DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENT The Murray-Lower Darling catchment and the Long Term Water Plan explained

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ISBN 978-1-922317-06-3 EES 2019/0497 August 2019

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Contents

The Murray-Lower Darling catchment 1 The Murray-Lower Darling’s freshwater assets 1 Managing water in an altered catchment 2 Introducing the Murray-Lower Darling Long Term Water Plan 3 Background to Long Term Water Plans 3 Development of the Murray-Lower Darling Long Term Water Plan 3 Water for the environment 4 Management strategies and complementary investments 5 Monitoring and evaluation 5 How will the Long Term Water Plan be used? 6

Little pied cormorant. Photo: Vince Bucello. The Murray-Lower Darling catchment and the Long Term Water Plan explained

The Murray-Lower Darling catchment

The Murray-Lower Darling catchment in southern New South Wales (NSW) covers more than 98,300 square kilometres and forms part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The traditional owners of the Murray-Lower Darling are the Bangerang, Barkindji, Barapa Barapa, Maljangapa, , Muthi Muthi, Ngiyampaa, Nyeri Nyeri, Tati Tati, Wadi Wadi, Wamba Wamba, Weki Weki, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri Nations. They maintain their connection through sites of cultural and spiritual significance, and through living, fishing, hunting and working along the river. Albury, Corowa, Moama, Deniliquin, Barham, Wentworth, Black-winged stilt. Menindee and Pooncarie are just some of the communities Photo: John Spencer DPIE. found in the Murray-Lower Darling catchment. The Murray-Lower Darling’s freshwater assets The NSW portion of the begins in the Australian Alps near Mount Kosciuszko and flows east along a meandering path toward the South Australian border. For much of its course, the Murray forms the border between NSW and . Along the way, it supports a range of water-dependent ecosystems including instream aquatic habitats, riparian forests, and floodplain watercourses, woodlands and wetlands. The floodplains provide a mosaic of habitat types, including permanent and temporary wetlands and terrestrial habitats. The forms two distinct channels downstream of . The main channel is known as the lower Darling River while the second channel (the original path of the river) is known as the Great Darling . The lower Darling River and Menindee Lakes provide important breeding and recruitment habitat for native fish. The and wetlands of the Murray-Lower Darling are important water resources for agriculture, tourism and towns. They also support threatened and iconic species such as Murray cod, silver perch, golden perch and an array of small- bodied native fish. The Murray catchment is home to a broad range of water dependent species including threatened species (Australasian bitterns, brolgas, southern bell frogs and fishing bats), species listed on bilateral migratory bird agreements that has with China, Japan and South Korea, as well as regionally significant native plant communities such as reed beds, spike rush and Moira grass. The Murray-Lower Darling includes several nationally and internationally significant sites. The Millewa, Werai and Koondrook- forests are part of the two largest

1 The Murray-Lower Darling catchment and the Long Term Water Plan explained

contiguous river red gum forests in the world. These forests are listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention) and in the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia, which also includes the Darling Anabranch lakes. The Living Murray icon sites within NSW include the Millewa Forest, Koondrook-Perricoota Forest, the eastern section of Chowilla floodplain and the River Murray Channel. The lowland Murray and Darling rivers have been declared ecologically endangered ecosystems. Managing water in an altered catchment The health and condition of the Murray-Lower Darling’s freshwater assets is largely driven by river flows that connect river channels, , floodplains and wetlands. Flows that provide these connections support organic carbon transfer and nutrient cycling, trigger movement and breeding of native fish and waterbirds, and directly impact vegetation condition and habitat availability. River flows in the Murray catchment are regulated by a number of dams, including the Hume near Albury. Management of the river is also influenced by flows entering from its tributaries including the Murrumbidgee and Darling rivers, along with Victorian rivers including the Mitta, Ovens and King, Goulburn and Campaspe. Murray cod. Photo: Gunther Schmida. In recent years, the NSW and Australian governments have increased the amount of water dedicated to supporting healthy rivers and floodplains in the Murray-Lower Darling catchment. Water managers are working closely with river operators and local communities to deliver this water where and when it is needed – providing benefits for plants, animals and people. During dry years, water management is focused on maintaining the function of river channels and high priority wetlands. In wet seasons, water is managed to enhance the effects of natural flows to improve ecological health and resilience and provide opportunities for plants and animals to reproduce.

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Moira grass in the central Murray. Photo: Vince Bucello. The Murray-Lower Darling catchment and the Long Term Water Plan explained

Introducing the Murray-Lower Darling Long Term Water Plan The NSW Government’s Long Term Water Plan (LTWP) for the Murray-Lower Darling is an important step; identifying the requirements for maintaining and improving river, wetland and floodplain health in the catchment, and recognising its connection and contribution to the overall health of the Murray-Darling Basin. Background to Long Term Water Plans The Basin Plan establishes a framework for managing environmental water at the Basin and catchment-scale. The framework is designed to ensure environmental water managers work collaboratively to prioritise water use to meet the long-term needs of native fish, water-dependent native Peron’s tree frog. Photo: John Spencer DPIE. vegetation and waterbirds and co-ordinate water use across multiple catchments to achieve Basin-scale outcomes. The Basin-wide Environmental Watering Strategy (BWS) and LTWPs are central features of this framework. The BWS establishes long-term environmental objectives and targets for the Basin and its catchments. Catchment-scale surface water LTWPs identify strategies that can be applied locally that will contribute to the achievement of the expected BWS environmental outcomes. Development of the Murray-Lower Darling Long Term Water Plan The Murray-Lower Darling LTWP is one of nine plans being developed to cover the NSW portion of the Murray–Darling Basin. Its development included six main steps. • A catchment-wide stocktake of water-dependent environmental assets and ecosystem functions that are recognised internationally; natural or near-natural; provide vital habitat; and/or can support threatened species or communities, or significant biodiversity. • Determining specific objectives and targets for native fish, water-dependent birds, vegetation and frog species and ecosystem functions in the Murray-Lower Darling. • Defining the environmental water needed to sustain and improve the health and/or extent of priority environmental assets and ecosystem functions. • Identifying potential management strategies to meet environmental water requirements. • Identifying the risks and constraints to meeting the long- term water requirements of priority environmental assets and ecosystem functions • Identifying investments to address these risks and constraints.

