel, which used scientific knowledge of the river to undertake hydrological and ecological modelling that predicted the likely ecological effects of certain flow management scenarios. The report may also be of benefit in assisting to identify research needs that can help to fill gaps or reduce uncertainty in our understanding of the SEAs.

For each SEA this Foundation Report:

• provides a description of environmental values;

• discusses the evidence for change in environmental condition;

• identifies hydrological and other factors that are believed to have changed, or are in the process of changing, the environmental condition;

• provides a preliminary indication of potential opportunities with regard to how flow management and structural and operational options can be integrated to achieve the expected ecological outcomes from the First Step Decision.

There will be opportunities to build on our ecological understanding at the SEAs through monitoring responses of environmental actions in the future.

1.2 Ministerial Council First Step Decision, November 2003

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1 - Location of the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003).

Figure 1.1);

• statements of specific ecological objectives and outcomes for each SEA;

• to achieve these objectives through:

- recovering water, built to an average 500 GL/year of `new' water after five years, with the volume to be used each year depending on a range of factors such as droughts and flood events;

- funding commencing from 1 July 2004; under the $500 million to address water over-allocation in the Basin announced by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG);

- realignment of the previously announced capital works program of an additional $150 million to effectively manage the water to the six SEAs;

• an adaptive management approach (learning by doing) and;

• a commitment to identifying opportunities for Indigenous partnerships in planning and management under The Living Murray.

1.3 Background to the First Step Decision

In early 2002 Council established The Living Murray (TLM) in response to substantial evidence that the River Murray system is degraded, and its concern that this degradation threatens the Basin's agricultural industries, communities, natural and cultural values, and national prosperity. Council has built its knowledge base on these issues. It has also engaged the community to promote discussion of the issues and increase mutual understanding of them.

The vision of TLM, agreed in April 2002 by Council (MDBMC, 2002), is:

a healthy River Murray System, sustaining communities and preserving unique values.

Over the next decade, Council expects to see a healthier river, a more prosperous and sustainable irrigation sector, and more efficient water resource management (MDBMC, 2003b).

At its May 2003 meeting (MDBMC, 2003b), Council agreed that TLM should be underpinned by the following higher level principles:

• action will be taken to restore a healthy working river system;

• action taken will be fair and reasonable;

• a range of measures will be used in an integrated and adaptive manner; and

• there will be both government and community responsibilities for TLM decisions and outcomes.

The First Step Decision marks the beginning of an important practical step forward in the process of returning the River Murray to the status of a healthy working river.

1.4 Initial focus on the six SEAs

The initial focus of the First Step Decision is on achieving outcomes at each of the six SEAs. These assets have been identified as possessing exceptionally high environmental, cultural, social and economic values. Although the SEAs have high conservation value, through time they have suffered decline in some ecological values and are currently under threat of further decline due to river regulation and other factors. The aim of the First Step Decision is to address the decline in these SEAs as part of a larger contribution to establishing a healthy working river.

The six SEAs embody the River Murray's distinctive character (Table 1.1). The four wetland-forest assets are prime examples of what is perhaps the most recognizable vegetation type of the River Murray system - River red gum forest communities close to the river margins and in wetland systems flooded every one to three years. Black box is also highly valued, and it occurs in association with such sites, but on higher land. Many other vegetation communities can be found in these areas, having high ecological and aesthetic values. The channels, depressions, water, food supply and vegetation provide the basis of ideal habitat for wetland biota.

The Ramsar Convention recognises internationally significant wetlands. (Ramsar Convention Bureau 1997). Ramsar sites are characterised by wetlands that are rare or unique, or that are important for conserving biological diversity including habitat which supports high numbers of waterbirds. The six identified SEAs are all Ramsar sites, except for the New South Wales part of Chowilla, Lindsay- Wallpolla Islands and the River Murray Channel. Lindsay Island is listed as Nationally Important in 'A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia' (DEH 2001).

Table 1.1 - Description of main features of the six SEAs. Source: (MDBC, 2003a).

