A conceptual approach to hydraulic habitat and flood outflow assessment for water resource planning on the Burdekin River, North Queensland

Environmental flows in river systems are now an important component of the national water reform agenda in Australia. In Queensland these reforms are being addressed through the development of Water Resource Plans (WRPs), which are based on an appraisal of the present situation and possible future water resource management scenarios. The technical basis is a multidisciplinary undertaking that specifies environmental flow requirements in terms of river flow regimes - the characteristics of which affect riverine and floodplain ecology through hydraulic linkages with instream hydraulic habitats and floodplain wetland habitats. These linkages are affected by human pressures on the river system, such as flow supplementation, water extraction, channel modifications and encroachment which alter natural flow regimes, hydraulic characteristics and habitat conditions. This paper presents the approach taken in the assessment of hydraulic habitat and outflows to floodplain wetlands for the Burdekin Basin WRP, a large river system with diverse catchment and stream characteristics. The method is based on conceptual models and selected indicators of hydraulic characteristics for particular stream reaches.