Water for the environment aims to protect, maintain and increase the health of waterways where possible to support the native plants and animals whose survival depends on them.
Water held for the environment aims to:
cue fish migration and breeding
improve water quality
improve the condition of floodplain trees
trigger the growth of wetland plants
provide feeding and nesting habitats for waterbirds
maintain flows or permanent pools in rivers that could dry out.
Meeting the essential water needs of rivers, creeks, wetlands and floodplains also benefits community wellbeing. There are demonstrated social and economic benefits when environmental watering supports places and waterways where people love to relax, play, and connect with nature.
Water for the environment can:
sustain healthy Country and help meet cultural objectives for Traditional Owners
maximise outcomes for kayakers and other recreation users
coincide with tourism events, using environmental flows to improve amenity, water quality and general visitor experience
build native fish populations popular with anglers and support bird populations important to bird watchers
benefit irrigation water users by improving water quality
aid local and visiting community experiences through better waterway health vital for wellbeing.
Water for the environment is delivered in 19 water supply systems across Victoria under the VEWH’s seasonal watering plan.
Water availability varies from year to year, and is allocated depending on entitlement rules, seasonal conditions like rainfall and run-off in catchments, and water already available in storages.
To find out about current environmental water entitlements held by the VEWH visit our water holdings.
How the Victorian environmental watering program fits within broader integrated catchment and water resource management
The environmental watering program is a vital element in the management of land, water and biodiversity from the top to the bottom of Victoria’s catchments.
The VEWH contributes and responds to government policies including:
Options to effectively manage water for the environment
Like other environmental water holders, the VEWH uses tools to manage its entitlements to meet environmental demands as efficiently as possible.
Tools can include carryover and trade, the use of return flows and coordination with other deliveries. The timing of environmental releases can be coordinated with other sources of water such as:
system operating water, including passing flows
heavy rainfall resulting in unregulated flows
alterations to the timing and rate of delivery of consumptive water.
Annual environmental watering management cycle
Management of water for the environment involves a range of people and organisations, including waterway managers (catchment management authorities and Melbourne Water), Traditional Owners, water corporation storage managers, environmental water holders, land managers, technical experts, scientists and local communities.
The management 'cycle' starts with scoping of potential environmental watering activities and environmental objectives in a particular region for that year. These potential activities are outlined in annual seasonal watering proposals developed by regional waterway managers.
The VEWH then prioritises where the finite amount of available water for the environment is best used across the state, and with program partners, deliver the water at the right time, and in the right amount, to meet environmental objectives. Current climatic and environmental conditions always influence decisions to deliver the water. Reporting the results of the watering is a key component of the annual management cycle.
Sometimes the need for water for the environment is greater than the water available. It's therefore important to consider where water is most needed and how to use it efficiently to achieve the best results.
When the demand for water for the environment is higher than the supply, the VEWH with program partners may need to make difficult trade-offs between:
different regions (that is, deciding to commit water to a river or wetland in one region over a river or wetland in another region)
different river reaches or wetlands in one river system (that is, deciding to commit water to one river reach or wetland over another in the same system)
different environmental flows in a particular river or wetland.
Each year, these trade-offs are influenced by things such as how the river or wetland has been watered in the past, the risks in or near the river or wetland, seasonal conditions and the potential benefits or risks to environmental values.
Water for the environment is authorised by the VEWH for delivery to particular river reaches or wetlands through seasonal watering statements.
Once authorised, when water needs to be released from a storage the waterway manager responsible for that river or wetland places an order with the relevant storage manager. The order specifies the desired volume of water per day to be delivered through the river reach or into the wetland.
Environmental water is delivered in different ways depending on the river or wetland. Water can be released to a river from a storage or to a wetland through pumps, outlets, gates and channels. For wetlands, it can sometimes be as simple as opening a gate to allow a river to flow into a wetland. For example, Dowd Morass in Gippsland can receive water for the environment when Latrobe River water levels reach a particular height.
Storage managers are not only responsible for delivering water for the environment, they also release water for other purposes, including water to supply towns, industry and irrigation or system operating water to ensure the river has enough flow to be able to deliver environmental or consumptive water. Storage managers have a big responsibility to balance the needs of all water users.
Managing risks
Deliveries of water for the environment, like deliveries for households and industry, are managed to minimise risks such as flooding private land or 'double-booking' a channel for water delivery.
Channels can get crowded. In practice, consumptive water mostly takes priority over water for the environment and environmental water deliveries may be interrupted or delayed so the timing of the delivery doesn't conflict with the delivery of water to irrigators who rely on the same channels.
Using other 'types' of water to meet environmental objectives
Heavy rain can result in increased streamflows and meet environmental objectives, replacing the need to release water for the environment. The timing and route for delivery of consumptive water can sometimes be changed to achieve environmental objectives.
Examples of different types of water in the river
Water for the environment: owned by environmental water holders, held in storages and actively released at a time and rate designed to provide environmental outcomes. Otherwise known as 'held' or 'managed' water for the environment.
Unregulated flows: occur naturally in a waterway, generally after heavy rainfall, including when storages spill.
Consumptive water: held in storages by water corporations or private entitlement holders, and actively released to meet domestic, stock, town, industry and irrigation needs.
System operating water: generally held in storages and actively released by storage managers to provide the base flows so the system can deliver consumptive water, water for the environment and water to meet other needs.
Depending on how or where the water was delivered, storage managers or waterway managers report on the actual volumes of water delivered to a particular river reach or wetland.
Water for the environment is 'debited from' the environmental entitlements held by the VEWH.
The benefits achieved from environmental watering and the lessons learned are reported by waterway managers and environmental water holders on their websites, and through annual reporting requirements.
The VEWH also publishes an annual Reflections document highlighting achievements and outcomes of Victoria’s environmental watering program.
Managing risk is an important part of environmental watering.
Three key risks that are managed for include unplanned impacts on third parties (such as property damage from high water levels), environmental outcomes not achieved and unplanned negative impacts on the environment (for example, blackwater).
The VEWH and our program partners work hard to minimise these risks:
There are many ways partners in the Victorian environmental watering program work together to manage risks throughout the year, including:
identify and assess risks for the coming water year and record this in the seasonal watering proposals
undertake agreed actions to minimise potential risks
review risks before delivering water for the environment, or monitor and respond to risks when environmental conditions change and an action is triggered
report, investigate and respond to incidents as they occur in line with the agreed incident reporting approach
review the risk management approach in the previous year and adapt management to minimise future risks.
