Surface water sustainability
Surface water sustainable yield is used to preserve ecosystems
Image by Peter Solness, sourced from the MDBC
This assessment uses surface water sustainable yields to indicate how the
resource is being managed in comparison with
surface water caps
and entitlement volumes. In many surface water management areas, this approach
is not appropriate because the management regime includes tiered levels of
restrictions on diversions that include cease-to-pump rules, minimum flow requirements,
and reach-by-reach assessments in the one surface water management area. This
is not indicated clearly by a sustainable yield volume, and for this reason
many states and territories have not provided estimates of sustainable yield
volumes for some or all of their surface water management areas.
Where estimates of sustainable yield have been provided, these should not
necessarily be taken as an indication of how much water could be available
for consumptive use. This is particularly true for many of Tasmania 's surface
water management areas, where the sustainable yield volumes are very high,
giving the impression that a lot of water is theoretically available for consumptive
use on an annual basis. In reality, water is actually available relatively
infrequently during high flow events during winter while water demand is highest
in summer when there are typically lower flows available. Therefore an annual
sustainable yield estimate in these surface water management areas is misleading
and is not a measure that should be used in the management of the resource.
Related links
Surface water sustainability is discussed in more detail in the following
sections:
.jpg "Wetting requirements of floodplain wetlands need to be considered when determining environmentally sustainable levels of extraction")
Wetting requirements of floodplain wetlands need to be considered when determining
environmentally sustainable levels of extraction
Sourced by Judy Hagan
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