Derivation of a salinity target for the Lower Murray Darling Valley

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
N. Maini ◽  
A. Buchan ◽  
S. Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Management Policy ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Main River ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
Salinity Management ◽  
Management Changes ◽  
Valley River

The NSW Government commissioned catchment management boards (CMBs) to set the direction and process for catchment scale natural resource management. In the Lower Murray Darling, Rivers are highly regulated and water resources shared between three states. The Catchment Board only has jurisdiction over the northern bank of the Murray but salt and water enter the river from many locations upstream and along the area boundary. River salt and flow modelling has continually been improved to reflect and contribute to an increased understanding of salinity processes. The MDBC Salt Load study correlates 10 years of actual measured data with its modelled outputs, and estimates river salinities for 2020, 2050 and 2100. Routing models such as SALTFLO and MURKEY generate percentile salinity levels at different nodes in the River Murray downstream of the Lower Darling confluence. National, Murray-Darling Basin and NSW salinity management policy and legislative requirements were considered, MDBC model output was used to ensure the interim targets are achievable, auditable, and appropriate to the catchment. The method for an end-of-valley river based target for salinity is described. A target of less than 463 μS/cm for Lock 6, a point in the lower reaches of the Murray River is recommended for year 2010. Catchment management targets that express the main river salinity risk in five hydrologically distinct management zones are also recommended. Salinity management changes are needed in each zone to meet the end-of-valley target.

scholarly journals On-farm options for managing stream salinity in irrigation areas: an example from the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahbaz Khan ◽  
Muhammad Nadeem Asghar ◽  
Shahbaz Mushtaq ◽  
Aftab Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Salt Concentration ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Stream Flows ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Water Tables ◽  
Farm Scale ◽  
Salinity Management ◽  
On Farm

Increasing salt concentration in tributaries from catchments and rising water tables are the prime contributor to environmental degradation of rivers, creeks, streams or other water bodies. This is especially true during periods of mid- and low stream flows in arid and semi-arid regions around the globe. Catchment scale studies suggest that management of stream salinity requires greater land use change than is economically viable. Therefore, rather than focusing on the opportunity cost of catchment scale interventions, exploring interventions that are potentially viable at farm scale could be an appropriate strategy for stream salinity management. This paper presents an analysis of alternative on-farm strategies, such as evaporation ponds and serial biological concentration of salts, aimed at developing an economically self-sustainable stream salinity management system for the Box Creek stormwater escape channel located in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. It is concluded that irrigation areas, with careful management of flows in tributary streams, may be able to play a role in safeguarding the Murray River against further salinisation from irrigation and dryland areas. The outcomes of this paper will be helpful, but not limited to, the MDB in addressing environmental, economic and social issues associated with management of salt concentration in tributaries.

Murray-Darling Basin Commission: a case study in integrated catchment management

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Integrated Catchment Management ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Basin Water

This paper describes the Australian Murray-Darling basin experience in integrated catchment management, what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The basin water is shared by three states, but falls under the jurisdiction of four governments, that of the Commonwealth as well as the State governments. The critical development in recent years at the political and bureaucratic level was the establishment of a three-tier management structure that allows common interests to be developed, discussed, resolved and implemented. Two main problems had to be resolved before significant co-operative action could take place, namely the issues of water sharing between the states and the sharing of costs associated with Murray River salinity. A framework Salinity and Drainage Strategy was developed to address this, and is described. This paper also describes the Natural Resources Management Strategy, the cornerstone of efforts to sustain the natural resources of the basin. The strategy emphasises community participation and empowerment. The problems identified, strategic aims to address these problems and the role of community action are detailed.

Collection and distribution of the early life stages of the Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii) in a regulated river

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Koehn ◽  
D. J. Harrington
Keyword(s):  
Regulated River ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Power Stations ◽  
Main River ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Drifting Larvae ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Murray Cod ◽  
Flowing Waters

The Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii) is a large fish species keenly sought by anglers. However, this species has declined in distribution and abundance and is now listed nationally as vulnerable. This study was undertaken in the Ovens and Murray rivers, to collect larvae and age-0 Murray cod and determine the distribution of larval Murray cod around the mid-Murray River irrigation storage of Lake Mulwala. Murray cod larvae were collected from 17 of 18 sites: main channels and flowing anabranch channels of regulated and unregulated rivers, sites upstream and downstream of the lake, in the upper and lower reaches of the lake, and in the outflowing Yarrawonga irrigation channel. Larval Murray cod were collected only by methods that sampled drift in flowing waters. Age-0 Murray cod were collected by electrofishing in the main river, but not in off-channel waters, suggesting that cod are likely to settle into habitats in the main channel at a post-larval stage. The widespread occurrence of drifting larvae suggests that this species may be subject to previously unrecognised threats as they pass through hydro-electric power stations or become stranded in anabranch and irrigation channels. Results of this study are likely to be applicable to other species with drifting larval stages, and are relevant to other locations in the Murray–Darling Basin.

