up to 1599 GL of Commonwealth water committed for use in 2016–17 against regulated entitlements and up to 367 GL against unregulated entitlements a total of 1455 GL of Commonwealth water delivered for 2016–17 (71 per cent of available allocation). The volume of water available for use and delivered by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder in 2016–17 was the highest since the office’s establishment in 2009 (see Figure 2.1). Figure 2.1: Commonwealth environmental water availability and use Figure 2.2: Commonwealth environmental water holdings Target Intervention monitoring demonstrates that Commonwealth environmental water contributes to the achievement of Basin Plan targets and Basin-wide environmental watering strategy. Source PBS 2016–17 p. 69, Corporate Plan 2016–17 p. 21 Result Achieved The primary means by which we evaluate the ecological outcomes from Commonwealth environmental water use against the objectives of the Basin Plan’s Environmental Watering Plan is through our Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project. This project monitors and evaluates long-term environmental outcomes across seven river valleys in the Murray–Darling Basin. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office is investing around $30 million in the project, which we manage in partnership with over 30 research bodies, including some of Australia’s leading universities, scientific research institutions and state agencies. Highlights from monitoring in 2016–17 are presented below. In many cases these highlights are built on the results of watering in previous years. Reporting of outcomes achieved over multiple years provides a more meaningful picture, given that ecological change takes time to become apparent and is cumulative. Planned environmental watering events from one year influence ecological health in the following years. Full results from monitoring and evaluation projects are published on the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office website. Fish Environmental down the Darling Anabranch have created connections between Lake Cawndilla and the Murray River, allowing silver and golden perch hatchlings to move to key habitats. In the Gwydir catchment, environmental water was critical to maintaining flows to the Gingham Waterhole, where large numbers of threatened olive perchlet were observed for the first time since 2013. Other threatened species, including Murray cod, silver perch and freshwater catfish, were also found. In the Murrumbidgee catchment, environmental water delivered to wetlands
up to 1599 GL of Commonwealth water committed for use in 2016–17 against regulated entitlements and up to 367 GL against unregulated entitlements a total of 1455 GL of Commonwealth water delivered for 2016–17 (71 per cent of available allocation). The volume of water available for use and delivered by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder in 2016–17 was the highest since the office’s establishment in 2009 (see Figure 2.1). Figure 2.1: Commonwealth environmental water availability and use Figure 2.2: Commonwealth environmental water holdings Target Intervention monitoring demonstrates that Commonwealth environmental water contributes to the achievement of Basin Plan targets and Basin-wide environmental watering strategy. Source PBS 2016–17 p. 69, Corporate Plan 2016–17 p. 21 Result Achieved The primary means by which we evaluate the ecological outcomes from Commonwealth environmental water use against the objectives of the Basin Plan’s Environmental Watering Plan is through our Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project. This project monitors and evaluates long-term environmental outcomes across seven river valleys in the Murray–Darling Basin. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office is investing around $30 million in the project, which we manage in partnership with over 30 research bodies, including some of Australia’s leading universities, scientific research institutions and state agencies. Highlights from monitoring in 2016–17 are presented below. In many cases these highlights are built on the results of watering in previous years. Reporting of outcomes achieved over multiple years provides a more meaningful picture, given that ecological change takes time to become apparent and is cumulative. Planned environmental watering events from one year influence ecological health in the following years. Full results from monitoring and evaluation projects are published on the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office website. Fish Environmental down the Darling Anabranch have created connections between Lake Cawndilla and the Murray River, allowing silver and golden perch hatchlings to move to key habitats. In the Gwydir catchment, environmental water was critical to maintaining flows to the Gingham Waterhole, where large numbers of threatened olive perchlet were observed for the first time since 2013. Other threatened species, including Murray cod, silver perch and freshwater catfish, were also found. In the Murrumbidgee catchment, environmental water delivered to wetlands
annual-report-2016-17-environment-heritage.docx