Monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management in the Murray–Darling Basin

Gawne, Ben; Ryan, Katie A.; Coleman, Matthew; Meehan, Alex; Davies, PE; Sluggett, Adam; Lowes, Andy; Crossman, N. D.; Mues, Colin

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818152-2.00011-5

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

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“…Degradation, already apparent on account of water resource development (Thoms and Sheldon, 2000;Leigh and Sheldon, 2008;Shaeri Karimi et al, 2021), has undermined the resilience of freshwater ecosystems to cope with extreme droughts (Colloff and Baldwin 2010;Sandi et al, 2020). Improving the likelihood of meeting environmental restoration targets, under a likely drying future requires substantial and urgent transformative strategies (Smith et al, 2011) for the upcoming review of the Basin Plan in 2026 (Gawne et al, 2021). The Basin's waterbirds are indicators of the freshwater ecosystems and leave two options to consider in order to meet restoration and avoid possible collapse: 1) Increase water allocations for the environment and improve management effectiveness tailored to waterbird life histories such as opportunities for breeding and improved habitat quality or 2) reduce restoration targets for waterbirds for the Basin-wide environmental watering strategy set to be reviewed in 2022 while observing ongoing declines.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting Goalposts: Setting Restoration Targets for Waterbirds in the Murray-Darling Basin Under Climate Change

Bino

Brandis

Kingsford

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin) is the largest river system in Australia, supplying about 40% of the country’s irrigated agricultural output. Associated water resource development has come with a heavy price for the Basin’s freshwater ecosystems degrading them over decades. Australian governments are attempting to achieve environmental sustainability by returning water to the environment through buy-back of irrigation licences and improved water efficiencies. To determine effectiveness, basin-wide management objectives were established for key indicators, including waterbird populations and life histories which can effectively indicate ecosystem function and condition, driven by flow and flooding regimes. Ongoing monitoring of waterbird numbers indicates continued declines. We evaluated the feasibility of meeting established waterbird objectives under existing and predicted climates. We modelled long-term waterbird numbers using one of the world’s largest ongoing waterbird surveys (1983–2020), covering about 13.5% of the area of the entire Basin. Our findings suggest that under near future climate change projections, waterbird numbers will likely continue to decline, and remain below restoration targets set for the Basin. We discuss the current policy settings for using environmental water to support waterbird populations, recommending adjustments to restore the Basin’s waterbird populations and their wetlands in order to meet Australia’s conservation targets in relation to the ongoing global crisis of biodiversity loss.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting Goalposts: Setting Restoration Targets for Waterbirds in the Murray-Darling Basin Under Climate Change

Bino

Brandis

Kingsford

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Not Just Another Assessment Method: Reimagining Environmental Flows Assessments in the Face of Uncertainty

Horne

Webb

Mussehl

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The numerous environmental flows assessment methods that exist typically assume a stationary climate. Adaptive management is commonly put forward as the preferred approach for managing uncertainty and change in environmental flows. However, we contend that a simple adaptive management loop falls short of meeting the challenges posed by climate change. Rather, a fundamental rethink is required to ensure both the structure of environmental flows assessments, along with each individual technical element, actively acknowledges the multiple dimensions of change, variability and complexity in socio-ecological systems. This paper outlines how environmental flow assessments can explicitly address the uncertainty and change inherent in adaptively managing multiple values for management of environmental flows. While non-stationarity and uncertainty are well recognised in the climate literature, these have not been addressed within the structure of environmental flows methodologies. Here, we present an environmental flow assessment that is structured to explicitly consider future change and uncertainty in climate and socio-ecological values, by examining scenarios using ecological models. The environmental flow assessment methodology further supports adaptive management through the intentional integration of participatory approaches and the inclusion of diverse stakeholders. We present a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, highlighting how this methodology facilitates adaptive management. Rethinking our approach to environmental flows assessments is an important step in ensuring that environmental flows continue to work effectively as a management tool under climate change.

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Monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management in the Murray–Darling Basin

Cited by 2 publications

References 23 publications

Shifting Goalposts: Setting Restoration Targets for Waterbirds in the Murray-Darling Basin Under Climate Change

Shifting Goalposts: Setting Restoration Targets for Waterbirds in the Murray-Darling Basin Under Climate Change

Not Just Another Assessment Method: Reimagining Environmental Flows Assessments in the Face of Uncertainty

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