River dependent ecosystems
Project details
| Objective: |
To increase knowledge and enhance capacity to underpin water planning in the north for both surface water and groundwater systems. |
| Funding: |
up to $6.175 million plus applicable GST. This is in addition to $11 million provided by the Australian Government to the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) research hub as part of a $30 million water research program in northern Australia. |
| Jurisdiction: |
Multi State |
| Commenced: |
January 2007 |
| Completion: | 30 June 2011 |
About the project
The Australian Government is contributing funds to increase knowledge and enhance capacity to underpin water planning in the north for both surface water and groundwater systems. The National Water Commission's involvement as a partner and investor in the TRaCK research hub will support the achievement of Northern Australia water management objectives in the National Water Initiative, particularly in relation to water planning and the adaptive management of northern surface and groundwater systems in order to meet productive, environmental and public benefit outcomes.
Research on the importance of natural flow attributes for the protection and maintenance of environmental assets will assist policy makers in ensuring that future development scenarios for northern Australia are sustainable. This project, in concert with TRaCK's other activities will also be a major source of information for the Australian Water Resource Information System.
Project benefits
Raising National Water Standards investment in TRaCK will improve Northern Australia's capacity to develop and implement water management planning processes that incorporate environmental, cultural and economic factors in areas of strong inter-seasonal variation. Key outcomes include:
- formulating tools to incorporate values and transparent trade-offs in water planning
- capacity-building tools for effective planning and decision making
- river flows and indigenous socio-cultural and economic values
- identifying environmental flow requirements for northern Australian rivers
- catchment water budgets and water resource management.
Project outcomes
The National Water Commission, through the RNWS program, was a co-funder of the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) Research Hub along with DSEWPaC through their Commonwealth Environmental Research Facilities (CERF) Program and Land and Water Australia. NWC funding of $5.5m (incl GST) was allocated to what was a $30m program.
Protecting Indigenous Values in Water Management: A Challenge to Conventional Environmental Flow Assessments is the major report from TRaCK project 2.2 Indigenous values and river flows led by Dr Sue Jackson of CSIRO. The three year study focussed on two communities in each of two catchments – the Fitzroy of Western Australia and the Daly River of the Northern Territory.
The report presents the quantitative results from the economic component of the project that estimated the value of aquatic customary harvest to participating communities and assessed the impacts of potential flow alteration to that value.
Additional products relating to this project may be found on the TRaCK website.