Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands Environmental Water Management Plan North Central Catchment Management Authority 1 Document History and Status Version no. Date Issued Prepared By Reviewed By Date approved 1 23 September 2014 Bree Bisset Louissa Rogers 28 September 2014 2 7 November 2014 Bree Bisset Louissa Rogers 21 November 2015 3 1 December 2014 Bree Bisset Emer Campbell - Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen ( DELWP ) and Community 2 February 2015 4 18 December 2014 Bree Bisset Advisory Group 5 2 February 2015 Bree Bisset Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen (DELWP) - 6 11 May 2015 Bree Bisset Marcus Cooling (Scientific Review) 20 May 2016 Final 5 August 2016 Bree Bisset Jamie Bell (DELWP) - Document Distribution Version no. Date Quantity Issued To 1 23 September 2014 Internal Louissa Rogers 2 7 November 2014 Internal Louissa Rogers 2 12 November 2014 External Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen ( DELWP ) 2 1 December 2014 Internal Emer Campbell Chloe Wiesenfeld (VEWH), Greg Fletcher (WCMA), Louise Chapman and Jane White 3 15 December 2014 External (MCMA), Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen (DELWP) 4 18 December 2014 External Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen (DELWP) and Community Advisory Group 5 2 February 2015 Internal Susan Watson and Suzanne Witteveen (DELWP) 6 11 May 2015 External Darren Griffin (Barenji Gadjin Land Council) 6 11 May 2015 External Marcus Cooling (Scientific Review) Final 5 August 2016 External Jamie Bell (DELWP) Document Management Printed: 21 July 2017 Last saved: 21 July 2017 11:02 AM File name: Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands- Final EWMP 2016 Authors: Various North Central CMA staff, listed in acknowledgements Name of organisation: North Central CMA Name of document: North Central CMA Region Environmental Water Management Plan for the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands Document version: Final SharePoint link: NCCMA-63-39787 For further information on any of the information contained within this document contact: North Central Catchment Management Authority PO Box 18 Huntly Vic 3551 T: 03 5448 7124 F: 03 5448 7148 E: [email protected] www.nccma.vic.gov.au © North Central Catchment Management Authority 2016 Front cover photo: Corack Dam, 6 November 2013 (B. Bisset [North Central CMA]). Unless otherwise stated, all photos in this report are sourced from North Central CMA. The North Central CMA Region Environmental Water Management Plan for the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands is a ten year plan, compiled from the best available information. It will be subject to a five-yearly review. This publication may be of assistance to you, but the North Central Catchment Management Authority and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind, or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on information in this publication. Please cite this document as: North Central CMA, 2016. Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands Environmental Water Management Plan . North Central Catchment Management Authority, Huntly, Victoria. 2 Executive Summary The Wimmera Mallee Pipeline (WMP) Wetlands Environmental Water Management Plan (EWMP) sets out the long- term objectives for the priority environmental values of the WMP Wetlands and its individual sites. The EWMP is an important part of the Victorian Environmental Water Planning Framework. It provides the five to ten year management intentions, based on scientific information and stakeholder consultation, which can be used by the respective agencies; North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA), Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH); for both short and longer-term environmental water planning. This EWMP is not a holistic management plan for the complex, but focuses on environmental water management so that the WMP Wetlands and its sites can continue to provide environmental, social, cultural and economic values for all users. Actions such as pest plant and animal works are documented as complementary to environmental water management in this EWMP. The following components are the main sections featured in the WMP Wetlands EWMP. A summary of the main conclusions to facilitate appropriate environmental water management into the future are summarised below. Hydrology and system operations The Avon-Richardson Catchment has a long history of land-use change that has affected the hydrology, catchment, biota, soils and physical form of its wetlands and waterways. The recent construction of the WMP as a mean of improving water use efficiency for town and agriculture has resulted in the widespread removal of the open water supply channel and dam