The Murrumbidgee is a lowland river system with large meandering channels, wetlands, lakes, swamps and creek lines. The Murrumbidgee has significant cultural and ecological values. Indigenous Australians have been caring for the Murrumbidgee for all time. It is also a working river, supporting broad areas of irrigated agriculture that underpin rural economies.
The Murrumbidgee region has important habitat and biodiversity including intact stands of River red gum forest and aquatic grassy meadow communities. Some of its wetlands are of national significance, supporting a rich diversity of waterbirds, supporting key waterbird rookeries, native fish, frogs, mammals and reptiles .It is also home to populations of threatened species including the Southern bell frog, Australasian bittern, the grey snake and fisher bat.
Project name
CEWH Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Services - Murrumbidgee Selected Area (2019 - 2023)
Funding Dept of Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Water - Cwlth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH)$3.327M
Monitoring and evaluating the use of water for the environment is helping to build knowledge about the best way to improve the health of the rivers and wetlands in the Murrumbidgee, based on what works and what doesn’t work.
We are focused on understanding how native fish, waterbirds, reptiles and amphibians, as well as wetland vegetation communities, benefit from these targeted environmental watering actions.
The core focus being the precise delivery of water to the high value wetlands and riverine assets that make up critical habitat to maintain regional biodiversity. Our work here provides knowledge to underpin water management and delivery decisions so that the environmental outcomes are maximised.
We are studying riverine and wetland habitats, and collecting a broad range of data on:
Our work focuses on the relationships between biodiversity responses and environmental watering actions. This knowledge is being used to inform the adaptive management of environmental water delivery.
Current focus
What we have learnt:
The Bidgee Bulletin is a quarterly newsletter designed to provide updates on our progress as we monitor the ecological outcomes of Commonwealth environmental water flows in the Murrumbidgee Selected Area.
Turner, A., Talbot, S., Moore, E., Sundblom, C., & Wassens, S. (2023). The Bidgee Bulletin: Quarterly Newsletter of the Murrumbidgee Monitoring Program. Autumn 2023 Issue 15. (pp. 1-8). Charles Sturt University.
We are looking for researchers, students, funding and partners to help take our research to the next level.