Comment on Finlayson et al. ‘Continuing the discussion about ecological futures for the lower Murray river (Australia) in the Anthropocene’
Luke M. Mosley
A * , Bob Bourman B , Kerri Muller C and John Tibby D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
C Kerri Muller NRM Pty Ltd, Victor Harbor, SA 5211, Australia.
D Department of Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
Marine and Freshwater Research 73(5) 573-577 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF21232
Submitted: 24 July 2021 Accepted: 8 December 2021 Published: 7 February 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
The recent commentary by Finlayson et al. proposed future management pathways for the Lower Lakes of the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), including changed barrage operations to facilitate increased tidal exchange. Although we acknowledge that barrage operations require ongoing adaptive management, we present evidence that there are risks with increased opening of them under current reduced inflows. Maintaining a predominantly freshwater system, and thus its values and services, by controlled barrage operations is justifiable and sustainable in the long term.
Keywords: barrages, Coorong, Lower Lakes, Murray–Darling Basin, River Murray, water management.
References
Bourman RP, Harvey N, James KF, Murray-Wallace CV, Belperio AP, Ryan DD (2018) The mouth of the river Murray. In ‘The natural history of the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth region (Yarluwar−Ruwe)’. (Eds L Mosley, Q Ye, S Shepherd, S Hemming, R Fitzpatrick) pp. 103–121. (Royal Society of South Australia; and University of Adelaide Press)Chiew FHS, Hale J, Joehnk KD, Reid MA, Webster IT (2020) Independent review of Lower Lakes science informing water management. Report for the Murray–Darling Basin Authority. Available at http://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/images/LowerLakesScienceReview_FINALREPORT_29Apr2020-web.pdf
De Deckker, P, and Murray-Wallace, CV (2021). Results from the 2003 Auscan Cruise offshore Kangaroo Island and the veracity of the records of two deep-sea cores obtained during the cruise, with a discussion on the Holocene history of the River Murray Estuary. Quaternary Australasia 38, 17–24.
Department of Environment and Heritage (2010) Securing the future. A long term plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth. DEH, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Department for Environment and Water (2019) Barrage and water level management policy. (DEW, South Australia) Available at https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/river_murray/barrage-water-level-management-policy-gen.pdf
Finlayson, CM, Gell, PA, and Conallin, J (2021). Continuing the discussion about ecological futures for the lower Murray River (Australia) in the Anthropocene. Marine and Freshwater Research , .
| Continuing the discussion about ecological futures for the lower Murray River (Australia) in the Anthropocene.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Geddes, MC, and Butler, AJ (1984). Physiochemical and biological studies on the Coorong Lagoons, South Australia, and the effects of salinity on the distribution of the macrobenthos. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 108, 51–62.
Gell, PA (2020a). Watching the tide roll away: contested interpretations of the nature of the Lower lakes of the Murray Darling Basin. Pacific Conservation Biology 26, 130–141.
| Watching the tide roll away: contested interpretations of the nature of the Lower lakes of the Murray Darling Basin.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gell, PA (2020b). Watching the tide roll away: a response to Tibby et al. (2020). Pacific Conservation Biology 26, 338–343.
| Watching the tide roll away: a response to Tibby et al. (2020).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gibbs M (2020) Scenario modelling of the Lower Lakes during the Millennium Drought. Technical Report, South Australia Department of Environment and Water.
Helfensdorfer, AM, Power, HE, and Hubble, TCT (2019). Modelling Holocene analogues of coastal plain estuaries reveals the magnitude of sea-level threat. Scientific Reports 9, 2667.
| Modelling Holocene analogues of coastal plain estuaries reveals the magnitude of sea-level threat.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 30804465PubMed |
Hubble, T, Helfensdorfer, A, and Power, H (2020). Response to ‘The predominantly fresh history of Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, and its implications for the Murray–Darling Basin Plan: a comment on Gell (2020)’ Pacific Conservation Biology 26, 215–217.
| Response to ‘The predominantly fresh history of Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, and its implications for the Murray–Darling Basin Plan: a comment on Gell (2020)’Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Helfensdorfer, AM, Power, HE, and Hubble, TCT (2020). Atypical responses of a large catchment river to the Holocene sea-level highstand: the Murray River, Australia. Scientific Reports 10, 7503.
| Atypical responses of a large catchment river to the Holocene sea-level highstand: the Murray River, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 32371856PubMed |
Lester LE, Fairweather PG, Higham J (2011) Determining the environmental water requirements for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth region: methods and findings to date. South Australia Department of Environment and Natural Resources Technical Report.
