| Summary: | An algal response model is being developed to inform the operational characteristics of a water supply system. The intent of this research is to refocus approaches to water allocations from a contest over volume, towards a cooperative approach between all users with multiple socioeconomic and environmental benefits. The algal response model will ultimately be used to aid in the development of a framework, and operational principles, to configure consumptive water transfers to complement dedicated environmental flows. A constraint imposed within this framework will be that whilst providing beneficial environmental outcomes, any flow configuration identified will not compromise consumptive water users. Field trials have begun in the MacKenzie River in western Victoria, Australia. This River has experienced a highly modified flow regime since the construction of Wartook Reservoir in 1887. Water released from the reservoir is regulated at several locations for water supply and also, more recently, for the specific provision of environmental flows. With baseline monitoring of the waterway now completed, preliminary results are available to commence evaluating the complex environmental response patterns and benefits that may accrue from flows dedicated to consumptive use. A number of artificial substrates have also been deployed to elicit the broadest range of responses from algal communities present in the waterway.
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