Significant ecological asset	Description of significant ecological asset
Barmah-Millewa Forest	• The Barmah-Millewa Forest covers an area over 66,000 hectares. • The Barmah Forest is a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and the Millewa Forest is included in the NSW Central Murray State Forests Ramsar site. • The Barmah-Millewa Forest provides habitat for numerous threatened plant and animal species, including birds, fish and reptiles, and supports colonies of breeding waterbirds during appropriate seasonal conditions. • The Barmah-Millewa Forest provides habitat for numerous threatened plant and animal species, including birds, fish and reptiles, and supports colonies of breeding waterbirds during appropriate seasonal conditions. • The Barmah-Millewa Forest provides habitat for numerous threatened plant and animal species, including birds, fish and reptiles, and supports colonies of breeding waterbirds during appropriate seasonal conditions. • The forest has strong social and cultural meaning for Indigenous groups of the region.
Hattah Lakes	• Hattah Lakes is part of the 48,000 hectare Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, which contains 17 freshwater lakes. It is a site with international, national and state significance. • It is part of a Biosphere Reserve and is Ramsar listed, used by migratory birds listed under the JAMBA, CAMBA and Bonn conventions. • It has a significantly diverse range of wetlands, which means it can support a very diverse array of flora and fauna and has good Red gum communities. • The area is significant culturally for indigenous peoples.
Chowilla Floodplain (including the Lindsay-Wallpolla system)	• Chowilla Floodplain has an area of 17,700 hectares. It retains much of the area's natural character and attributes. • It is part of the South Australian Riverland area which is designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, and is also recognised as being nationally significant. • It has a high diversity of vegetation communities and contains wetlands in a semi-arid environment. • The Lindsay-Wallpolla floodplains comprise almost 20,000 hectares of floodplain with a high diversity of vegetation communities and native fish populations, and support many species of threatened biota. Lindsay Island is listed as a Wetland of National significance. • The area is significant culturally for indigenous peoples
Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes	• The Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes, covering an area of about 140,000 hectares, are nationally significant wetland areas also recognised as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. • It is one of the ten major areas for large concentrations of waders in Australia, and one of the few south of the Tropic of Capricorn. • Thirty-three of the bird species present in the area are listed under international treaties. • With some 78 species of marine and freshwater fish inhabiting the area it is an important nursery and feeding area for key commercial and non-commercial fish species. • The Coorong, which is 140 km in length, has been ranked within the top six most significant waterbird sites in Australia based on the diversity and abundance of species found there. • The area represents significant intrinsic value for the broader community and has strong spiritual and cultural meaning for Indigenous peoples.
River Murray Channel	• The River Murray holds iconic status and is arguably the nation's most important river. • The River Murray Channel is the `main artery' of the River Murray System and forms the link between forest, floodplain, wetland and estuarine assets. • It provides in-stream habitat for many aquatic plants and animals, including the Murray cod and other threatened species (e.g., trout cod, Murray hardyhead). • Its banks support River red gum forests, which have strong natural and indigenous cultural values and provide the aesthetic backdrop for the river and human activities associated with it.

1.5 Objectives and expected outcomes of the First Step Decision

Council has specified interim ecological objectives and expected outcomes for each SEA (Table 1.2). These expected outcomes have yet to be re-stated as hypotheses, and more work is required to further develop the detail of the objectives. Management arrangements at the SEAs will be focused on delivering these objectives

Table 1.2 - Interim ecological objectives, and expected outcomes for the six SEAs. Source: MDBC (2003a).

Significant Ecological Asset	Interim ecological objectives	Expected outcomes
BarmahMillewa Forest	• Enhance forest, fish and wildlife values.	• Successful breeding of thousands of colonial waterbirds in at least three years in ten. • Healthy vegetation in at least 55% of the area of the forest (including virtually all of the Giant Rush, Moira Grass, River red gum Forest, and some River red gum Woodland).
• Successful breeding of thousands of colonial waterbirds in at least three years in ten. • Healthy vegetation in at least 55% of the area of the forest (including virtually all of the Giant Rush, Moira Grass, River red gum Forest, and some River red gum Woodland).
• Successful breeding of thousands of colonial waterbirds in at least three years in ten. • Healthy vegetation in at least 55% of the area of the forest (including virtually all of the Giant Rush, Moira Grass, River red gum Forest, and some River red gum Woodland).
• Successful breeding of thousands of colonial waterbirds in at least three years in ten.	• Restore the aquatic vegetation zone in and around at least 50% of the lakes to increase fish and bird breeding and survival. • Increase successful breeding events of threatened colonial water birds to at least two in ten years (Spoonbills, Little, Intermediate and Great egrets, Night herons and Bitterns). • Increase the population size of and breeding events of the endangered Murray hardyhead, Australian smelt, Gudgeons and other wetland fish.
Chowilla Floodplain (including the Lindsay Wallpolla system)	• Maintain high biodiversity values of the Chowilla Floodplain.	• High value wetlands maintained. • Current area of River red gum maintained. • At least 20% of the original area of Black box vegetation maintained.
Murray Mouth, Coorong and Lower Lakes	• A healthier Lower Lakes and Coorong estuarine environment.	• Open Murray mouth. • More frequent estuarine fish spawning. • Enhanced migratory wader bird habitat in the Lower Lakes.
River Murray Channel	• To increase the frequency of higher flows in spring that are ecologically significant. • To overcome barriers to migration of native fish species between the sea and Hume Dam. • To maintain current levels of channel stability.	• Expanded ranges of many species of migratory fishes. • Similar levels of channel erosion to those currently.

