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8/10/10

NEMP and EWA Programs: Flow and Water Quality

Richard DavisProgram Coordinator

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Blue Green Algal Crisis1991 Darling River bloom

NSW state of emergency

Estimated $2.4 million loss of tourist revenue and $2 million on alternative water supplies

Other blooms

800km of the River Murray Hume Dam -Euston

in 1983

Various reservoirs

Swan River, WA

Estuaries and coastal lakes

Moreton bay

Annual cost between $180-240 million (Atech)

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Management ResponsesEmergency committees

MDBC Task Force

NSW Blue-Green Algal Task Force

Victoria BG Algal Project Team

Focus on

Identification and Protection

Prevention - nutrient reduction, especially phosphorus

Science reviews by LWRRDC and MDBC

In-principle understanding based largely on northern hemisphere

Local processes not well known

Flow and turbidity appear correlated but causes not understood

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National Eutrophication Management Program 1995-

2000LRDDC and MDBC

Scope

Catchments

In-stream

Reservoirs

Estuaries

Objectives

Understand processes leading to the initiation and development of algal blooms

Help prevent and manage impacts of eutrophication

Communicate research findings to relevant stakeholders.

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NEMP StructureManagement Committee

Manager: Nick Schofield

Focus catchments

Wilsons Inlet

Upper Namoi

Fitzroy (Qld)

Goulburn-Broken

39 projects $2m from

funders ($4m total)

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Eutrophication IssuesSources and bioavailability of phosphorus

Role of nitrogen (N) and micro-nutrients

Role of stratification and flow, and light

Role of sediments

Estuaries, reservoirs and rivers

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NEMP AchievementsNew knowledge (including non-NEMP

research)

Nitrogen is equally important to phosphorus in controlling algal growth in the Murray–Darling Basin, and possibly elsewhere.

Light, not nutrients, is commonly the controlling factor in inland rivers

Bioavailable fraction of phosphorus is roughly equal from dryland, irrigation and sewage-treatment plant sources

Phosphorus can travel through subsoil pathways, bypassing surface interception measures

Review article illustrated how Australian eutrophication differs, within a universal framework

Eutrophication in Australian Rivers... Hydrobiologia 2006 559:23-76

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Management OutcomesMajor management implications from findings

Some management methods

Reservoir bio-manipulation

Rapid bio-available phosphorus assay

Sediment control in sub-tropical rivers

Focus catchments benefitted – especially Wilson’s Inlet

Results not always easily transferable without local studies

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Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

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Communication and Uptake

Basin Plan will be measure of uptake

Built communications between disparate researchers and managers

Shifted attention away from just phosphorus control

Reinstated importance of flow management, in regulated rivers

Greater attention to water quality and nutrient control including sediments

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Environmental Water ProvisionEffects of drought apparent

1994 COAG Agreement failed to achieve environmental water outcomes

2004 National Water Initiative

Environmental water restricted by knowledge

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Environmental Water Allocation Program 2004-2009Scope – national but MDB emphasis

Objectives

Better managing developed systems. Knowledge is not the limitation: need to demonstrate and improve the ecological outcomes produced from environmental allocations.

Understanding undeveloped ecosystems. Limited knowledge ephemeral and monsoonal rivers, groundwater dependent ecosystems and estuaries.

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EWA Structure$4m over 5 years

Commonwealth agency Program Management Committee

Managers: Ian Prosser, Tom Aldred, Jim Donaldson

12 projects

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EWA AchievementsAustralia already had strong body of research

Communication products – Fact Sheets – widely distributed

Even so, management uptake

Environmental water buybacks study

Toolbox for GDEs

Water needs of fish in Daly river

Support for CLLAMM

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RetrospectiveProgram planning for NEMP and EWA set

scene

Focus catchment engagement excellent

Scientists collaborated very well – not routine in 1995

$2m and $4m were stretched very far – but good outcomes

Maybe better payoffs with institutional, economic and social research

Australia leader in K&A; but needed even more emphasis on engagement and client readiness

Always long-term benefits are difficult to discern influence

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Technical eutrophication topics in review paper

Environmental water provisions is the laggard of reform – lack of knowledge is a key impediment

EWA and eutrophication need to be treated together

Changes in flow patterns causes algal blooms, blackwater events, ASS

Poor water quality affects fit-for-purpose water

Being able to predict ecosystem outcomes of flows is the holy grail

Technical eutrophication topics in review paperEnvironmental water provisions is the laggard of reform – lack of knowledge is a key impedimentEWA and eutrophication need to be treated together

Changes in flow patterns causes algal blooms, blackwater events, ASSPoor water quality affects fit-for-purpose waterBeing able to predict ecosystem outcomes of flows is the holy grail