River Murray channel and floodplain
The River Murray is the longest river in Australia, spanning approximately 2,500 km from the Great Dividing Range in eastern Australia to Goolwa in South Australia. It provides essential water for irrigation, industry, domestic and recreational use, and is culturally significant to Aboriginal people, who believe the river is the life blood of Country, bringing First Peoples communities together through living culture.
The River Murray channel is the main body, or artery, of the river and connects the headwaters, floodplains, and wetlands with the estuary, Murray Mouth and Southern Ocean. It provides habitat for a variety of aquatic plants, animals and fish, and its floodplains support a diverse range of plant species such as the important river red gum, black box and river cooba communities.
The River Murray channel’s environmental, cultural and international significance is recognised in its inclusion as one of 6 The Living Murray icon sites.
Ecological site objectives
Over time, the health of the River Murray has been affected by river regulation, over-use of water resources and drought. This has negatively impacted the plants and animals that rely on the river for habitat, food and refuge.
What is being done to restore the river’s health
The Living Murray program established high-level ecological objectives to improve the health of each icon site. The objectives for the River Murray Channel are to:
- increase the frequency of higher-volume flows in spring, that are ecologically significant
- overcome barriers to migration of native fish species between the sea and Hume Dam
- maintain current levels of channel stability.
To achieve these objectives, we monitor the channel to assess its ecological health over time, measure progress towards the ecological objectives and ensure that water for the environment is delivered in the best possible manner.
As the integrity of the floodplains, wetlands and channel depend on vital connection and exchange of water, nutrients, organic material and organisms, targets are also set with the aim of maintaining this connectivity.
