Management outcomes Avoid irretrievable loss of or damage to, environmental assets: − Avoid critical loss of species, communities, and ecosystems. − Maintain critical refuges. − Avoid irretrievable damage or catastrophic events. − Allow drying to occur, where appropriate, but relieve severe unnaturally prolonged dry periods. Ensure environmental assets maintain their basic functions and resilience: − Support the survival and viability of threatened species and communities. − Maintain environmental assets and ecosystem functions, including by allowing drying to occur consistent with natural cycles. − Maintain refuges. Maintain ecological health and resilience: − Enable growth, reproduction and small-scale recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna. − Promote low-lying floodplain-river connectivity. − Support river and floodplain functions. Improve the health and resilience of water-dependent ecosystems: − Enable growth, reproduction and recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna. − Promote higher floodplain-river connectivity. − Support high-flow river and floodplain functions. Rationale and process In putting together the Priorities for 2013-14, the Authority has taken a Basin-scale approach which adds value to current environmental watering activities without duplicating them. This philosophy encompasses moving the concept of environmental watering, from just the delivery of a volume of water at specific sites towards the preferred concept of a flow regime as near natural as possible within river systems. The Priorities have been developed using both the conventional triage approach to environmental watering, whereby assets and functions are prioritised by their urgency of watering, as well as drawing on a restoration ecology approach. Restoration ecology emphasises providing environmental water to those assets and functions already in good condition where a significant positive response to environmental water is most likely. scale
Step 2: Select management outcomes Determination of the Resource Availability Scenario informed the broad management outcomes which the Priorities would focus on (Table 2), taking into account differences between individual catchments. The Authority also sought the views of a group of scientists and practitioners with environmental water experience to help determine the strategic environmental watering needs at the Basin-scale. This served to provide an initial context for the Priorities and the management outcomes that were selected. These management outcomes are described under the heading Overview of the 2013-14 Basin Annual Environmental Watering Priorities. Table 2: Management outcomes for each Resource Availability Scenario Resource availability scenario: Very Dry Resource availability scenario: Dry Resource availability scenario: Moderate Resource availability scenario: Wet – Very wet Management outcomes Avoid irretrievable loss of or damage to, environmental assets: − Avoid critical loss of species, communities, and ecosystems. − Maintain critical refuges. − Avoid irretrievable damage or catastrophic events. − Allow drying to occur, where appropriate, but relieve severe unnaturally prolonged dry periods. Ensure environmental assets maintain their basic functions and resilience: − Support the survival and viability of threatened species and communities. − Maintain environmental assets and ecosystem functions, including by allowing drying to occur consistent with natural cycles. − Maintain refuges. Maintain ecological health and resilience: − Enable growth, reproduction and small-scale recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna. − Promote low-lying floodplain-river connectivity. − Support river and floodplain functions. Improve the health and resilience of water-dependent ecosystems: − Enable growth, reproduction and recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna. − Promote higher floodplain-river connectivity. − Support high-flow river and floodplain functions. Step 3: Determine provisional Priorities by applying the principles The principles to be applied to determine Priorities (Part 6, Division 1 of the Environmental Watering Plan) are: scale