Monitoring of temporarily disconnected River Murray Wetlands: Refilling Recommendations

"April 2008".

Project Number: Monitoring of temporarily disconnected River Murray wetlands - M/BUS/254.

MDFRC item.

6 pages. 1 of 2 reports associated with project see (Monitoring of temporarily disconnected River Murray Wetlands final report).

The Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre (MDFRC) was engaged by the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board (SAMDBNRMB) to monitor eight wetlands in the Riverland region of South Australia as part of the Living Murray Initiative. Six of these wetlands were temporarily disconnected from the River Murray in 2007, in order to achieve water savings. These wetlands are Nelwart Swamp, Lake Bonney, Yatco Lagoon, Jaeschke Lagoon, Ross Lagoon and Murbko South. Two additional wetlands that have not been disconnected (Tanyaca Creek and Donald Flat Lagoon) are being monitored as reference sites. Monitoring of these wetlands includes sampling of eight parameters (Table 1). To date, the parameters being measured 6-weekly have been five times; those being measured 3 monthly have been assessed twice, and the parameters being assessed 6-monthly has been assessed once. Blue-green algae sampling has been undertaken on 12 occasions. Bi-monthly reports have been submitted for all wetlands (reports are 6-weekly for Lake Bonney) to SAMDBNRMB to detail the various sampling period’s findings.