scholarly journals Salinity Management in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Hart ◽  
Glen Walker ◽  
Asitha Katupitiya ◽  
Jane Doolan
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Governance System ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
The Future ◽  
Salinity Management

The southern Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) is particularly vulnerable to salinity problems. Much of the Basin’s landscape and underlying groundwater is naturally saline with groundwater not being suitable for human or irrigation use. Since European settlement in the early 1800s, two actions—the clearance of deep-rooted native vegetation for dryland agriculture and the development of irrigation systems on the Riverine Plains and Mallee region—have resulted in more water now entering the groundwater systems, resulting in mobilization of the salt to the land surface and to rivers. While salinity has been a known issue since the 1960s, it was only in the mid-1980s that was recognized as one of the most significant environmental and economic challenges facing the MDB. Concerted and cooperative action since 1988 by the Commonwealth and Basin state governments under a salinity management approach implemented over the past 30 years has resulted in salinity now being largely under control, but still requiring on-going active management into the future. The approach has involved the development of three consecutive salinity strategies governing actions from 1988 to 2000, from 2001 to 2015, and the most recent from 2016 to 2030. The basis of the approach and all three strategies is an innovative, world-leading salinity management framework consisting of: An agreed salinity target; joint works and measures to reduce salt entering the rivers; and an agreed accountability and governance system consisting of a system of salinity credits to offset debits, a robust and agreed method to quantify the credits and debits, and a salinity register to keep track of credits and debits. This paper first provides background to the salinity issue in the MDB, then reviews the three salinity management strategies, the various actions that have been implemented through these strategies to control salinity, and the role of the recent Basin Plan in salinity management. We then discuss the future of salinity in the MDB given that climate change is forecast to lead to a hotter, drier and more variable climate (particularly more frequent droughts), and that increased salt loads to the River Murray are predicted to come from the lower reaches of the Mallee region. Finally, we identify the key success factors of the program.

The Sustainable Rivers Audit: assessing river ecosystem health in the Murray - Darling Basin, Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 764 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Davies ◽  
J. H. Harris ◽  
T. J. Hillman ◽  
K. F. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
River Health ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Field Samples ◽  
Health Assessments ◽  
Condition Indicator

The Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA) is a systematic assessment of the health of river ecosystems in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. It has similarities to the United States’ Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, the European Water Framework Directive and the South African River Health Program, but is designed expressly to represent functional and structural links between ecosystem components, biophysical condition and human interventions in the MDB. Environmental metrics derived from field samples and/or modelling are combined as indicators of condition in five themes (Hydrology, Fish, Macroinvertebrates, Vegetation and Physical Form). Condition indicator ratings are combined using expert-system rules to indicate ecosystem health, underpinned by conceptual models. Reference condition, an estimate of condition had there been no significant human intervention in the landscape, provides a benchmark for comparisons. To illustrate, a synopsis is included of health assessments in 2004–2007. This first audit completed assessments of condition and ecosystem health at the valley scale and in altitudinal zones, and future reports will include trend assessments. SRA river-health assessments are expected to play a key role in future water and catchment management through integration in a Basin Plan being developed by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority for implementation after 2011. For example, there could be links to facilitate monitoring against environmental targets.

Contribution of stocked fish to riverine populations of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 1401 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Crook ◽  
Damien J. O'Mahony ◽  
Bronwyn M. Gillanders ◽  
Andrew R. Munro ◽  
Andrew C. Sanger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Size ◽  
Recreational Fisheries ◽  
Catch Per Unit Effort ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Murray Darling Basin ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Native Fishes ◽  
Release Location ◽  
Three Rivers ◽  
Natural Recruitment

Stocking of native fishes is conducted to augment riverine fisheries in many parts of the world, yet most stocking activities are conducted without empirical information on their effectiveness or impacts. In the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia, stocking has been underway for several decades to maintain recreational fisheries. We stocked chemically tagged golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) fingerlings in three rivers to determine the proportions of stocked fish within populations of the species. Stocked sites were monitored for up to 5 years in the Murrumbidgee River, Edward River and Billabong Creek and non-stocked sites were monitored in the Murray River. Catch per unit effort of stocked year classes increased substantially in Billabong Creek, with stocked fish contributing 100 (2005), 79 (2006) and 92% (2007). Chemically tagged fish comprised 18–38% of the respective age classes in the Murrumbidgee and Edward rivers and there was little evidence of natural recruitment in the non-stocked Murray River. Tagged fish generally attained the legal minimum size within 4 years and had dispersed up to 60km from the original release location. Our results demonstrate that artificial stocking has the potential to strongly influence the abundance and population structure of golden perch in rivers of the MDB.

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