Environmental water
Environmental water or ‘environmental flows’ is the water needed in a river, floodplain, wetland or estuary to maintain healthy, natural ecosystems. The way in which water flows in waterways is vital to maintaining its physical, chemical and biological health – and therefore, the plants, animals and communities that rely on it. The environmental flows required in a river system reflect the needs of animals and plants dependent on the river, its banks, floodplains and estuaries as well as the ecological processes that keep the river healthy.
Environmental flows:
- stimulate animals like native fish to feed and breed (for example, cod and yellowbelly fish need to be able to move on to floodplains to feed)
- trigger plants to seed or germinate (for example, river red gums need flooding for seeds to germinate)
- move carbon between rivers, floodplains and estuaries, an important process for food chains
- allow fish and plants to move about the river system and colonise new areas
- help restore groundwater supplies
- stabilise river banks through better vegetation growth, reducing erosion into the river
- flush out the salt along river banks and floodplains.