While much is known about how to achieve positive outcomes from environmental flows, there is no single `best' approach that can be applied free of uncertainty. For the First Step Decision, Council has directed that this improvement will be achieved through an adaptive management process.

Adaptive management uses a `learning by doing' approach to expand knowledge and use the analytical capability developed in the past so that management in the future is progressively `smarter'. Adaptive management is often represented as a feedback loop to emphasise the closing of the management cycle, primarily by evaluation and reassessment of the situation. This is an important transition from linear thinking in management and planning.

Under an adaptive management philosophy, management is involved in development of `best-practice', rather than passively adopting new technologies when they become available (Walters and Holling, 1991).

Learning by doing is based on reasonable and testable hypotheses regarding what might happen. There is a need to state hypotheses clearly so that they can be examined and tested in a scientific way. If the experiments are not properly set up and monitored, there may limited opportunities top build our knowledge. Fortunately, the considerable investment made in research on the River Murray SEAs has rewarded us with a solid knowledge base. This information can be put to use to frame new hypotheses regarding management-scale problems.

To support implementation of the First Step Decision, much of the monitoring in The Living Murray will assess ecological response to environmental management actions (e.g., floodplain watering). The monitoring conducted at each SEA will be tailored to collect data that relates to the specific benefits expected at each asset. Before an intervention, environmental managers will develop hypotheses on what they expect to happen from an intervention (for example, the operation of structures such as fishways, or the watering of floodplain areas). Data will be collected to test these hypotheses, and subsequently refine how water is delivered to meet the environmental demands if required.

1.6 The health of the River Murray System

Figure 1.3 - Conceptual model of the trend of health in the River Murray System. Based on Jones, et al. (2002).

View enlarged image

Figure 1.3 - Conceptual model of the trend of health in the River Murray System. Based on Jones, et al. (2002).

There is evidence for a decline in ecological condition of the River Murray in general (Thoms et al., 2000). The Expert Reference Panel (ERP, a panel of scientists providing advice to the April 2002 Council meeting) indicated that:

• the overall health of the River is in decline;

• it could no longer be considered healthy; and

• it could only be restored to healthy with `major improvements to river management' (Jones et al., 2002)p1000695" id="wp1000695">

• the overall health of the River is in decline;

• it could no longer be considered healthy; and

• it could only be restored to healthy with `major improvements to river management' (Jones et al., 2002)p1000695" id="wp1000695">

• the overall health of the River is in decline;

• it could no longer be considered healthy; and

• it could only be restored to healthy with `major improvements to river management' (Jones et al., 2002)p1000695" id="wp1000695">

• the overall health of the River is in decline;

Improvement in the overall health of the River Murray should be a natural consequence of the cumulative benefits of numerous short-term and local-scale events. Measurement of the longer-term and broader-scale change in river health will be achieved through monitoring programs. Another vital source of information on the health of the Murray is the wealth of local and historical knowledge on offer from people living within river communities, such as recreational fish catch data.

1.7 The types of opportunities available to achieve outcomes for the six SEAs

The River Murray system has been managed for decades to deliver economic, social, cultural and ecological outcomes. There is a wealth of knowledge regarding the opportunities and mechanisms available to assist with achievement of the expected outcomes of the First Step Decision. Some of the opportunities involve new ways of operating existing infrastructure and others involve building new or modified structures. The six SEAs are located in different parts of the river system, and each asset has particular physical characteristics and ecological needs. Together, these factors determine the types of opportunities that can be implemented at each SEA (Table 1.2).

The various generic management opportunities that are available at each SEA (Table 1.2) can be broadly linked to the objectives of the First Step Decision. However, most of these opportunities will help realize several objectives, and are interrelated, such that a certain objective may require that a combination of opportunities is implemented. The links are complex, being inferred from a mixture of conceptual understanding of processes and responses, and empirical observations. The adaptive management process will refine the understanding of these links.

Potential flow related actions that could be used to contribute to meeting the objectives of the First Step Decisions include;

• Enhanced natural freshes/floods;

• Variability in bulk water transfers;

• Weir manipulation;

• Wetland watering using infrastructure;

• Asset specific operations;

• Variation in regulated releases; and

• Pre-release operations.

Other non-flow related actions that could be undertaken include:

• Groundwater/Salinity management;

• Resnagging; and

• Fishways

Return to top of page