Water for the environment

There is a diverse range of wetlands along the River Murray in SA including permanent rivers, streams and creeks, permanent and brackish lakes, and intermittent or seasonal lakes, streams, and creeks. Environmental water plays a vital role in supporting the future of the River Murray and its wetlands and floodplains. With water diversions and regulation both interstate and within South Australia, the flows in the River Murray have significantly declined. The floodplain wetlands along the river now face either permanent inundation, due to the locks and weirs holding artificially high pool levels, or are subjected to more frequent ‘human induced’ droughts. Wetland management and planning aims to address this situation by implementing more natural water regimes. For some wetlands this means implementing occasional drying regimes and for others it means aiming to flood the wetland more frequently.

The Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board 's Wetland and Floodplain Team undertakes the coordination and on-ground delivery of significant projects related to the River Murray floodplain and wetlands. The team also has a key role as an advocate for environmental flows and environmental water management.

The Wetland and Floodplain team delivers:

The geographic scope of the unit is wetlands and floodplain located along the River Murray from the border to the Murray Mouth and includes the Katarapko Floodplain, and wetlands and floodplains on private land and public lands. So that this water is used effectively, plans are in place for the management of these wetlands and floodplains, and the ecological condition of these areas is monitored.

Innovation in Wetland Management

In order to maximise the benefits of environmental watering outcomes, the wetlands team is constantly developing its approach to water delivery. Recent trials have focussed on smaller, more frequent applications of water, rather than one wetting event, with very encouraging responses from the southern bell frog, a species listed as under threat in South Australia.

The outcomes and findings from this project are summarised as part of the report Delivering a targeted e-water regime to support a higher level of Southern Bell Frog (Litoria raniformis) recruitment in temporary wetlands, Riverland SA.