During 2014-15 LTIM progress reports on Commonwealth environmental watering actions were provided to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office in September 2014 (Watts 2014), December 2014 (Watts 2014b) and March 2015 (Watts 2015). The LTIM progress reports, combined with regular meetings of the Edward Wakool Operations Advisory Group and feedback from local community representatives throughout 2014-15, informed the planning of Commonwealth environmental water use in the Edward-Wakool system during 2015-16. The ten recommendations below include, where applicable, a note to indicate if the recommendation has been applied (as at 31 October 2015) in the 2015-16 use of Commonwealth environmental water in the Edward-Wakool system (commenced on 4 September 2015). In summary, the ten recommendations are to: Increase the duration of the recession of environmental watering actions, Avoid long periods of constant flows, Consider a of shifting the focus of the delivery of environmental water from Yallakool Creek to the Wakool River, Consider the delivery of base environmental flows during autumn and winter to promote the temporal availability and continuity of instream habitat, Continue to include a water use option in planning that enables Commonwealth environmental water to be used to mitigate adverse water quality events, Set watering action objectives that identify the temporal and spatial scale at which the response is expected, Consider the implementation of a short duration environmental flow in late winter/spring 2016 at a higher discharge than the current constraint of 600 ML/day, Consider the implementation of an environmental watering action in the Edward to target golden perch and silver perch spawning, Undertake comprehensive flows assessment for the smaller creeks and rivers of the Edward-Wakool system, and with other management agencies and the community to maximise the benefits of Commonwealth environmental watering actions. Recommendation 1. Increase the duration of the recession of Commonwealth environmental watering actions relative to the Yallakool Creek environmental watering actions in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
During 2014-15 LTIM progress reports on Commonwealth environmental watering actions were provided to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office in September 2014 (Watts 2014), December 2014 (Watts 2014b) and March 2015 (Watts 2015). The LTIM progress reports, combined with regular meetings of the Edward Wakool Operations Advisory Group and feedback from local community representatives throughout 2014-15, informed the planning of Commonwealth environmental water use in the Edward-Wakool system during 2015-16. The ten recommendations below include, where applicable, a note to indicate if the recommendation has been applied (as at 31 October 2015) in the 2015-16 use of Commonwealth environmental water in the Edward-Wakool system (commenced on 4 September 2015). In summary, the ten recommendations are to: Increase the duration of the recession of environmental watering actions, Avoid long periods of constant flows, Consider a of shifting the focus of the delivery of environmental water from Yallakool Creek to the Wakool River, Consider the delivery of base environmental flows during autumn and winter to promote the temporal availability and continuity of instream habitat, Continue to include a water use option in planning that enables Commonwealth environmental water to be used to mitigate adverse water quality events, Set watering action objectives that identify the temporal and spatial scale at which the response is expected, Consider the implementation of a short duration environmental flow in late winter/spring 2016 at a higher discharge than the current constraint of 600 ML/day, Consider the implementation of an environmental watering action in the Edward to target golden perch and silver perch spawning, Undertake comprehensive flows assessment for the smaller creeks and rivers of the Edward-Wakool system, and with other management agencies and the community to maximise the benefits of Commonwealth environmental watering actions. Recommendation 1. Increase the duration of the recession of Commonwealth environmental watering actions relative to the Yallakool Creek environmental watering actions in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
edward-wakool-2014-15-ltim-technical-report.docx