network. Seven sites in the North Central region are now connected to the WMP and able to receive environmental water. However, the area that environmental water can influence is limited to either a dam or the dam and a small area of the surrounding wetland, due to pipeline capacity restrictions. All though small, these sites represent some of the only reliable water sources available in the Avon-Richardson catchment. Water dependent values The sites of the WMP are an important component of the Avon-Richardson Catchment, supporting a diversity of vegetation types that vary greatly across the landscape. At each site, the unique vegetation assemblage supports a range of water dependent and terrestrial fauna that utilise the site for shelter, water and food. Many of the vegetation communities, flora and fauna species within the WMP Wetlands are considered endangered or vulnerable. Ecological condition and threats The condition of the sites in the WMP Wetlands ranges from poor to good based primarily on their physical form, surrounding land use and flora and fauna diversity. The catchment supports very little remanent vegetation, and as a result, the sites of the WMP provide some of the only habitat patches in the region. Complex and site management therefore focuses on encouraging a diversity of aquatic and fringing vegetation (within dams) to support water dependent species as well as the provision of water in the landscape for terrestrial species. Management objectives A long-term management goal has been defined for the WMP Wetlands: Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Wetlands Maintain aquatic habitat and refugia through the landscape to provide refuge, shelter, watering points and feeding opportunities for waterbird, turtles, frogs and terrestrial fauna species in the region. A management goal for each individual site has also been defined with the overall objective of aligning with the complex goal outlined above: Chirrup Dam To maintain Chirrup Dam as a refuge for water dependent fauna (particularly frogs and turtles) and to provide a point source for recolonisation of Chirrup Swamp when it is naturally inundated. 3 Corack Dam Provide conditions that support an abundance of aquatic plants that promote refuge and nursery habitat for turtles and frogs and a variety of feeding conditions for waterbirds (i.e. drawdown zones, shallows). Creswick Dam Support a diversity of aquatic plants, including re-establishment of Marbled Marshwort, which will provide refuge, feeding and breeding opportunities for frog and turtles at Creswick Dam. Davis Dam Support the fauna (particularly that of the surrounding Black Box vegetation) of Davis Dam by providing drought refuge and a watering point for fauna (including mammals, reptiles and waterbirds). Falla Dam Provide a water regime that maintains Falla Dam as a watering point for terrestrial species and drought refuge for turtles and frogs during dry conditions. Jeffcott Dam Maintain the diversity of aquatic plants and provides refuge and breeding conditions for water dependent species such as frogs, macroinverbrates, turtles and waterbirds at Jeffcott Dam. Jesse Dam Promote native aquatic plant growth including re-establishment of Marbled Marshwort at Jesse Swamp dam and provides shallow foraging habitat for waterbirds (including Brolga) and feeding opportunities for frogs. The ecological objectives and hydrological objectives that sit under the long-term management goal for the sites of the WMP Wetlands were informed by Howard et al. , (2014) and Rakali (2014) and reviewed and refined during the development of this EWMP. These objectives prescribe the environmental watering regime for each site in the WMP Wetlands. Managing risks to achieving objectives The threats to achieving the ecological objectives that are external to environmental water are identified. These include introduced species and morphological constraints (i.e. dam bank slope). Environmental water delivery infrastructure The constraints to the delivery of environmental water (such as the ability to water the wetland area) have been identified. Infrastructure recommendations have been made include increasing the capacity of the pipeline to allow great delivery rates and increased watering extent. Demonstrating outcomes Monitoring is required to allow adaptive management of annual environmental watering (intervention monitoring). It is also required to enable the CMA and VEWH to demonstrate the long term outcomes of the implementation of the WMP Wetlands EWMP. As the State is currently developing the Wetlands Monitoring Assessment Program (WetMAP), the WMP Wetlands EWMP recommends a suite of intervention and long-term monitoring activities that will meet the monitoring requirements. Consultation Key stakeholders, including DELWP,