A biophysical (‘aquatic habitat’) assessment of the natural and current condition of Tuppal Creek

"July 2007".

Project Number: Assessment current ecological condition Tuppal and Bullatale Creek - M/FIN/54-3.

MDFRC item.

10 pages. 1 of 2 reports associated with project see (A ‘chain-of-ponds’ configuration as a potential goal for rehabilitation activities in Tuppal Creek).

This document is intended to inform the development of a management plan for Tuppal Creek. Its purpose is to present a desk top assessment of what would have been the natural aquatic ecological condition of Tuppal Creek, based on a flow related habitat assessment, prior to European settlement, and contrast it with the most recent assessment of the current condition of the Creek. Tuppal Creek is a distributary of the Murray River, historically redirecting flood water around the ‘Barmah Choke’ (capacity ca. 10,600 Ml/day) via the Edward River. The upper reaches of the creek would have been fed directly from the upper creek, while the lower reaches would have been fed both from upstream flows as well as inflows from Native Dog Creek (another distributary downstream of Tuppal Creek, which joins the Tuppal Creek about halfway down its length. Changes to both the physical condition of the main channel of the Murray River and river regulation has resulted in significant changes to the flow regime of Tuppal Creek, which in turn has significantly effected the ecology of the creek and its associated floodplain.