Environmental flows tool

What can TRaCK research tell us about the water needs of tropical river ecosystems? 

Many TRaCK projects generated exciting new information on how tropical ecosystems are structured, including the relative importance of different food sources driving aquatic food webs, patterns of regional biodiversity, hydrological bioregionalisation and conservation priorities.

This project will use a framework known as ELOHA (Ecological Limits of Hydrological Alteration) to organise the information, and derive a set of 'rules' about required flows.

For people managing tropical rivers, ELOHA is a useful map of the things that need to be considered throughout the water planning process. Where data or major outcomes from TRaCK research are available, this project will provide a more effective and encompassing knowledge base of flow-ecology linkages by making information easily accessible online within relevant steps of the ELOHA process.

Since there is a limited knowledge base available on tropical rivers at the moment and development often outstrips the pace at which thorough scientific assessments can be made, it’s hoped this framework will give water planners ideas on how to gain a broader understanding of how a river may respond to changes.