Mallen-Cooper, M, and Zampatti, BP (2018). History, hydrology and hydraulics: rethinking the ecological management of large rivers. Ecohydrology 11, e1965.
| History, hydrology and hydraulics: rethinking the ecological management of large rivers.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Maltby E, Black D (2011) Synthesis review of the science underpinning the environmental water requirements of the Coorong, Lower Lakes, and Murray Mouth. Technical report series number 11/5. Goyder Institute for Water Research, Adelaide. Available at http://www.goyderinstitute.org/_r133/media/system/attrib/file/124/MDBPSR-peer-review.pdf
Mosley LM (2016) Barrage release optimisation trial August 2015; assessment of environmental outcomes and achievement of management objectives. Report to SA Water. University of Adelaide, 23 March 2016.
Muller KL, Creeper NL (2021) Weir pool operations plan for river Murray locks 6 to 1. Part one: long-term vision and ecological rationale for the deconstructed river pulse approach. A report for Department of Environment and Water, Government of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Muller KL, Seaman RL, Eaton J, Mosley LM (2018) Management in a crisis: responses to the millennium drought. In ‘The natural history of the Coorong, lower lakes and Murray mouth region (Yarluwar−Ruwe)’. (Eds L Mosley, Q Ye, S Shepherd, S Hemming, R Fitzpatrick) pp. 477–493. (Royal Society of South Australia; and University of Adelaide Press)
Murray‒Darling Basin Authority (2012) Hydrologic modelling to inform the proposed basin plan − methods and results, MDBA publication number 17/12, MDBA, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Murray‒Darling Basin Authority (2020) Assessment of the salt export objective and salinity targets for flow management 2018‒19. MDBA, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Phillips W, Muller KL (2006) Ecological character description of the Coorong, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert wetland of international importance. A report for Department for Environment and Heritage, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Schuerch, M, Spencer, T, Temmerman, S, et al. (2018). Future response of global coastal wetlands to sea-level rise. Nature 561, 231–234.
| Future response of global coastal wetlands to sea-level rise.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 30209368PubMed |
Thom, B, Rocheta, E, Cowell, P, Steinfeld, C, Harvey, N, Pittock, J, and Cowell, P (2020). The role of coastal processes in the management of the mouth of the river Murray, Australia: present and future challenges. River Research and Applications 36, 656–667.
| The role of coastal processes in the management of the mouth of the river Murray, Australia: present and future challenges.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tibby, J, Muller, K, and Haynes, D (2020). The predominantly fresh history of Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, and its implications for the Murray–Darling Basin Plan: a comment on Gell. Pacific Conservation Biology 149, 142.
| The predominantly fresh history of Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, and its implications for the Murray–Darling Basin Plan: a comment on Gell.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Tibby, J, Bourman, B, Wilson, C, Mosley, LM, Belperio, AP, Ryan, DD, Hesp, PA, Murray-Wallace, CV, Miot da Silva, G, Dillenburg, SR, and Haynes, D (2021). A large mid-Holocene estuary was not present in the lower River Murray, Australia. Scientific Reports 11, 12082.
| A large mid-Holocene estuary was not present in the lower River Murray, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 34103565PubMed |
Williams, J, and Grafton, RQ (2019). Missing in action: possible effects of water recovery on stream and river flows in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia. Australasian Journal of Water Resources 23, 78–87.
| Missing in action: possible effects of water recovery on stream and river flows in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
