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].

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].

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].

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].

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]

Colonial waterbird breeding colonies monitored in two Selected Areas of the CEWH’s Flow-MER program (the Murrumbidgee river system and Lachlan river system). These are overall statistics of the colony size (nests/individuals) and start and end dates with estimated breeding success for colonies where detailed nest observations are conducted. 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) Waterbird Diversity. 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-waterbird-breeding-colonies 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.

Water quality parameters expressed as concentrations as the total export from the Murray-Darling Basin contained within all water sources (total combined natural flows plus managed environmental water). Data are collected to calibrate transport models by the Lower-Murray Selected Area for as part of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder's (CEWH) Flow-MER program. Total daily concentrations for: * Salinity (practical salinity units) * Phosphate * Particulate Organic Phosphorus * Ammonium * Particulate Organic Nitrogen * Dissolved Silica * Chlorophyll a 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) Flow-MER Lower Murray salt and nutrient export (loads/concentrations), Flow-MER Program. Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Sourced from https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/flow-mer-lower-murray-salt-and-nutrient-export on [date-sourced].

Fish larvae counts from light traps and drift nets collected as part of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office's (CEWO) Flow-MER program in the Murray-Darling Basin. Spawning of both native and introduced species was measured by collecting eggs and fish larvae using drift nets and light traps during the known spawning period at five Selected Areas (Edward/Kolety–Wakool River System, Goulburn River, Lachlan River System, Lower Murray River, Murrumbidgee River). Bongo tow nets, rather than drift nets, were used to sample pelagic fish in the Lower Murray River due to very slow flow velocities. The CEWO’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://www.dcceew.gov.au/water/cewo/monitoring/mer-program. 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. ###Citation CEWO (2024) Fish Fish Larvae. 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-fish-larvae on [date-sourced].