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Freshwater Systems, Technical Advice on Water, North Barker and Associates Jordan River: Environmental Flow Regime Assessment Peter Davies, Lois Koehnken, Phil Barker, Laurie Cook Freshwater Systems, Technical Advice on Water, North Barker and Associates. July 2005 ISBN-13: 9780724669806 fs FFrreesshhwwaatteerr SSyysstteemmss Aquatiic Enviironmentall Consulltiing Serviice 0 Table of Contents 1. Introduction and aims ............................................................................................2 2. Jordan River Hydrology.........................................................................................4 2.1 Hydrological characteristics and trends ...........................................................4 2.2 1974 – 2004 Flows...........................................................................................7 3. Jordan River: Water quality.................................................................................10 4. Aquatic ecology ...................................................................................................12 4.1 Fish.................................................................................................................12 4.2 Macroinvertebrates ........................................................................................12 4.3 Aquatic mammals ..........................................................................................14 4.4 Aquatic plants ................................................................................................14 5. Geomorphology ...................................................................................................15 5.1 Geomorphology – introduction......................................................................15 5.2 Geomorphic context of Jordan River.............................................................15 5.3 Catchment changes ........................................................................................16 5.4 Geomorphic characterisation .........................................................................19 6. Riparian and Aquatic Vegetation.........................................................................32 6.1 Vegetation – introduction ..............................................................................32 6.2 General Characteristics of vegetation ............................................................32 6.3 Descriptions of study sites .............................................................................33 7. EFlow Assessment Methods................................................................................44 7.1 Key environmental values..............................................................................44 7.2 Instream habitat-flow assessment .................................................................44 7.3 High flow/flood events ..................................................................................47 8. Flow-ecology relationships..................................................................................48 8.1 Instream habitat and flows.............................................................................48 8.2 Relationship between flow regime and geomorphology................................49 8.3 Relationship between flow regime and vegetation ........................................52 8.4 Flows and Herdsmans Cove...........................................................................53 9. Environmental flow regime recommendations....................................................58 9.1 Baseflows and Cease-to-flow events .............................................................58 9.2 High/flood flows ............................................................................................58 9.3 Conclusions....................................................................................................59 10. References..........................................................................................................61 Jordan River Environmental Flow Regime Assessment P Davies, L Koehnken, P Barker, L Cook Freshwater Systems, Technical Advice on Water, North Barker and associates. 1. Introduction and aims An assessment of an environmental flow regime requirement was requested for the Jordan River, south east Tasmania. This project was required to: • Summarise key information on the environmental status of the Jordan River; • Identify relationships between key instream habitat features/processes and discharge for representative reaches of the Jordan River; • Conduct a geomorphic characterisation of the Jordan River and recommend key flow events to maintain channel processes and habitat; • Assess riparian and floodplain vegetation communities and their flow/flood requirements; • Identify key flow events required to maintain environmental values in Herdsmans Cove; • Integrate the findings of the above studies into a single environmental flow regime which include base flows and a seasonal set of flood/high flows. The primary aim of the project was to derive an environmental flow regime for the middle and lower Jordan River and Herdsmans Cove which is designed to maintain existing environmental values and processes. The Jordan River system, with a catchment area of ca. 1,240 km 2, has a distinctive geomorphology, geology and catchment form in a Tasmanian context. The nature of the landscape and vegetation is strongly linked to the river flow regime. Large sections of the catchment historically constituted floodplain/swamp systems which were naturally highly connected during flood and high flow periods. The Jordan River is now a highly modified system, with a modified, willow-infested channel and a cleared and drained floodplain. The valley, and the river’s tributaries and mainstem are subject to a growing salinisation problem. Wastewater discharge was also a feature of the lower reaches until recently. Overall, the condition of the middle and lower Jordan is considered poor, and there are few remaining natural values. The estuary of the Jordan River, Herdsmans Cove, also forms a component of, and is largely controlled by, the much larger Derwent estuary. This assessment recognises the changed state of the aquatic system of the Jordan, and the resulting modified environmental values. It also recognises that flow is only one of a number of significant drivers of environmental processes and outcomes in this system. Consideration is given to the degree to which environmental flow management can be effective for the maintenance of riverine ecosystem values in the absence of other substantial management initiatives. EFlow objectives for the Jordan River The overall objective of an environmental flow regime for the Jordan is to maintain existing environmental values within both the Jordan River mainstem and Herdsmans Cove ecosystems. A number of values have already been identified through the PEV and Water Quality value setting processes under the State Policy on Water Quality Management (1997) and the Water Act 1999, and in the Jordan River Catchment Management Plan, the Jordan River Rivercare Plan (Ecosynthesis 2001) and the Jordan River State of the Rivers reports (Wilson et al. 2003). Those values directly and indirectly affected by river flows and identified consistently are as follows: Water quality – maintain and restore, with emphasis on salinity, turbidity and bacterial quality, ecosystem health and primary contact. River health – maintain and restore, with emphasis on fish, invertebrates and aquatic plants; Riparian vegetation - manage/control weeds and restore native vegetation. This report focuses on these values, including aquatic ecosystem values, geomorphic processes, and estuarine values. 2. Jordan River Hydrology 2.1 Hydrological characteristics and trends The flow regime of the Jordan River is characterised by very low to zero flows during the summer-autumn period, interspersed with occasional flood flows, with higher baseflows during the winter-spring period accompanied by a higher frequency and intensity of high/flood flow events. In comparison with other rivers, the Jordan experiences a combination of typical summer-winter seasonal dry-wet sequences, superimposed with unpredictable flooding (more typical of east coast rivers) and a semi-ephemeral dry season flow pattern. These primary features of the flow regime apply to both the historical flow regime (as recorded at the currently active gauging station at Mauriceton and the past station at Bridgewater) and the natural flow regime. The hydrology of the Jordan has been described by Gurung and Dayaratne (2002). Modelling of the natural and historical flow regime for the Jordan was conducted by Hydro Tasmania (unpub. data), with the entire modelled flow record from 1917 to 2004 shown in Figure 1. The Jordan catchment is one of the driest catchments in the state. The annual average rainfall across the catchment is approximately 500 – 600 mm, with little spatial variation in rainfall conditions over the catchment. Average monthly rainfall distribution is relatively uniform between 32 mm to 58 mm, and there is no significant difference in the winter and summer rainfall across the catchment (Gurung and Dayaratne 2002). The river ecosystem fluctuates between very dry conditions in summer-autumn with frequent periods of channel dry-outs and relict pools with little connectivity, and high- volume floods superimposed on intermittent to continuous baseflows in winter. The catchment experiences some of the lowest rainfalls and highest evaporation rates in the state (Fallon et al. 2000). The
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