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].

Plant community structure and observed inundation 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 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 Community Structure. 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-community-structure on [date-sourced].

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].

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

The dataset shows MDB Water Quality Regions / Zones as at March 2010. The dataset has been derived from the SRA Valley Zones as created by Sustainable Rivers Audit (SRA) program in Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) which is a comprehensive assessment of river health taken in the Murray Darling Basin. This dataset was constructed in GDA94 coordinate system, using the Australian Water Resources Council (AWRC) catchment layer and were then subdivided into altitude zones. These altitude zones correspond to one of seven categories: Montane, Upland, Slopes, Lowland, Upper, Middle, Lower and Mt Lofty. The water quality regions have been defined using similar geomorphologic and geophysical landscape characteristics. The amalgamations of altitude zones were determined, using similar water quality parameter values. The water quality regions as defined by this dataset have been used in the guide to the Basin Plan.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan (available at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L02240) was developed under the Commonwealth Water Act 2007 and 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. 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. 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 VIS_ID 4454

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].

These datasets represent management units within in-force floodplain management plans across the northern valleys of the Murray-Darling Basin in NSW. The data includes the floodplain boundaries, management zones and ecological assets derived from plans gazetted under the NSW Water Management Act 2000. The areas covered by the floodplain boundaries are declared to be floodplains under the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018. The management zones are used to define areas in which specific management rules apply. As such, this data may be used to understand which floodplain management plan rules apply to a specific location. Ecological assets, including flood-dependent ecological assets, are identified in each plan area and are required to be considered in the rules in each floodplain management plan. The plans are in place for 10 years but may be amended within this time. Any updates to the management zones as a result of a plan being amended during, or replaced following its 10 year term will be made available at that time. PLEASE NOTE: In the case of any discrepancy between this digital dataset and the published Floodplain Management Plan (accessible on the department’s website) the instrument as made by the Minister remains the authoritative source and should be used to both interpret the intent of the Plan and in subsequent decision making. Best endeavours have been made in collating relevant Floodplain Management Plan boundary and attribution contained in this dataset. However, no warranty is provided as to the accuracy or currency of this representation. The department does not warrant and is not liable for the use of this material as per the licenced sharing conditions CC-BY 4.0. The datasets were originally developed by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage as part of the NSW Healthy Floodplains Project. Note: If you would like to ask a question, make any suggestions, or tell us how you are using this dataset, please visit the NSW Water Hub which has an online forum you can join. Spatial web services—better data sharing for better outcomes

This study was undertaken to assist in flood preparedness and risk management activities for the River Murray. The study predicts the flood extent for a range of flows when measured at the border to South Australia which are expressed in megalitres per day (ML/d). Scenario datasets released include: lOOGL,120GL,130GL,140GL, 160GL, 180GL, 200GL, 250GL, 300GL, 341GL.