Document history and status Version Date issued Prepared by Reviewed by 1.0 17th April 2015 J. Wood S. Witteveen S. Casanelia M. Judd th J. Roberts 1.0 20 April 2015 J. Wood T. Hillman 2.0 11th June 2015 J. Wood M. Judd 3.0 28th August 2015 J. Wood S. Casanelia Final 8th September 2015 J.Wood S. Witteveen Distribution Version Date Quantity Issued To 1.0 17th April 2015 1 S.Witteveen 1.0 20th April 2015 1 J. Roberts and T. Hillman 2.0 11th June 2015 1 M. Judd 3.0 28th August 2015 1 S. Casanelia and M. Turner Final 1st September 2015 1 S. Witteveen Publication Details Published by: Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, PO Box 1752, Shepparton VIC 3632 ©Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, 2015 Please cite this document as: GB CMA (2015) Goulburn River Environmental Water Management Plan. Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Shepparton. Disclaimer This publication may be of some 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. For further information, please contact: Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority PO Box 1752, Shepparton 3632 Ph (03) 5822 7700 or visit www.gbcma.vic.gov.au i Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................... ii Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................ 8 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Purpose and Scope ..................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Development Process ................................................................................................................................. 10 2. Catchment Setting ............................................................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Hydrophysical characteristics ..................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.1 Mid Goulburn River ................................................................................................................................. 14 2.1.2 Lower Goulburn River ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Land Status and Management ................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Land status .......................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.2 Environmental Water Management – Roles and Responsibilities ...................................................... 19 2.3 Environmental water sources .................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Related agreements, policy, plans and activities ....................................................................................... 26 3. Hydrology and system operations .................................................................................................................... 27 3.1 River Hydrology .......................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.1 Surface water ...................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.2 Groundwater surface water interaction ............................................................................................. 28 3.2 System operations – history of use ............................................................................................................ 29 3.2.1 Water Management and delivery ....................................................................................................... 29 3.2.2 Environmental Watering ..................................................................................................................... 30 4. Water Dependent Values ................................................................................................................................. 34 4.1 Environmental Values ................................................................................................................................ 34 4.1.1 Listings and significance ...................................................................................................................... 34 4.1.2 Mid Goulburn River ............................................................................................................................. 35 4.1.3 Lower Goulburn River ......................................................................................................................... 36 4.2 Ecosystem Functions .................................................................................................................................. 38 4.3 Social Values ............................................................................................................................................... 39 4.3.1 Cultural Heritage ................................................................................................................................. 39 4.3.2 Recreation ........................................................................................................................................... 39 4.4 Economic Values ........................................................................................................................................ 39 ii 4.5 Conceptualisation of the site ..................................................................................................................... 40 5. Ecological Conditions and Threats .................................................................................................................... 45 5.1 Current Condition ....................................................................................................................................... 45 5.2 Condition Trajectory ................................................................................................................................... 53 5.2.1 Do nothing….. ...................................................................................................................................... 53 5.2.2 Basin Plan ............................................................................................................................................ 53 5.3 Water Related Threats ............................................................................................................................... 54 6. Management Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 55 6.1 Management Goal ...................................................................................................................................... 55 6.2 Ecological Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 55 6.3 Flow Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 57 7. Managing Risks to Achieving Objectives ........................................................................................................... 62 8. Environmental Water Delivery Constraints ...................................................................................................... 66 9. Consultation ...................................................................................................................................................... 67 10. Demonstrating Outcomes............................................................................................................................... 68 10.1 Monitoring Priorities at the site ............................................................................................................... 68 11. Knowledge Gaps and Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 69 12. References ...................................................................................................................................................... 72 13. Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................