The Biodiversity component of the LTIM Project evaluated the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to achieving diversity-related objectives of the Basin Plan by undertaking a qualitative evaluation of expected outcomes of watering actions undertaken by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO). The CEWO’s LTIM Project focused on examining the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan), while assisting the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was focused in seven Selected Areas:were 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. The main data output of the Biodiversity evaluation is an aggregated list of species and communities that potentially benefitted from Commonwealth environmental water from 2014-15 to 2018-19. This is derived from other Basin Matter reports (Vegetation, Fish, Ecosystem Diversity), Selected Area monitoring, the Atlas of Living Australia and monitoring programs external to LTIM (e.g. the Living Murray, Bird Life Australia). Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Biodiversity Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation.

Conservation of riverine and wetland vegetation diversity is a key objective of the Basin Plan, and was a core element investigated at the Basin-scale in the LTIM Project. The CEWO’s LTIM Project examined the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and assisted the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. Vegetation diversity data was collected and used over the duration of the LTIM Project from 2014-15 to 2018-19 from four wetland Selected Areas (Gwydir, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and junction of Warrego-Darling river systems) and two riverine Selected Areas (Edward/Kolety-Wakool and Goulburn river systems), considering plant species diversity and vegetation community diversity. Data collected* includes the percent cover of plant species present within three vegetation strata (groundlayer, understorey and overstorey) and a range of environmental variables (e.g. soil moisture) at time of sampling. *Data collected from the Edward/Kolety-Wakool river system is limited to Category 3 and does not have the same taxonomic resolution or range of observations as that from other Selected Areas. Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Vegetation Diversity Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We thank them for their knowledge and science and respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and the values reflected in these data.

The Ecosystem Diversity component of the LTIM Project catalogued the different ecosystem types in the Basin that received Commonwealth environmental water annually and cumulatively over the five-year duration of the project (2014-15 to 2018-19). The evaluation was conducted at a whole-of-basin scale to assess the extent to which water-dependent ecosystem types were supported by Commonwealth environmental water and the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to Basin Plan biodiversity objectives. The CEWO’s LTIM Project examined the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and assisted the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. Ecosystem types in the Basin are defined using the interim Australian National Aquatic Ecosystems (ANAE) Classification Framework. The ANAE Classification Framework was applied to the best available jurisdictional mapping for Basin wetlands, floodplains and rivers by Brooks et al. (2014) to produce the interim Murray-Darling Basin Aquatic Ecosystem Classification data set. Ecosystem types that received Commonwealth environmental water were identified by intersecting the ANAE mapping with the annual Commonwealth environmental water inundation and LTIM valleys spatial layer. The evaluation was updated retrospectively to include improvements to the ANAE mapping that were published during the LTIM Project. The final data sets include these updates. Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Ecosystem Diversity Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We thank them for their knowledge and science and respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and the values reflected in these data.

The Hydrology theme evaluates the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to flow regimes and hydrological connectivity across the Basin, which also underpins the evaluation of ecological outcomes for other ecological indicators evaluated at the Basin scale (Fish, Vegetation, Ecosystem Diversity, Stream Metabolism and Water Quality, and Biodiversity). The CEWO’s LTIM Project examined the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and assisted the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Hydrology Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We thank them for their knowledge and science and respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and the values reflected in these data.

The Biodiversity component of the LTIM Project evaluated the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to achieving diversity-related objectives of the Basin Plan by undertaking a qualitative evaluation of expected outcomes of watering actions undertaken by the CEWO. The CEWO’s LTIM Project focused on examining the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan), while assisting the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. The main data output of the Biodiversity evaluation is an aggregated list of species and communities that potentially benefitted from Commonwealth environmental water from 2014-15 to 2018-19. This is derived from other Basin Matter reports (Vegetation, Fish, Ecosystem Diversity), Selected Area monitoring, the Atlas of Living Australia and monitoring programs external to LTIM (e.g. the Living Murray, Bird Life Australia). Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Biodiversity Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We thank them for their knowledge and science and respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and the values reflected in these data.

The Stream Metabolism and Water Quality Basin Matter seeks to evaluate the influence of Commonwealth environmental water on two key ecological processes—primary production and decomposition—which have a profound effect on ecosystem character and condition. The CEWO’s LTIM Project examined the contribution of Commonwealth environmental water to the environmental objectives of the Basin Plan 2012 (Basin Plan) and assisted the CEWO to demonstrate environmental outcomes and adaptively manage the water holdings. Monitoring and evaluation was 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. These areas will continue to be monitored through the CEWO’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program. Data collected by monitoring at Selected Areas is used to evaluate local outcomes from watering and also contributed to the analysis and evaluation of Basin Plan objectives. Stream metabolism data was collected over the duration of the LTIM Project from 2014-15 to 2018-19 in six Selected Areas* (Edward/Kolety-Wakool, Lachlan, Goulburn, Murrumbidgee, Warrego-Darling and Lower Murray). *Stream metabolism is not a Category 1 indicator in the Gwydir Selected Area. Please refer to the Murray-Darling Basin LTIM Project: 2018-19 Basin-scale evaluation of Commonwealth environmental water – Stream Metabolism and Water Quality Report for the detailed method on data used for evaluation. ###Acknowledgement The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office acknowledge the First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Murray-Darling Basin. We thank them for their knowledge and science and respect their continuing connection to culture and Country and the values reflected in these data.

The department employs monitoring and research initiatives to track the effectiveness of water management changes in safeguarding and enhancing water-dependent ecosystems. We are tasked with reporting on environmental outcomes in New South Wales (NSW). To facilitate this, the department has established the Environmental Outcomes Monitoring and Research Program (EOMRP). This program ensures that decisions regarding the management of surface and groundwater environments are informed by scientific evidence. Efforts are underway to make the environmental data gathered through the EOMRP accessible to the public. This data can be categorised into three main groups: 1. Native fish data: Collected across various regions in NSW, this dataset comprises fish records obtained through environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys and baited remote underwater video surveys (BRUVs). 2. Freshwater turtle data: Also gathered across diverse regions in NSW, this dataset consists of freshwater turtle records obtained via baited remote underwater video surveys (BRUVs). 3. Water-dependent vegetation data: Collected across different regions in NSW, this dataset includes information on (i) vegetation community condition and (ii) tree stand condition, all represented as point-based data. 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.