Key Points Cold water pollution is a significant ecological problem in New South Wales rivers ... more Key Points Cold water pollution is a significant ecological problem in New South Wales rivers Interagency groups can be an effective mechanism for improving large scale environmental issues Changes in managing dams can provide cost effective mitigation where appropriate infrastructure is in place, Costs associated with upgrading infrastructure and implementing strong science to underpin are substantial and remain a challenge Abstract Cold Water pollution from large irrigation dams is estimated to affect the ecology of over 2000 km of rivers in NSW. Releases from fixed level offtakes at the base of storages have led to temperatures downstream of dams being up to 15 degrees C colder than natural. This has impacted on downstream ecology, including invertebrate and fish communities. The NSW Cold Water Pollution Strategy was developed in 2004 to progressively mitigate these cold water impacts in 5 year stages over 20‐25 years. During Stage 1 (2005‐2010), works were completed at T...
This is the recommended methods for wetland macroinvertebrate sampling in the Murray Darling Basi... more This is the recommended methods for wetland macroinvertebrate sampling in the Murray Darling Basin, Asutralia (cited then as Chessman, B., Hardwick, L. and Driver, P. (2001). Draft IMEF method 20 – Wetland macroinvertebrate sampling. NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation. Document No. IMM20), within the publication 'Recommended Methods for Monitoring Floodplains and Wetlands', which was published by Murray-Darling Basin Commission' (http://www.lib.washington.edu/Msd/norestriction/b58919296.pdf).
This manual has been produced to support a major scientific program for monitoring the effects of... more This manual has been produced to support a major scientific program for monitoring the effects of environmental flows in the Murrumbidgee Valley. It summarises the policy context for the monitoring, describes the river management process that the monitoring must inform, and explains how the monitoring program was developed. Similar documents have been produced for other major regulated rivers in New South Wales, and for the Barwon-Darling River. Designed primarily as a guide for staff involved in the program, this manual can also be used as a technical reference as required by river management committees, interested scientists and the broader community. It outlines the monitoring design for the Murrumbidgee Valley, including its objectives, scientific hypotheses, monitoring components, study sites, variables and measurement frequency. Precise definition of the monitoring is essential to ensure that it is done in a standardised, controlled and fully documented way, consistent with pr...
Considerable effort and resources has been invested in developing environmental flow monitoring a... more Considerable effort and resources has been invested in developing environmental flow monitoring and science programs, including identifying client needs and accordingly rationalising science projects. This has included choosing sites of interest to clients and balancing this with statistics and design considerations. The sites are monitored over time for such committees have also changed in response to client needs. This occurs marginally within monitoring programs and dramatically with partial or complete replacement of programs; with obvious implications for data integrity. Core clients are internal water planners and interagency water committees with stakeholder representation. Site selection can consider knowledge such as formal government-recognised schemes that identify high priority sites such as the Australian Directory of Important Wetlands, landholder values and priority water sources identified by the macroplanning process. The alteration of committee and science prioriti...
The Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flows Program (IMEF) is the New South Wales (NSW) Depa... more The Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flows Program (IMEF) is the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Water and Energy’s monitoring program for assessing the ecological benefits of environmental flows in regulated water sources and the Barwon-Darling River. Its primary purposes are to inform flow reference groups (and the like) and inform the ten year review of regulated water source Water Sharing Plans; The key aims of this document are to: 1. Summarise the principal findings of technical studies on the effects of environmental flows developed during a period dominated by Water Sharing Plan development. Major WSP development occurred between 1997-2004 and IMEF commenced in 1998 onwards. Studies developed during 1998-2005 are hereafter referred to as Phase I studies. This review details key technical findings and how these studies have supported the development of Water Sharing Plans: 2. To outline current progress with Phase I reporting; 3. To outline current status and progre...
SUMMARY: Water Reforms in New South Wales have required that environmental flows be implemented i... more SUMMARY: Water Reforms in New South Wales have required that environmental flows be implemented in major rivers to restore a number of ecological processes at risk from regulation. In the Murrumbidgee catchment, water has been made available for purposes of billabong inundation. The limited water available for environmental flows has led to an increasing need to both measure and enhance
ABSTRACT .Geomorphic change, water resources development and climate change can alter the timing,... more ABSTRACT .Geomorphic change, water resources development and climate change can alter the timing, frequency, magnitude and duration of replenishment of floodplain wetlands via overbank flows. If we understand the ecological consequences of these hydrological changes, environmental water allocations can be used more effectively to sustain wetland biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes. We analysed long-term monitoring data for 13 wetlands on the floodplain of the Murrumbidgee River in south-eastern Australia to determine how aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages related to the proportion of time during which a wetland contained water. The more temporary wetlands had significantly different and poorer assemblages than the more permanent ones, with frequency of occurrence significantly negatively related to permanence for eight invertebrate genera and positively related for 17. The invertebrates most strongly associated with more temporary wetlands were mainly crustaceans whose resting stages withstand drying, together with highly mobile insects. Those associated with more permanent wetlands included a prawn, molluscs and less mobile insects. These findings suggest that maintaining a broad spectrum of hydrological regimes at the local scale is necessary if macroinvertebrate diversity on the Murrumbidgee River floodplain is to be sustained.
