Plans for the delivery of water for the environment in the Southern Connected Basin in 2019-20 included a large scale River Murray Channel multi-site delivery, coined the Southern Spring Flow. This was made possible by environmental water holder deliberately carrying over water allocations from the previous year to ensure water could be used to promote resilience.
The planning and real-time active management of this delivery required concerted effort and coordination across agencies responsible for managing water for the environment.
Annual planning, between February and June 2019, ensured managers were ready for the range of possible climate conditions. The River Murray Channel planning used the best available information on the types of river flows to support environmental water requirements at key sites as described in the Long Term Environmental Watering Plans developed to support the Basin Plan.
Robust delivery options were prepared to test approaches to follow natural cues in real time and be ready for the range of possible river conditions. Key to this was the knowledge that River Murray Channel flows are important under all climatic conditions. Even under ‘very dry’ conditions, a spring pulse would be expected in most years under natural conditions. In line with this, a ‘no regrets’ option to deliver environment water from September for several weeks was included to provide a pulse through the river to support multiple sites down the river.
The presentation will provide in-sight into the lived experience during this large scale delivery of water or the environment. This includes adaptive management in response to rainfall, coordination between river operators and environmental water managers, the role of operational advisory groups and the use of critical watch points to ensure the delivery stayed on track and risks mitigated.