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Water for the environment The Murray-Lower Darling LTWP contains ecological objectives and targets for priority environmental assets and ecosystem functions. The Basin Plan defines priority assets and functions as those that can be managed with environmental water. Ecological objectives have been identified for native fish, native vegetation, waterbirds, other water-dependant species and functions such as river productivity. These were chosen because they respond to flow and are good indicators of river, wetland and floodplain systems health. The objectives reflect the current scientific understanding of environmental outcomes that might be expected from implementation of the Basin Plan in the Murray Lower Darling catchment (Table 1). Targets for each ecological objective are set at five, 10 and 20-year milestones to provide a transparent means of evaluating the long-term success of management strategies. All water in the Murray-Lower Darling’s river systems has a role to play in enhancing the health of the catchment: whether it is water delivered specifically for the environment, water delivered for irrigation, town water supply or stock and domestic purposes, or natural flows.

Table 1 A summary of environmental outcomes sought by the Murray Lower Darling LTWP

Broad outcomes Example objectives Example targets (simplified) To maintain the Maintain and improve the • Improve the extent and condition of extent and improve viability and extent of: vegetation in core wetland areas the health of water- • river red gum and black box including river red gum forests, lignum dependent native communities wetlands and Moira grass plains vegetation and • lignum shrublands • Improve condition and extent of non- wetlands • non-woody wetland woody vegetation such as spike rush and vegetation reed beds To maintain the Restoration of key waterbird • Support to completion waterbird breeding diversity of waterbird breeding and foraging habitat to events including Australasian bitterns species and increase contribute to recovery of and colonial nesting species their numbers across waterbird populations across the • Provide year-round habitat and foraging the catchment Murray-Darling Basin opportunities for waterbirds To maintain the Increase native fish distribution • Provide flows that enable native fish to diversity and improve and abundance, and ensure access habitat, connect with rivers and the population of stable population structures wetlands and provide opportunities for native fish in the recruitment and dispersal catchment • Provide flows to trigger and support lifecycle needs To maintain and • Maintain and improve river • Improve river productivity to benefit protect a variety of and floodplain habitat native fish recruitment wetland habitats and • Support lifecycles of plants • Provide connection flows between the support the and animals floodplain and river to enhance carbon movement of • Connect riverine and and nutrient transfer throughout the river nutrients throughout floodplain systems system the river system connecting riverine and floodplain systems.

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Management strategies and complementary investments The LTWP identifies management strategies and investments that will complement the ecological objectives and targets it aims to achieve. They include overcoming flow constraints, protecting environmental flows, conserving riparian, wetland and floodplain vegetation, and screening irrigation pumps to protect fish. Monitoring and evaluation Monitoring of past environmental watering events has helped improve the way available water resources are managed to benefit native plants, animals and river functions. This work highlights the tangible outcomes that can be achieved when water is managed for improved river and wetland health. The NSW and Australian Governments will continue to monitor the health of the Murray-Lower Darling’s rivers and wetland ecosystems in response to environmental watering. Monitoring will: • demonstrate progress towards achievement of the LTWPs objectives and targets • inform the use and management of environmental water • contribute to periodic reviews of the LTWP • provide new knowledge about the Murray-Lower Darling’s ecology that is relevant to environmental watering. To ensure the LTWP remains relevant and up-to-date, it will be reviewed and updated no later than five years after implementation.

5 Brolgas in lignum and cane grass wetland. Photo: Vince Bucello. The Murray-Lower Darling catchment and the Long Term Water Plan explained

How will the Long Term Water Plan be used? The community contributes to river and floodplain health outcomes through the Murray-Lower Darling Environmental Water Advisory Group (EWAG). The group, whose members represent First Nations, landholders, irrigators, government, water users and independent environmental groups, provides advice on management of water for the environment in the catchment. Input from the EWAG helps ensure the landholder, community and cultural values of the Murray-Lower Darling area are considered in environmental water management decisions. The EWAG is called upon to inform complex decisions that affect the health of rivers and wetlands throughout the catchment. The Murray-Lower Darling LTWP will help guide and inform the work of this group. Importantly, the plan does not prescribe how environmental water should be managed in the future, rather it will help water managers and the EWAG make decisions about where, when and how available water can be used to achieve agreed long-term ecological objectives. The LTWP also recognises that the Basin Plan specifically requires environmental water managers to act adaptively by making timely decisions based on the best-available knowledge and monitoring and evaluating the outcomes.

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7 Sunset through river red gums on the . Photo Natasha Childs/DPIE.