The Living Murray Barmah-Millewa Forest Icon Site Annual Report 2010-2011 Prepared by the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority Document Control: Revision and distribution Version no. Description Issued to Issue date 1 Final Draft - for comment K Ward, R Webster, 23 August 2011 B-M TAC, B-M CRG 2 Updated final draft NSW OEH 18 October 2011 3 Final draft – for info MDBA February 2012 Final draft – for endors. B-M ICC 4 Final June 2012 Management: Prepared by: Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority PO Box 1752 Shepparton Vic 3632 Telephone: (03) 5820 1100 Contact: Keith Chalmers or Keith Ward Date: June 2012 Citation: GB CMA (2012). The Living Murray Barmah-Millewa Icon Site Annual Report 2010-2011. Unpublished report. Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Shepparton. Disclaimer: This publication may be of assistance to you, but the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority does 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 consequences which may arise from you relying on information in this publication. Acknowledgements: The Living Murray is a joint initiative funded by the New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian, Australian Capital Territory and the Commonwealth governments, coordinated by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority. The authors would like to thank the agency staff and contractors who submitted project summaries and/or contributed other sections of text for this report. Cover photographs by Keith Ward (GB CMA) Main: Intermediate Egret at nest at Picnic Point, taken 17 Dec 2010 Left: Moira Grass ( Pseudoraphis spinescens ) at Little Rushy Swamp, taken 7 Feb 2011 Right: Barmah Lake from the air, taken 22 Nov 2011 2 Barmah-Millewa Forest Icon Site Annual Report 2010 – 2011 Table of Contents 1 Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Key Learning and Recommendations .................................................................................................... 6 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Background............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Land Tenure ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Hydrograph............................................................................................................................................ 9 3 Management and Committee Structure.....................................................................................................11 3.1 The Living Murray ................................................................................................................................11 3.2 Icon Site Manager................................................................................................................................11 3.3 Icon Site Coordinating Committee.......................................................................................................12 3.4 Icon Site Technical Advisory Committee .............................................................................................13 3.5 Icon Site Consultation Reference Group .............................................................................................14 3.6 Icon Site Indigenous Partnership Project.............................................................................................14 3.7 Barmah-Millewa Operations Committee.............................................................................................14 3.8 Blackwater Committee ........................................................................................................................16 4 Activities and Achievements .......................................................................................................................17 4.1 Environmental Delivery Program.........................................................................................................17 4.2 Environmental Works and Measures Program....................................................................................28 4.3 Environmental Water Management Plan............................................................................................29 4.4 Condition Monitoring Plan ..................................................................................................................29 4.5 Monitoring...........................................................................................................................................31 4.5.1 ‘A’ category monitoring programs............................................................................................. 31 4.5.2 ‘B’ category monitoring programs............................................................................................. 42 4.5.3 ‘C’ category monitoring programs............................................................................................. 47 4.6 Other Projects......................................................................................................................................51 5 Communication...........................................................................................................................................54 5.1 Barmah-Millewa Engagement Strategy...............................................................................................54 5.2 Reports and Publications.....................................................................................................................54 5.3 Media...................................................................................................................................................56 6 References...................................................................................................................................................60 7 Appendix 1: Murray River hydrographs (depict river flows) downstream of Yarrawonga.........................61 8 Appendix 2: Proposed Barmah-Millewa EWA release for Spring 2010 ......................................................66 9 Appendix 3: Birds that have bred in Barmah-Millewa Forest 2010/11 ......................................................70 10 Appendix 4: Dates of operation of regulators in 2010/11..........................................................................71 List of Tables Table 1: Barmah-Millewa Icon Site Coordinating Committee attendees 2010-2011. .............................12 Table 2: Barmah-Millewa Technical Advisory Group attendees 2010-2011............................................13 Table 3: Barmah-Millewa Consultation Reference Group attendees 2010-2011 ....................................14 Table 4: Operations Committee teleconference attendees 2010-2011 ..................................................15 Table 5: Barmah-Millewa Forest flood prioritisation based on the past 12 years flood history and scored against ideal flood scenarios scores.........................................................................................................18 Table 6: Environmental water use (GL) from B-M EWA, TLM and NSW AEW accounts ..........................23 Table 7: The respective components of the monitoring program and their relationship within the “A”, “B” and “O” categories of monitoring ............................................................................................................29 Table 8: CfOC funded pest plant eradication program 2009/10 outputs. ...............................................51 3 Barmah-Millewa Forest Icon Site Annual Report 2010 – 2011 List of Figures Figure 1: Steamer Plain near Budgee Creek (photo: Keith Ward)..................................................................... 9 Figure 2: 2010-11 hydrograph showing Murray River flow downstream of Yarrawonga Weir...................... 10 Figure 3: Murray River flow downstream of Yarrawonga in 2010/11 exhibiting actual flow (which includes EWA releases), expected flow without EWA releases, and modelled natural flow simulating flow if no diversions or impoundments had been in place. ............................................................................................ 20 Figure 4: Timeline of the watering event. Note this is a first draft for comment. Source: MDBA................. 21 Figure 5: Operation of Victorian regulators .................................................................................................... 25 Figure 6: Operation of NSW Murray River regulators..................................................................................... 26 Figure 7: Operation of Gulpa/Edward River regulators. ................................................................................. 27 Figure 8: Monitoring Program Categories....................................................................................................... 29 Figure 9: NSW vegetation communities.......................................................................................................... 31 Figure 10: Species diversity on wetlands monitored within the Barmah-Millewa Icon site..........................