'Near to final' draft for independent review - 9 May 2016 Since the original UEA assessments, further work has been done to recognise the linkages between ecological functions and environmental water. Based on the ecological and hydrological information now available for the Lower Balonne and Narran Lakes UEAs, four ecological functions have been used to inform the environmental water requirement assessments and bridge from ecological values to site-specific flow indicators. These ecological functions are: vital habitat (drought refugia) - provide a refugium for native water-dependent biota during dry periods and drought longitudinal connectivity - provide connections along watercourses, including to provide a diversity of aquatic environments, and for the dispersal, migration and re-colonisation opportunities for a range of native aquatic species (e.g. fish, frogs, turtles, invertebrates) lateral connectivity - provide connections between the river, floodplains and wetlands, including providing for primary production to support the vigour of native vegetation in riparian, floodplain and wetland communities vital habitat and populations (waterbirds) - provide for a diversity of important feeding, breeding and nursery sites for waterbirds including providing conditions conducive to large-scale bird breeding. Site-specific flow indicators were selected to represent the water requirements of each of these ecological functions. Each site-specific flow indicator for the Lower Balonne River Floodplain is summarised in Table E1, and for the Narran Lakes is summarised in Table E2. The set of site-specific flow indicators, representing the environmental water requirements of a UEA, bridge the divide between understanding the inherent complexity of large eco-hydrological systems and the need to focus on key flow-ecology relationships for the practical purposes of planning and decision-making at a broad scale. The site-specific flow indicators developed in this assessment are used in a broad-scale assessment of environmental outcomes using hydrological models. The performance of these indicators under different modelled water recovery scenarios constitute one key line of evidence when assessing environmental outcomes for different possible Sustainable Diversion Limits. Other statistics from modelling, such as maximum dry spell, are also used to provide additional understanding of the expected environmental outcomes from different water recovery scenarios in the associated environmental outcomes report prepared by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority as part of the Northern Basin review. Page 4
'Near to final' draft for independent review - 9 May 2016 Since the original UEA assessments, further work has been done to recognise the linkages between ecological functions and environmental water. Based on the ecological and hydrological information now available for the Lower Balonne and Narran Lakes UEAs, four ecological functions have been used to inform the environmental water requirement assessments and bridge from ecological values to site-specific flow indicators. These ecological functions are: vital habitat (drought refugia) - provide a refugium for native water-dependent biota during dry periods and drought longitudinal connectivity - provide connections along watercourses, including to provide a diversity of aquatic environments, and for the dispersal, migration and re-colonisation opportunities for a range of native aquatic species (e.g. fish, frogs, turtles, invertebrates) lateral connectivity - provide connections between the river, floodplains and wetlands, including providing for primary production to support the vigour of native vegetation in riparian, floodplain and wetland communities vital habitat and populations (waterbirds) - provide for a diversity of important feeding, breeding and nursery sites for waterbirds including providing conditions conducive to large-scale bird breeding. Site-specific flow indicators were selected to represent the water requirements of each of these ecological functions. Each site-specific flow indicator for the Lower Balonne River Floodplain is summarised in Table E1, and for the Narran Lakes is summarised in Table E2. The set of site-specific flow indicators, representing the environmental water requirements of a UEA, bridge the divide between understanding the inherent complexity of large eco-hydrological systems and the need to focus on key flow-ecology relationships for the practical purposes of planning and decision-making at a broad scale. The site-specific flow indicators developed in this assessment are used in a broad-scale assessment of environmental outcomes using hydrological models. The performance of these indicators under different modelled water recovery scenarios constitute one key line of evidence when assessing environmental outcomes for different possible Sustainable Diversion Limits. Other statistics from modelling, such as maximum dry spell, are also used to provide additional understanding of the expected environmental outcomes from different water recovery scenarios in the associated environmental outcomes report prepared by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority as part of the Northern Basin review. Page 4