Acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the Murray-Darling Basin The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office respectfully acknowledges the traditional owners, their Elders past and present, their Nations of the Murray-Darling Basin, and their cultural, social, environmental, spiritual and economic connection to their lands and waters. © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2017. Portfolio Management Planning: Approach to planning for the use, carryover and trade of Commonwealth environmental water 2017–18 is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: This report should be attributed as ‘Portfolio Management Planning: Approach to planning for the use, carryover and trade of Commonwealth environmental water 2017–18, Commonwealth of Australia 2017’. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication
Figure 1: Environmental demand and water available influence the purpose of Commonwealth environmental water management Table 2: Environmental outcomes in scope under different ‘purposes’ Avoid damage: Avoid damage to environmental assets Protect: Ensure ecological capacity for recovery Maintain: Maintain ecological health and resilience Improve: Improve the health and resilience of aquatic ecosystems / build future capacity to support ecological health and resilience Broad environmental outcomes in scope Avoid critical loss of species, communities and ecosystems Maintain key refuges Avoid irretrievable damage or catastrophic events Support the survival and viability of threatened species and communities Maintain refuges Support key ecosystem functions. Enable growth, reproduction and small-scale recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna Promote low-lying floodplain-river connectivity Support medium flow river and floodplain functional processes Enable growth, reproduction and large-scale recruitment for a diverse range of flora and fauna Promote and sustain higher floodplain-river connectivity Support high flow river and floodplain functional processes <1 year expected outcomes in scope Vegetation condition Vegetation reproduction, germination and dispersal Fish condition Fish larval abundance and reproduction Waterbird survival and condition Waterbird chicks and fledglings Other vertebrate young Hydrological connectivity including end of system flows (Longitudinal) (Lateral) Biotic dispersal and movement Sediment transport Primary productivity; decomposition; nutrient and carbon cycling Individual survival and condition (inc refuges) Individual condition (ecosystem resistance) Salinity; dissolved oxygen; pH; dissolved organic carbon; algal blooms