Environmental water delivery: Koondrook-Perricoota Forest
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population
and Communities
September 2011
Environmental Water Delivery: Koondrook-Perricoota Forest collates current knowledge of the operational and administrative arrangements for the delivery of environmental water to the Koondrook-Perricoota Forest and provides an overview of the environmental assets and potential environmental water use options for the catchment. This work has been undertaken to support the efficient and effective use of environmental water and to engage communities on how this may best be achieved. This aims to encourage community discussion and feedback on the use of environmental water, to identify future opportunities and recognise operational risks and constraints. Comments on the document are encouraged and can be provided to:ewater@environment.gov.au.
Download
Introduction
Increased volumes of environmental water are now becoming available and this will allow us to pursue a larger and broader program of environmental watering. It is particularly important therefore that we seek regular input and suggestions from the community as to how we can achieve the best possible approach. As part of our consultation process we will be seeking information on:
- community views on environmental assets and the health of these assets
- views on the prioritisation of environmental water use
- potential partnership arrangements for the management of environmental water
- possible arrangements for the monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) of environmental water use.
This document has been prepared to provide information on the environmental assets and potential environmental water use in the Koondrook-Perricoota Forest.
The Koondrook-Perricoota Forest supports significant ecological values, in particular river red gum forest and woodlands. Potential water use options for the Koondrook-Perricoota Forest include: providing flows to support vegetation condition and extent; providing flows to inundate permanent and semi-permanent wetlands and a portion of the floodplain to enhance channel and wetland habitats; providing flows to support life cycle processes of water-dependent fauna such as waterbirds and fish; and providing flows to prevent build-up of organic matter on the floodplain.
A key aim in undertaking this work was to prepare scalable water use strategies that maximise the efficiency of water use and anticipate different climatic circumstances. Operational opportunities and constraints have been identified and delivery options prepared. This has been done in a manner that will assist the community and environmental water managers in considering the issues and developing multi-year water use plans.
The work has been undertaken by consultants on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Previously prepared work has been drawn upon, and discussions have occurred with organisations such as the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage, New South Wales Office of Water, and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Management of environmental water will be an adaptive process. There will always be areas of potential improvement. Comments and suggestions including on possible partnership arrangements are very welcome and can be provided directly to: ewater@environment.gov.au. Further information about Commonwealth environmental water can be found at Commonwealth Environmental Water website.
Before you download
Some documents are available as PDF files. You will need a PDF reader to view PDF files.
List of PDF readers
If you are unable to access a publication, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.