Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Progress against priorities for 2012–13

2012–13 Portfolio Budget Statements key performance indicators

The office has met its key performance indicators identified in the 2012–13 Portfolio Budget Statements for the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, demonstrating:

• 
  the effective use of Commonwealth environmental water for the protection and restoration of environmental assets as demonstrated in the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office 2011–12 Outcomes Report (published in March 2013).
  
• 
  engagement with local communities and water delivery and water holding partners, having regard to local experience, knowledge and perspectives when undertaking environmental watering. This has been demonstrated by the development of annual water use options plans, regular attendance of meetings and site visits in Basin catchments and commencing the establishment of a network of Commonwealth Environmental Water Office local engagement officers.
  

Priorities for 2012–13

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office 2012–13 business plan identified the office priorities for 2012–13, which included and built upon the program deliverables outlined in the 2012–13 Portfolio Budget Statements. The progress and outcomes achieved against these priorities are outlined below.

Management of Commonwealth environmental water in 2012–13

Commonwealth environmental water made available for use

During 2012–13 for Commonwealth environmental water:

• 
  the total amount of water in Commonwealth accounts was 1676 gigalitres
  
• 
  a total of 1272 gigalitres was delivered
  
• 
  a total of 393 gigalitres of water (23 per cent of the total volume available in Commonwealth accounts) was carried over into 2013–14—a reduction of 222 gigalitres from the carryover on 1 July 2012.
  

Commonwealth environmental water availability and use since 2008–09 is shown in Figure 1. The Commonwealth environmental entitlement holdings in the Basin grew from 1368 gigalitres to 1629 gigalitres during 2012–13 (at 30 June 2013—see Appendix A). These holdings will deliver, on average, 1190 gigalitres of water to the environment each year. Subsequent to the Basin Plan being made, the office delivered Commonwealth environmental water consistent with Basin Plan obligations.
Figure 1: Commonwealth environmental water availability and use since 2008–09



Note:
Data have been updated since previous annual reports in accordance with revised accounting treatment of some entitlements and water use. Evaporative losses have been deducted from carryover figures.

Catchment summaries

Drier conditions returned to the Basin in 2012–13². Commonwealth environmental watering in 2012–13 continued to build on the ecological recovery of riverine and wetland communities following the wetter conditions experienced in Basin catchments from 2010 to early 2012.

Watering actions throughout the Basin in 2012–13 were managed and delivered with the assistance of partners including water management authorities, local advisory groups, landholders and scientists. Commonwealth environmental water was usually delivered in conjunction with state government environmental water.

During 2012–13 the office, with the assistance of its partners, contributed to the following key environmental watering achievements:

• 
  coordinated environmental water planning and delivery with other state and local environmental water holders, water managers and infrastructure operators
  
• 
  worked with local communities and advisory groups to plan for and manage Commonwealth environmental water
  
• 
  generated ecological outcomes in response to Commonwealth environmental watering, which were supported by observations and intervention monitoring.
  

Commonwealth environmental water was used for the first time in a number of locations, including the Namoi River, the Mallowa wetlands in the Gwydir catchment, Whirlpool Corner, Disher Creek and Berri Basin in South Australia, Tuppal and Gwynnes Creeks of the Edward–Wakool catchment and wetland areas of the western lower Murrumbidgee floodplain near Balranald. Return flows totalling 240 gigalitres from catchments of the Southern Connected Basin were used to achieve multi-site environmental outcomes.

The office also undertook the first use of Commonwealth environmental water as part of a long-term agreement with a non-government organisation (the Nature Foundation South Australia) at Clarks Floodplain near Berri.

A summary of the volume of Commonwealth environmental water delivered in the Basin during 2012–13 is provided in Appendix B. More detail on each Commonwealth watering event undertaken during 2012–13 is provided in Appendix C.

Carryover of Commonwealth environmental water in 2012–13

Carryover is a water management mechanism available in regulated parts of the Basin. It entitles water licence holders to defer use of some water that is available in one year until the following year, when it may be of more benefit.

The Commonwealth carried 393 gigalitres (net, or 23 per cent of the Commonwealth water available in accounts) over from 2012–13 into 2013–14, which was a smaller volume of carryover than in the prior year because water use in the year exceeded allocations (see Appendix D). This proportion of carryover is slightly lower than that of other water users. The water is held across nine catchments and is equivalent to about 1.8 per cent of the total public storage capacity across the Basin. In 2013–14, 43 per cent of the carryover will be held in the Southern Connected Basin and 57 per cent of the carryover will be held in the Northern Basin.

Trade of Commonwealth environmental water

No trade was conducted in 2012–13.

Monitoring of Commonwealth environmental watering

In 2012–13 short term (one year) targeted intervention monitoring projects were commissioned by the office and undertaken in key areas across the Basin including the Murrumbidgee, Edward–Wakool, Lower Murray and Goulburn catchments. More detail about these projects is included in Table 1. Results of monitoring Commonwealth environmental water actions are published on the office’s website and demonstrate the environmental benefits of these actions.
Table 1: Summary of Commonwealth environmental water short-term ecological monitoring projects commenced in 2012–13 (results expected to be published in early 2014)

Catchment	Site	Indicators of ecological response to environmental water	Organisation
			Lead	Partner
Goulburn-Broken	Goulburn River and Broken Creek	Primary productivity, fish, macroinvertebrates, habitat, sediment, vegetation and water quality.	University of Melbourne (Murray–Darling Freshwater Research Centre oversight)	Monash University, Arthur Rylah Institute
Murray	Edward–Wakool River system	Water quality, organic matter, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, phytoplankton, biofilms, fish and frogs.	Charles Sturt University	NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Monash University, NSW Department of Primary Industry (DPI), Murray Catchment Management Authority (CMA), Wakool Landholders
Murrumbidgee	Murrumbidgee River and adjacent wetlands	Biofilms, vegetation macroinvertebrates, fish, frogs, water quality, waterbirds, zooplankton and carbon/nutrients.	Charles Sturt University	NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, University of NSW, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority
Lower Murray	Murray River channel, Lower Lakes, Coorong	Fish (spawning, assemblage, recruitment, movement and natal origin); water quality (salt and nutrient export); larval fish food resources; fringing wetland connectivity and frogs.	South Australian Research and Development Institute	University of Adelaide, University of Western Australia, CSIRO