This project focuses on the benefits and risks associated with more flexible barrage operation to promote improved connection between the Lower Lakes and Coorong. Connectivity is a recurring theme in First Nations and European culture, and in the scientific understanding of ecological function.

In the CLLMM region, the Murray Barrages fragment freshwater and estuarine habitats and, along with reduced river flow, impact the health and function of the Coorong estuary, with associated cultural, environmental and economic impacts.
Climate change is predicted to exacerbate these impacts and, as sea levels rise, also lead to overtopping of the existing barrages. Globally, to improve the health of rivers and estuaries, tidal barriers are increasingly being operated in a manner that promotes greater connectivity and more dynamic estuarine interfaces.

At the Murray Barrages, promoting a more hydrologically transparent barrage interface, where the two-way flux of water is facilitated under appropriate lake levels and river flows, has numerous benefits to the CLLMM ecosystem, and to the cultural and economic (e.g. commercial fishery) values of the region. However, there are also risks pertaining to upstream water quality (salinity), particularly for stock, domestic and irrigation supply, and the conservation values of freshwater habitats. This project increases understanding of the risk and benefits of greater connectivity.

 

The project has strong links with community, First Nations and research-users. There are opportunities for key stakeholders (SA Water, Ngarrindjeri, Lakes and Coorong commercial fishers, recreational fishers, and land holders) to guide direction and delivery of the project. 

 

The project informs management and decision-making by:
•    Guiding ecologically sensitive barrage management
•    Increasing knowledge of the broader impacts of climate change in the CLLMM and possible mitigation measures.

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