The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

THE RESPONSE TO THE 2011 BRISBANE
RIVER FLOODS & A NATIONAL PICTURE
OF RIVER AND WETLAND ASSESSMENT,MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION IN
AUSTRALIA

Asian River Restoration Network
Alastair McHarg

National Water Commission
Australia

Presentation Overview
1. Australia’s highly variable water resources
2. The role of drought in shaping water policy in Australia
3. Australia’s Water Policy Framework•National Water Initiative•National Water Commissions role in advancing the NWI

4. Project Show Case - FARWH

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Alastair McHarg

Distribution of Australia’s surface runoff

20.3%
23.3%

1.0%

0.4%

21.1%

1.9%
0.3%

1.7%

0%
6.1%

10.6%
Source: Water and theAustralian Economy– April 1999
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13.3%

The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Major Australian Droughts 1895-2010
Drought years

Dry years in drought
sequence

Comment

1895-1902

1902

Federation Drought

1914-19151937-1945

1940, 1944

1965-1968
1982-1983

1982

1991-1995
2002-2009
2002-220091997,
1997, 2
2002,
00 2, 2
2006
00 6Millennium
Millennium drought
drought

Water scarcity – the last 10 years

Asian River Restoration Network (ARRN)

The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)... of droughts and flooding rains
Last 10 years

Brisbane River Floods

Brisbane River catchment 13,570 km2
The major storage on the Brisbane River is theWivenhoe Dam, which operates as a watersupply and flood storage
Half the catchment is upstream of the dam

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Last 12 months

The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

From Drought to Flooding

190%

17%

2007

Wivenhoe Dam• Water wascontinuously released
from the dam so thatits maximum flood
storage capacity was
not exceeded

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Flooding across the city

Local Disaster
Coordination
CentreAsian River Restoration Network (ARRN)

The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Before Flood

During Flood

Predicted flood levels during the floodevent

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

SewageTreatment
Plant

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Beer factory

McDonalds

After the Flood

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Brisbane River Flood Cleanup• 8,300 stormwater gully inlets and 450 km
stormwater pipes to be de-silted• Road pavements to be repaired• Thousands of tonnes of rubbish to landfill• Structures, parks, ferry terminals to be repaired• Cost to Council = $440 Million• PLUS all the private assets, e.g. houses,
buildings, cars, businesses• Cost = $3 Billion

Australia’s variable water landscape
Rainfall distribution from 2000 to 2010

• Scarcity, variability,drought and climatechange• Highly urbanised andincreasing population in
major coastal centres• Irrigation development
particularly in the Murray
Darling Basin• Internationally importantwater dependent
ecosystems

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Flow variability - Australian and international rivers

On a comparativebasis, Australianrivers are highlyvariable

The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

National Water Initiative

The Commission’s functions“Role: To provide
advice on nationalwater issues and, inparticular, to assist
with the effective
implementation of theNational Water
Initiative (NWI)
Agreement.”—extract from Schedule C,
National Water Initiative

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Raising National Water Standards Program•

Target Areas•

Water accounting•

Water markets•

Irrigation•

Water dependent ecosystems•

Urban water management•

Groundwater•

Northern rivers•

National assessment of waterresources•

Knowledge & capacity building•Northern futures(CSIRO)RNWS Projects

Key RNWS Projects associated with river restoration.
1. Watering floodplain wetlands in the Murray-Darling
Basin for native fish

2. Source Hydrologic Modelling
3. Framework for the Assessment of River andWetland Health (FARWH)

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Framework for the Assessment of Riverand Wetland Health (FARWH)

25

Why monitor river and wetland health?

If you can’t measure it,
you can’t manage it.
Indicators of success forinvestments in better
water management

Bechin wetland Mid Murray 2009. Paula D'Santos, OEH

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

River and Wetland Health Assessments
in Australia
Traditionally undertakenby jurisdictions.
While achieving specificobjectives and goodenvironmental
outcomes at a local tostate scale – minimal
capacity to compare
results between
jurisdictions

FARWH provides aframework forconsistency.

6 components

Catchment DisturbancePhysical Form

Hydrological DisturbanceFringing ZoneWater Quality & Soils

Aquatic Biota

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

The original FARWH modelAssessments
and datacollection

Data analysis(for each subindex)
Sub-index A
Sub-index B
Sub-index C
Sub-index A
Sub-index B
Sub-index C

FARWH condition(for each index)

Applications

Catchment disturbance
score
0–1

Hydrological disturbance
score
0–1

Sub-index A
Sub-index B

Pre-existing
jurisdictional
programs

Fringing zone score
0–1

Prioritisation ofactions

Water quality and soils
score
0–1

Jurisdictional
reportingSub-index C
Sub-index A
Sub-index B
Sub-index C
Sub-index A
Sub-index B

Physical form score
0–1

Sub-index C
Sub-index A
Sub-index B

Aquatic biota score
0-1

Sub-index C

Study area of the FARWH trials

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Summary• The FARWH provides a consistent reporting
framework within and across Jurisdictions.
• The framework allows more comparable reporting ofriver and wetland health across all parts ofAustralia.

• The FARWH trials
demonstrated that aneffective approach to river
and wetland assessments
is possible.

Conclusion• Through projects run by the RNWS Program, theNational Water Commission continues to advance
Australia’s progress towards the National WaterInitiative.
• There is still much work to be done to advance
Water Reform in Australia.
• For more information:www.nwc.gov.au

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The 8th International Forum on Waterfront and Watershed Restoration(2011/11/11)

Acknowledgments• Thank-you to the Asian River Restoration Networkfor the opportunity to present at the 8th AnnualForum.

www.nwc.gov.au

Asian River Restoration Network (ARRN)