Spatial data set of valley boundaries in the Murray-Darling Basin used to support the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s (CEWH) monitoring, evaluation and research activities. Modified from the Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA) valleys to partition the Selected Areas used in the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project and Flow-MER program and to align with water accounting in the Basin. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. For more information and reporting using these data see https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cewo-mer-program. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH Flow-MER (2023) CEWH Murray-Darling Basin valley boundaries. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cewo-mdb-valleys on [date-sourced].

Ground storey vegetation species cover data (species x percent cover) collected as part of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) Flow-MER program in the Murray-Darling Basin. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation is focused in seven Selected Areas: the Junction of the Warrego and Darling rivers, Gwydir river system, Lachlan river system, Murrumbidgee river system, Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system, Goulburn River and Lower Murray River. This Flow-MER data set includes and extends the long-term data collected at the same sites during the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project (2014-2019). ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. Data provided by Flow-MER program Selected Area teams: Junction of the Warrego and Darling Rivers and Gwydir river system (University of New England), Lachlan river system (University of Canberra), Murrumbidgee river system (Charles Sturt University), Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system (Charles Sturt University), Goulburn River (Arthur Rylah Institute). ###Citation CEWH (2024) Vegetation Species Abundance. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-vegetation-species-abundance on [date-sourced].

This data set extends the MDBA published Murray-Darling Basin managed floodplain (https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/murray-darling-basin-managed-floodplain) to include all areas watered with Commonwealth environmental water 2014-2021. Areas that are added are mapped by polygons from the ANAE classification of the Murray-Darling Basin data set that were identified as receiving inundation by Commonwealth environmental water by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s (CEWH) Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project (2014-2019) and the first two years of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (Flow-MER) program. The MDBA published Murray-Darling Basin managed floodplain (https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/murray-darling-basin-managed-floodplain) is a spatial data set that estimates the extent of the Murray-Darling Basin that can be influenced by environmental water under the Basin Plan. It includes: * actively managed areas that can receive environmental water via large headwater storages or via The Living Murray ‘environmental works’ sites on the River Murray floodplain * passively managed areas that receive environmental water via flow rules in water resource plans or via natural events * areas that may be inundated with high flows if key constraints are overcome The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. For more information on methods and reporting using these data see https://www.dcceew.gov.au/water/cewo/monitoring/mer-program ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program participants acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH Flow-MER (2022) Flow-MER MDB managed floodplain. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-managed-floodplain on [date-accessed]

Geofabric watercourse lines in the Murray-Darling Basin mapping the annual frequency of Commonwealth environmental water in each 12 month water accounting year (1st July to 30th June). River lines are extracted from the Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (Geofabric) v3.2 SH_Network. http://www.bom.gov.au/water/geofabric/index.shtml Compiled by the Flow-MER Basin-scale Program. 2014-2019 data based on information from the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH (2024) Frequency of Commonwealth environmental water - watercourses. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-cew-frequency-watercourses on [date-sourced].

Water quality parameters that are measured by field teams at various sampling points within the Murray-Darling Basin on discrete dates as part of the CEWH's Flow-MER program. Includes measures of: * discharge * ecosystem respiration * gross primary productivity * water velocity * chlorophyll a * total nitrogen * nitrate and nitrite * ammonium * total phosphorus * filterable reactive phosphorus * dissolved organic carbon The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation is focused in seven Selected Areas: the Junction of the Warrego and Darling rivers, Gwydir river system, Lachlan river system, Murrumbidgee river system, Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system, Goulburn River and Lower Murray River. This Flow-MER data set includes and extends the long-term data collected at the same sites during the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project (2014-2019). ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWO (2024) Water Quality Measurements. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced on from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-water-quality on [date-sourced].

Extent of surface water (outside of river channels) thought to contain Commonwealth environmental water either alone or in partnership with other water holders. Mapped as the annual frequency of inundation. Raster data set derived from Landsat and Sentinel-2 observations of water extent checked annually with water managers. Excludes natural flooding and inundation by other sources of environmental water where there was not a component of Commonwealth environmental water. Compiled by the Flow-MER Basin scale project. 2014-2019 data based on information from the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. For more information on methods and reporting using these data see https://www.dcceew.gov.au/water/cewo/monitoring/mer-program. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program participants acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH (2024) Frequency of Commonwealth environmental water - wetland and floodplain inundation 2014-2021. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-cew-inundation on [date-sourced].

Counts of seedling recruitment in vegetation plots collected as part of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) Flow-MER program in the Murray-Darling Basin. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation is focused in seven Selected Areas: the Junction of the Warrego and Darling rivers, Gwydir river system, Lachlan river system, Murrumbidgee river system, Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system, Goulburn River and Lower Murray River. This Flow-MER data set includes and extends the long-term data collected at the same sites during the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project (2014-2019). ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH (2024) Vegetation Recruitment. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-vegetation-recruitment on [date-sourced].

