5.7: Environmental flow tools for northern rivers (synthesis project)

Leader:

Peter Davies

Leader:

Brad Pusey

Abstract

<p>There is growing interest in developing and allocating the water resources of tropical Australia.  The big question is how much water  can we extract for water development and how much do we need to retain to sustainably manage the ecological health of aquatic systems?  This project will derive a set of 'rules' for people managing tropical rivers that help them decide on how to allocate water to the environment.</p>

Outcomes

The outputs of this project combine existing knowledge with new knowledge and data generated by TRaCK in a form directly usable by river managers and water planners. That is, rules to help determine the environmental flow requirements for tropical rivers.

With this improved knowledge of how rivers "work", government agencies will be in a better position to manage tropical rivers.

Where is the research happening?

This project will not conduct its own field-based research but will draw on the work of other TRaCK projects working in the Fitzroy River (WA), the Daly River (NT) and the Mitchell River (Qld).

Who's involved

The project is led by Professor Peter Davies who is working with a team of other researchers from the University of Western Australia. Dr Danielle Warfe will play a key coordinating role to bring in researchers from Charles Darwin University and Griffith University as well as State and Territory agency representatives.