Key Points Cold water pollution is a significant ecological problem in New South Wales rivers ... more Key Points Cold water pollution is a significant ecological problem in New South Wales rivers Interagency groups can be an effective mechanism for improving large scale environmental issues Changes in managing dams can provide cost effective mitigation where appropriate infrastructure is in place, Costs associated with upgrading infrastructure and implementing strong science to underpin are substantial and remain a challenge Abstract Cold Water pollution from large irrigation dams is estimated to affect the ecology of over 2000 km of rivers in NSW. Releases from fixed level offtakes at the base of storages have led to temperatures downstream of dams being up to 15 degrees C colder than natural. This has impacted on downstream ecology, including invertebrate and fish communities. The NSW Cold Water Pollution Strategy was developed in 2004 to progressively mitigate these cold water impacts in 5 year stages over 20‐25 years. During Stage 1 (2005‐2010), works were completed at T...
This is the recommended methods for wetland macroinvertebrate sampling in the Murray Darling Basi... more This is the recommended methods for wetland macroinvertebrate sampling in the Murray Darling Basin, Asutralia (cited then as Chessman, B., Hardwick, L. and Driver, P. (2001). Draft IMEF method 20 – Wetland macroinvertebrate sampling. NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation. Document No. IMM20), within the publication 'Recommended Methods for Monitoring Floodplains and Wetlands', which was published by Murray-Darling Basin Commission' (http://www.lib.washington.edu/Msd/norestriction/b58919296.pdf).
This manual has been produced to support a major scientific program for monitoring the effects of... more This manual has been produced to support a major scientific program for monitoring the effects of environmental flows in the Murrumbidgee Valley. It summarises the policy context for the monitoring, describes the river management process that the monitoring must inform, and explains how the monitoring program was developed. Similar documents have been produced for other major regulated rivers in New South Wales, and for the Barwon-Darling River. Designed primarily as a guide for staff involved in the program, this manual can also be used as a technical reference as required by river management committees, interested scientists and the broader community. It outlines the monitoring design for the Murrumbidgee Valley, including its objectives, scientific hypotheses, monitoring components, study sites, variables and measurement frequency. Precise definition of the monitoring is essential to ensure that it is done in a standardised, controlled and fully documented way, consistent with pr...
Considerable effort and resources has been invested in developing environmental flow monitoring a... more Considerable effort and resources has been invested in developing environmental flow monitoring and science programs, including identifying client needs and accordingly rationalising science projects. This has included choosing sites of interest to clients and balancing this with statistics and design considerations. The sites are monitored over time for such committees have also changed in response to client needs. This occurs marginally within monitoring programs and dramatically with partial or complete replacement of programs; with obvious implications for data integrity. Core clients are internal water planners and interagency water committees with stakeholder representation. Site selection can consider knowledge such as formal government-recognised schemes that identify high priority sites such as the Australian Directory of Important Wetlands, landholder values and priority water sources identified by the macroplanning process. The alteration of committee and science prioriti...
The Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flows Program (IMEF) is the New South Wales (NSW) Depa... more The Integrated Monitoring of Environmental Flows Program (IMEF) is the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Water and Energy’s monitoring program for assessing the ecological benefits of environmental flows in regulated water sources and the Barwon-Darling River. Its primary purposes are to inform flow reference groups (and the like) and inform the ten year review of regulated water source Water Sharing Plans; The key aims of this document are to: 1. Summarise the principal findings of technical studies on the effects of environmental flows developed during a period dominated by Water Sharing Plan development. Major WSP development occurred between 1997-2004 and IMEF commenced in 1998 onwards. Studies developed during 1998-2005 are hereafter referred to as Phase I studies. This review details key technical findings and how these studies have supported the development of Water Sharing Plans: 2. To outline current progress with Phase I reporting; 3. To outline current status and progre...
SUMMARY: Water Reforms in New South Wales have required that environmental flows be implemented i... more SUMMARY: Water Reforms in New South Wales have required that environmental flows be implemented in major rivers to restore a number of ecological processes at risk from regulation. In the Murrumbidgee catchment, water has been made available for purposes of billabong inundation. The limited water available for environmental flows has led to an increasing need to both measure and enhance
ABSTRACT .Geomorphic change, water resources development and climate change can alter the timing,... more ABSTRACT .Geomorphic change, water resources development and climate change can alter the timing, frequency, magnitude and duration of replenishment of floodplain wetlands via overbank flows. If we understand the ecological consequences of these hydrological changes, environmental water allocations can be used more effectively to sustain wetland biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes. We analysed long-term monitoring data for 13 wetlands on the floodplain of the Murrumbidgee River in south-eastern Australia to determine how aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages related to the proportion of time during which a wetland contained water. The more temporary wetlands had significantly different and poorer assemblages than the more permanent ones, with frequency of occurrence significantly negatively related to permanence for eight invertebrate genera and positively related for 17. The invertebrates most strongly associated with more temporary wetlands were mainly crustaceans whose resting stages withstand drying, together with highly mobile insects. Those associated with more permanent wetlands included a prawn, molluscs and less mobile insects. These findings suggest that maintaining a broad spectrum of hydrological regimes at the local scale is necessary if macroinvertebrate diversity on the Murrumbidgee River floodplain is to be sustained.
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