Future environmental water management

Abstract

Water for human consumptive use has a long history in water planning in Australia, but managing water for environmental benefits is relatively new. While there have been significant advances in scientific understanding of environmental water planning and system operation, there is still much to learn. We propose five focal areas for investment to advance environmental water management over the next 30years: (a) develop agreed and quantifiable long-term objectives for environmental water; (b) shift to landscape-scale planning and delivery of environmental water; (c) shift to managing for ecosystem processes rather than individual species; (d) develop a strategy to inform long-term environmental water use, especially during water scarcity; and (e) address physical, social, and operational issues that constrain how environmental water can be delivered. Additionally, a framework is proposed for tackling these issues in an integrated and systematic way, which will lead to better outcomes from environmental water management.