How plants along the Goulburn River
respond to environmental watering
What is environmental water?
Environmental water is water set aside
to improve or maintain the health of
rivers, floodplains, wetlands and estuaries
- including the plants and animals that
depend on them.
Why is the lower Goulburn
River important?
The lower Goulburn River includes
the river and associated wetlands and
floodplains between the Goulburn Weir
and the Murray River (235km). The river
supports large areas of river red gum
forest, numerous floodplain wetlands,
a range of native fish (including Murray
cod, trout cod, silver perch and golden
perch) and a variety of recreational
activities such as fishing and boating. The
river also has many important cultural
heritage sites and provides water for
agriculture and urban centers.
This, with recent droughts and floods,
has led to a decline in the environmental
health of the river.
How is environmental water used?
The Commonwealth Environmental
Water Holder (CEWH), the Victorian
Environmental Water Holder and the
Murray-Darling Basin Authority hold
environmental water entitlements
available for use in the Goulburn River.
To date environmental water use in the
lower Goulburn River has focused on:
• increasing base flows throughout the
year to increase habitat for native fish
and invertebrates; and
• providing ‘freshes’ (short pulses of
flow) to provide life cycle cues for
native fish, maintain water quality
and support the establishment of
vegetation on the riverbank.
Regulation of the Goulburn River has
affected natural flow patterns and
volumes.
Long Term Intervention Monitoring Project Fact Sheet
What is the Long-Term
Intervention Monitoring Project?
The CEWH has established the Long-Term
Intervention Monitoring project to monitor
and evaluate the ecological outcomes of
environmental water use. The Long-Term
Intervention Monitoring project is being
implemented over five years (2014 to
2019) at seven Selected Areas including
the lower Goulburn River.
Monitoring and evaluation is essential to
ensure the environmental water is used as
effectively and efficiently as possible, and
that the Commonwealth Environmental
Water Holder meets its obligations
under the Water Act (2007). The project
aims to evaluate the large-scale effect
of environmental water use, as well as
specific responses in each Selected Area.
Data from this project will also be analysed
with data from the other six Selected
Areas to inform a Basin-scale evaluation of
the contribution of environmental water
to the environmental objectives of the
Basin Plan (http://www.environment.gov.
au/water/cewo/monitoring/ltim-project).
Why do the plants matter?
The Goulburn River supports a diverse
range of plant communities along its
length. These include River Red Gum
open forests and woodlands, Yellow
Box and Grey Box woodlands and open
forest.
Why is the riverbank
vegetation being monitored?
Monitoring programs have been
established in the lower Goulburn River
to assess the effect of environmental
water on a range of values, including
vegetation along the riverbank.
The surveys will help us understand
how water flows can contribute
to rehabilitation of the riverbank
vegetation. This includes considering
how water levels in the river and
particular flow events may stimulate
plant growth and reproduction as well
as maintain plants in the longer term.
The riverbank vegetation along
the lower Goulburn River has been
monitored at four sites every two years
since 2008 as part of the Victorian
Environmental Flows Monitoring and
Assessment Program. The Long-Term
Intervention Monitoring project will
continue to monitor two of these four
sites until 2018. This long-term data will
provide valuable information to help us
understand how flows along with other
factors such as dry and wet climatic
conditions influence the recovery of
riverbank vegetation on the Goulburn
River.
Riverbank vegetation helps maintain
water quality by trapping sediments and
nutrients flowing from the floodplain
before they reach the river. Plant
roots stabilise riverbanks and prevent
soil erosion. Plants provide food and
shelter for animals, and allow animal
movement. They also play a role in
lowering water tables, providing
shade to the river and regulating
water temperatures. When trees and
other plants die and fall into a river,
they provide a food source for aquatic
animals, as well as create complex
habitats and influence how water
moves within the river.
The vegetation along the Goulburn
River has changed significantly, after
experiencing a prolonged drought and
then record breaking floods. Some
plant species were unable to survive
these extreme conditions, and others
were lost when some sections of the
river experienced severe bank erosion.
Understanding these changes is
important for managing our rivers into
the future.
What do the vegetation
surveys involve?
The vegetation along the Goulburn
River will be surveyed to understand
what types of plants are present, how
abundant they are and if key woody
species are recruiting. The data will
also be used to test if the presence
or abundance of certain types of
vegetation is related to different aspects
of the flow regime that they experience,
for example, how often, how long
and/or how deeply they are inundated
with water each year. How differences
in the features of the riverbank (such
as steepness), as well as its condition
(including levels of erosion, collapse and
soil compaction) influence vegetation
will also be investigated.
Who is undertaking the work?
Our project team is a collaboration
between the Goulburn Broken
Catchment Management Authority,
University of Melbourne, the Arthur
Rylah Institute (Department of
Environment, Land, Water and
Planning), Monash University,
Streamology, Goulburn Valley Water
and Jacobs.
How can I find out more?
For further information contact Dr Kay
Morris at the Arthur Rylah Institute
(Department of Environment, Land, Water
and Planning) ([email protected].
au), Simon Casanelia at the Goulburn
Broken Catchment Management
Authority ([email protected]), or
Dr Angus Webb, University of Melbourne
([email protected]).