Active Management of Environmental Water to Improve Ecological Outcomes
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 144, Issue 12
Abstract
Environmental water is being embraced by governments around the world as a means to partly restore rivers impacted by excessive river regulation and to protect those that are not yet overregulated. In cases where environmental water is provided as a water right, managers can make ongoing active management decisions regarding the timing and magnitude of environmental flows in response to changing conditions and understanding of environmental demands. Such active management should lead to improved environmental outcomes but also comes with a significant ongoing management cost when compared to rules-based environmental water releases. This study uses an optimization tool to examine the environmental gain achievable with the active management of environmental water compared to rules-based releases. A case study of the Yarra River, Victoria, Australia, demonstrates the potential for substantial environmental gains achieved through active management of environmental water.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC Linkage Project LP130100174) and a number of partner agencies. We are also grateful for the interactions and discussions held with the Melbourne Water environmental flows team and scientific advisors. The water resource model data used for the study were generously provided by Melbourne Water.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 144 • Issue 12 • December 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 20, 2016
Accepted: May 15, 2018
Published online: Oct 11, 2018
Published in print: Dec 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Mar 11, 2019
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