Fact sheet: Environmental works and measures
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, November 2011
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The Australian Government is providing funding to investigate additional environmental works and measures that could deliver water to the environment more efficiently
Environmental works and measures alone cannot return the river system to good health. Works and measures may provide local water savings, and further consideration of works and measures forms part of the government's water reform strategy for the Basin.
Community decision-making
Local groups will be invited to develop and submit proposals on environmental works and measures. Details of how best to involve local communities in identifying more environmental works and measures are being developed by the state governments.
Communities know their "patch" and are often in the best position to generate innovative proposals for managing water in their local area.
Progress to date
Australian and state governments have already invested $287.8 million in the Living Murray program to deliver environmental works and measures across five of the six Living Murray icon sites.
Further to this, in May 2011 the Australian Government approved $10 million from its Water for the Future initiative towards helping states and communities to identify, develop and test the feasibility of potential works and measures to address recommendations made by the inquiry.
Feasibility assessments for seventeen state-led environmental works and measures projects are already underway.
- New South Wales is undertaking eight projects including assessing water efficiencies and environmental benefits at Euston Lakes through a more natural wetting and drying regime; identifying potential gains from developing pipelines to supply irrigation users in close vicinity to State Water dams; and investigating potential benefits from enhancing the outlet capacity at Burrendong dam, near Wellington.
- Queensland is looking at the prospect of environmental works and measures in priority locations such as the Lower Balonne catchment.
- South Australia's three projects include assessing the feasibility of installing new environmental regulators in the Pike and Katfish Reach floodplains near Renmark; hydrological modelling to determine possible low flow bypass devices in dams in the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges; and an assessment of the implications of large environmental flows to South Australia.
- Victoria's five projects include progressing stage 2 of the Lindsay Island project to construct a large weir and eight smaller regulators to improve inundation regimes for more than 5000 hectares including large areas of river red gum floodplain; and investigating potential structural works to deliver environmental water to various Victorian sites, between Echuca and the South Australian Border.
These feasibility studies are a priority for funding because the water use efficiencies have the potential to increase sustainable diversion limits.
Example of environmental works and measures—Koondrook-Perricoota Forest, Murray River Floodplain, upstream of Barham, NSW
The Koondrook-Perricoota Forest Flood Enhancement Works have been designed to reinstate the critical process of flooding to Koondrook-Perricoota Forest for forest health.
This will be achieved through the installation of engineering structures including turtle ramps, levee banks, fish gates, regulators and channels to divert and control flows through the forest to reinstate more natural patterns of connectivity between the river and floodplain. (Image courtesy of New South Wales Office of Water)
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