NSW environmental water managers and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder are working together to protect a natural flow event moving down the Murrumbidgee River.
Recent rainfall and tributary inflows have generated a natural increase in river flows. Environmental water managers are using their General Security allocations to maintain ownership of this water as it moves downstream, helping maximise environmental benefits throughout the system.
This is a unique opportunity created by significant natural inflows. Protecting the event requires a substantial volume of environmental water and is not an approach that would be applied to all surplus flow events. Environmental water managers carefully assess each event on a case-by-case basis to ensure the best environmental outcomes are achieved while making efficient use of available water.
The use of the tributary inflows in this circumstance has meant that the environmental order has not required releases from the dams which should result in having a positive effect on General Security allocations. By protecting and retaining ownership of this natural flow, known as a river fresh, water can travel further through the river network. It supports native fish, improves river health and maintains connections between important habitats.
River freshes are smaller flow events that reconnect rivers with wetlands and floodplain habitats. These connections provide food and shelter for native plants and animals, support healthy fish populations, and help maintain productive and resilient river ecosystems.
Benefits for the Mid-Murrumbidgee
River regulation has reduced the number of small and medium flow events reaching many wetlands in the Mid-Murrumbidgee, leaving some areas disconnected from the river.
Winter and spring river freshes help reconnect these wetlands. This improves food availability for native fish and supports wetland plants and animals. It also allows young fish to move between wetlands and the river and helps maintain healthy wetland conditions into summer.
Benefits for the Lower Murrumbidgee
The Lower Murrumbidgee floodplain provides important habitat, breeding areas and food resources for native fish and other wildlife.
River freshes connect rivers, lakes and floodplain creeks, creating opportunities for native fish to breed, grow and move throughout the system. These flows also increase food and habitat resources, boost river productivity and help maintain important refuge habitats during summer.
