The Murray-Darling Basin Plan (available at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L02240) was developed under the Commonwealth Water Act 2007and aims to deliver a coordinated approach to water use by States and Territories in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), underpinned by a commitment to restoring the long-term health of rivers and wetlands in the Basin. To achieve this, the Basin Plan sets a long term average Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) for surface water and groundwater use across the major valleys in the MDB, and incorporates an Environmental Watering Plan (EWP) that ensures surplus water beyond SDLs is made available for the natural floodplain and wetland systems. The EWP is central to the Basin Plan as it aims to achieve the best possible environmental outcomes in its use of environmental water, in terms of size, timing and nature of river flows. The EWP is supported by the Environmental Water Recovery Strategy, a voluntary water buyback instrument (SEWPAC 2012).

The long term average SDL for surface water flow is currently set by the Basin Plan at 10,873 gigalitres per year (GL/y). This includes 3,468 GL/y for the northern Basin, which establishes a water ‘saving’ of 390 GL/y from water allocations previously set under the Living Murray initiative (MDBA 2011). These savings are available as ‘environmental water’ which is regulated by the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO) via the EWP.

Water allocations in the northern Basin are currently under review via the Northern Basin Review, which is due for finalisation in mid-2016. This review is expected to improve environmental science in relation to floodplain systems in the Condamine-Balonne and Barwon-Darling River systems, and may recommend changes to the Basin Plan accordingly. A key part of the Review is to improve knowledge about environmental assets within river systems of the northern Basin (e.g. floodplain and wetland vegetation, fish, water birds), and how they respond and interact to fluctuations in surface water flow. Improved knowledge about the native vegetation of inland floodplain systems is fundamental to the Northern Basin Review.

To improve information about the distribution and extent of floodplain and wetland vegetation types in the northern Basin, Eco Logical Australia (ELA) was commissioned by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to map the distribution of plant community types (PCTs) within a large section of the Darling floodplain west of Louth, and within the Condamine-Balonne system south of the NSW-Queensland border. An improved knowledge about the distribution and extent of floodplain PCTs will inform how environmental water allocations might be refined, and is thus an important component of the Northern Basin Review.

Attributes: PCT_ID = NSW Plant Community Type Code PCT_LABEL = Plant Community Type Label BROAD_VEG = Broad Vegetation Type HYDROL_ECOL = Hydro-Ecological Functional Group VEG_FORMAT = Vegetation Formation VEG_CLASS = Vegetation Class Floodplain = Floodplain vegetation (yes or no) MAP_LABEL = Short vegetation label suitable for display on map products RE = Regional Ecosystem Code RE_LABEL = Regional Ecosystem Label ACCURACY = Attribute accuracy (values 1 to 5) 5 - Verified in the field by either full floristic, rapid or API (observational) site 4 - Not verified in the field but likely to be correct due to extrapolation from similar verified pattern or verified in field but uncertain of boundary 3 - Probably correct although could be one of a few related communities 2 - Possibly correct but might be one of several other communities 1 - Unlikely to be correct

For more information please refer to the technical report. Eco Logical Australia 2015. Vegetation of the Barwon-Darling and Condamine-Balonne floodplain systems of New South Wales: Mapping and survey of plant community types. Prepared for Murray-Darling Basin Authority. VIS_ID 4453