A diverse number of bird, fish and other
species live in the flood dependent
ecosystems along the River Murray.
Photos copyright David Kleinert

You have probably heard of the ‘Living Murray’ – Australia’s most significant river restoration program, but Forests NSW place in the picture is a little less obvious.

The program was established in 2002 in response to declining health of the River Murray system and brings together the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and ACT Governments.

The Living Murray program has a number of core focus areas including:

• Water recovery, with a target of saving 500 gigalitres of water by delivering water more effectively and efficiently to consumers;
• Water delivery, including construction of engineering structures designed to enable efficient delivery of available water to the environment.

The water savings will be used to benefit plants, animals and the millions of Australians that the Murray supports by improving the health of six environmental ‘icon sites’ along the river.

These icon sites have been chosen for their high ecological value and most are listed as internationally significant wetlands under the Ramsar Convention – and also for their cultural significance to indigenous people and the broader community. Ramsar recognises the existing uses of forests to produce a range of products including timber and honey.

The Millewa group of forests, which consists of Moira, Millewa, Gulpa Island and Tuppal State Forests and the Koondrook-Perricoota forests, were among those sites chosen as icons.

These working forests contain the largest areas of river red gum forest in Australia, as well as a number of vibrant wetlands, including Moira Marshes and Reed Beds.

Forests NSW regional ecologist/hydrologist, Gary Miller, said that these forests provided a vital role in the health of the river by completing nutrient cycles as well as providing regionally important habitat for fish, birds and riparian and woodland vegetation communities.

“The Living Murray program provides a unique opportunity for Forests NSW to work with regional stakeholders and access resources in order to improve the health of these flood dependent ecosystems,” he said.

The icons straddle the River Murray, and are managed in partnership with land management agencies in Victoria, including the Department of Environment and Sustainability (DSE) and Parks Victoria.

Environmental management plans have been prepared for each site, detailing the way in which environmental water will be managed. The plans were developed by teams comprising Victorian and NSW agency staff, as well as Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) on both sides of the river.

Icon site manager, and Forests NSW regional planning manager, Linda Broekman, said the Murray CMA had provided a vital link between the government agencies and the community.

“The river and the forests are part of community life, so the CMA has facilitated a number of community meetings and workshops to inform people about proposed management actions, and to collect feedback on how these might impact on the community,” Linda said.

“The response from the community has been positive, with most people keen to see some water used to maintain the health of the forests, fish and wildlife.”

Forests NSW, in conjunction with NSW Department of Water and Energy (DWE), also manages a number of large infrastructure projects in the icon site forests, aimed at improving the health of the forests through reinstating more natural flood patterns.

These projects include the Koondrook-Perricoota Flood Enhancement Project, which aims to use a large channel and water regulators to divert medium level river flows into the forest to simulate a high-flow flood.

Project manager, Mike Erny from DWE, said that the works proposed will inundate at least 30 per cent of the 30000 hectare forest.

“By constructing a channel to return water back to the river, the water can be then be used to water other icon sites downstream,” he said.

The recent purchase of ‘Toorangabby’, a 1480-hectare property about 50 kilometres downstream from Echuca by the NSW Government and the Murray Darling Basin Commission, is intrinsic to the Koondrook-Perricoota Flood Enhancement Project

Additional projects proposed for these two icon sites include:

• Moira Lake Rehabilitation Project (Stage III) – building a channel from the lake so that it can be artificially drained to simulate the natural drying phase;
• Eastern Millewa – investigations into ways of delivering water into a section of the forest that does not easily flood;
• Fishways for the Edward River Offtake Regulator and Steven’s Weir - building or upgrading structures to enable free passage for migrating fish.

In undertaking these projects, the experience of Forests NSW fieldworkers who have intimate knowledge of the forests has proven invaluable to the modellers and engineers tasked with designing the works.

Gary Miller said a range of research and monitoring work was also taking place to help inform future water management throughout the icon sites.

“This research ranges from monitoring of waterbird and fish populations during floods, to continuous monitoring of tree health via aerial surveillance.

“In particular, health monitoring at Koondrook-Perricoota Forest will help us to identify the areas in most need of watering,” he said.

“Regular flooding of these forests is crucial to the on-going health and vitality of flood dependant vegetation such as red gum trees and also for successful bird and fish breeding.

“Healthy forest and wetlands provide opportunities for tourism, conservation, recreation and a range of commercial activities.

“This will generate enormous benefits to the local community as well as people living right across the southern portion of the Murray Darling Basin.”

This article appears in the Spring 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.