The Flow-MER research project identification and characterisation of refuge habitat research project applied systematic conservation planning using MARXAN to identify wetlands in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB ) that may act as climate refugia. Refuge habitats were identified as wetlands with the least deviation in water levels, that were the most feasible to manage and could supported target species, ecosystems and functions. MARXAN uses a simulated annealing algorithm to identify a set of planning units that maximises the representation of ecological asset, while aiming to capture a defined target for each asset and minimise ‘cost’. The ‘cost’ of a planning unit was weighted by its capacity to act as a refuge (dryness anomaly), catchment condition and connectivity (River Disturbance Index) and management feasibility (previous environmental water delivery). The two data tables join to the Australian National Aquatic Ecosystems (ANAE) v3.0 Classification of the Murray-Darling Basin (2021) using the mapped wetland polygon UID attribute. 1. marxan_cost_managable_floodplain.csv contains MARXAN cost values and final solution set for all lakes and palustrine wetland within scope for water management (on the managed floodplain) in the MDB. 2. marxan_cost_wetlands_water_mgmnt_2014-2020.csv contains the MARXAN attributes and solution for the subset of wetlands that have previously received Commonwealth environmental water during the 6 year period 2014-2020. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Wetlands and lakes are refuges for plants and animals during droughts and other hard times. Maintaining refugia in the Murray–Darling Basin is a key objective of Commonwealth environmental water management. ### Project Report Bennett J M, Brooks S, Bush A, Hitchcock J, Linke S (2023) Identifying and characterising refugia habitat for target organisms across the Murray–Darling Basin. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s Science Program: Flow Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (Flow-MER). Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australia. 55pp. ### Data Citation CEWH (2025) MARXAN Identification of refuge habitat in the Murray-Darling Basin. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-research-marxan-refuge-habitat on [date-sourced]. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program participants acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan (available at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L02240) was developed under the Commonwealth Water Act 2007and aims to deliver a coordinated approach to water use by States and Territories in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), underpinned by a commitment to restoring the long-term health of rivers and wetlands in the Basin. To achieve this, the Basin Plan sets a long term average Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) for surface water and groundwater use across the major valleys in the MDB, and incorporates an Environmental Watering Plan (EWP) that ensures surplus water beyond SDLs is made available for the natural floodplain and wetland systems. The EWP is central to the Basin Plan as it aims to achieve the best possible environmental outcomes in its use of environmental water, in terms of size, timing and nature of river flows. The EWP is supported by the Environmental Water Recovery Strategy, a voluntary water buyback instrument (SEWPAC 2012). The long term average SDL for surface water flow is currently set by the Basin Plan at 10,873 gigalitres per year (GL/y). This includes 3,468 GL/y for the northern Basin, which establishes a water ‘saving’ of 390 GL/y from water allocations previously set under the Living Murray initiative (MDBA 2011). These savings are available as ‘environmental water’ which is regulated by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO) via the EWP. Water allocations in the northern Basin are currently under review via the Northern Basin Review, which is due for finalisation in mid-2016. This review is expected to improve environmental science in relation to floodplain systems in the Condamine-Balonne and Barwon-Darling River systems, and may recommend changes to the Basin Plan accordingly. A key part of the Review is to improve knowledge about environmental assets within river systems of the northern Basin (e.g. floodplain and wetland vegetation, fish, water birds), and how they respond and interact to fluctuations in surface water flow. Improved knowledge about the native vegetation of inland floodplain systems is fundamental to the Northern Basin Review. To improve information about the distribution and extent of floodplain and wetland vegetation types in the northern Basin, Eco Logical Australia (ELA) was commissioned by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to map the distribution of plant community types (PCTs) within a large section of the Darling floodplain west of Louth, and within the Condamine-Balonne system south of the NSW-Queensland border. An improved knowledge about the distribution and extent of floodplain PCTs will inform how environmental water allocations might be refined, and is thus an important component of the Northern Basin Review. Attributes: PCT_ID = NSW Plant Community Type Code PCT_LABEL = Plant Community Type Label BROAD_VEG = Broad Vegetation Type HYDROL_ECOL = Hydro-Ecological Functional Group VEG_FORMAT = Vegetation Formation VEG_CLASS = Vegetation Class Floodplain = Floodplain vegetation (yes or no) MAP_LABEL = Short vegetation label suitable for display on map products RE = Regional Ecosystem Code RE_LABEL = Regional Ecosystem Label ACCURACY = Attribute accuracy (values 1 to 5) 5 - Verified in the field by either full floristic, rapid or API (observational) site 4 - Not verified in the field but likely to be correct due to extrapolation from similar verified pattern or verified in field but uncertain of boundary 3 - Probably correct although could be one of a few related communities 2 - Possibly correct but might be one of several other communities 1 - Unlikely to be correct For more information please refer to the technical report. Eco Logical Australia 2015. Vegetation of the Barwon-Darling and Condamine-Balonne floodplain systems of New South Wales: Mapping and survey of plant community types. Prepared for Murray-Darling Basin Authority. VIS_ID 4453

Frog diversity and abundance and tadpole counts are measured annually by the Flow-MER program in wetlands of the Murrumbidgee river system and Gwydir river system. An earlier contribution (2015) from the Lachlan River is also included. The CEWH’s Flow-MER program examines the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and is assisting the CEWH to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation is focused in seven Selected Areas: the Junction of the Warrego and Darling rivers, Gwydir river system, Lachlan river system, Murrumbidgee river system, Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system, Goulburn River and Lower Murray River. This Flow-MER data set includes and extends the long-term data collected at the same sites during the Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) project (2014-2019). ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and Flow-MER program acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We respect their continuing connection to culture and Country, and we thank them for their knowledge and science and the values reflected in these data. ###Citation CEWH Flow-MER (2023) Frog Abundance. Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-frog-abundance on [date-sourced].