1. Click to edit Master subtitle style 8/10/10 NEMP and EWA Programs: Flow and Water Quality Richard Davis Program Coordinator

2. 8/10/10 Blue Green Algal Crisis 1991 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)

3. 8/10/10 Management Responses Emergency 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

4. 8/10/10 National Eutrophication Management Program 1995- 2000 LRDDC 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.

5. 8/10/10 NEMP Structure Management Committee Manager: Nick Schofield Focus catchments Wilsons Inlet Upper Namoi Fitzroy (Qld) Goulburn-Broken 39 projects $2m from funders ($4m total)

6. 8/10/10 Eutrophication Issues Sources 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

7. 8/10/10 NEMP Achievements New 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

8. 8/10/10 Management Outcomes Major 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 Wilsons Inlet Results not always easily transferable without local studies

9. Click to edit the outline text format Second Outline Level Third Outline Level Fourth Outline Level Fifth Outline Level Sixth Outline Level Seventh Outline Level Eighth Outline Level Ninth Outline LevelClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level 8/10/10 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

10. 8/10/10 Environmental Water Provision Effects of drought apparent 1994 COAG Agreement failed to achieve environmental water outcomes 2004 National Water Initiative Environmental water restricted by knowledge

11. 8/10/10 Environmental Water Allocation Program 2004-2009 Scope – 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.

12. 8/10/10 EWA Structure $4m over 5 years Commonwealth agency Program Management Committee Managers: Ian Prosser, Tom Aldred, Jim Donaldson 12 projects

13. 8/10/10 EWA Achievements Australia 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

14. 8/10/10 Retrospective Program 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

15. 8/10/10 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 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