Monitoring Evaluation and Research
Monitoring and evaluating the use of water for the environment is helping to build knowledge about the best way to improve the health of the rivers and wetlands of the Basin, based on what works and what doesn’t work.
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO) works with Basin states, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, scientists and the local community to build this knowledge.
CEWO MER Program
The CEWO Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Program integrates and replaces monitoring and research activities under the Long-Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) and Environmental Water Knowledge and Research (EWKR) projects.
Short Term Intervention Monitoring
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Office funded monitoring activities to evaluate the short-term (annual) environmental response of selected watering actions in the Macquarie River system in 2014-15, 2016-17, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The final report for the monitoring of native fish in 2014-15 can be found at:
The final reports for waterbird monitoring in 2016-17 can be found at:
- Waterbird movements and breeding success in the Macquarie Marshes final report
- High resolution monitoring of waterbird colonies in the Macquarie Marshes final report
The final reports for monitoring of a native fish connection flow in 2016–17 can be found at:
- Making the Connection: Designing, delivering and monitoring flows between catchments
- Lower Macquarie Catchment: Temporary Water Monitoring 2017
The final report for monitoring of a spawning and recruitment response of Murray cod in 2020–21 can be found at:
The final report for monitoring colonial waterbird breeding in 2021-22 can be found at:
Left: Young of year golden perch from the lower Macquarie River – May 2017. Photo: Rodney Price, NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries. Right: Ibis chick and eggs in the Macquarie Marshes – October 2016. Photo: Heather McGinness, CSIRO.