Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search

Queensland and NSW floods 2022

Visit recovery.gov.au to see what help is available.

Close
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Climate change
    Climate change Driving climate action, science and innovation so we are ready for the future.
    • Climate science and adaptation
    • Australia's climate change strategies
    • Emissions reduction
    • Emissions reporting
    • International commitments
    • Climate Active
    • Climate change publications and data
    • Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts (Emissions Data)
    Stronger action on climate change

    Stronger action on climate change

    See how the Australian Government is committed to taking more ambitious action on climate change.

    Find out more

  • Energy
    Energy Building a secure and sustainable energy system for all Australians.
    • Energy policy in Australia
    • Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council
    • Renewable energy
    • Energy publications
    • energy.gov.au
    • Energy Rating
    • Commercial Building Disclosure Program
    • Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS)
    • Your Home
    • Reducing transport emissions
    Photo of commercial laundry focused on a washer and dryer

    Energy Ratings labels

    Helping consumers choose energy-efficient appliances

    Helping consumers choose energy-efficient appliances

  • Environment
    Environment Improving stewardship and sustainable management of Australia’s environment.
    • Bushfire recovery
    • Climate change and the environment
    • Biodiversity
    • EPBC Act
    • Environmental information and data
    • International activities
    • Invasive species
    • Land
    • Marine
    • Partnerships
    • Protection
    • Report a breach of environment law
    • Threatened species & ecological communities
    • Waste and recycling
    • Wildlife trade
    Decorative image

    Read our Nature Positive Plan

    Our plan sets out the Australian Government’s commitment to environmental law reform

    Find out more

  • Water
    Water Improving the sustainable management of Australia’s water supply for industry, the environment and communities.
    • Coal, Coal seam gas (CSG) and water
    • Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
    • Water policy and resources
    • Wetlands
    Water matters

    Water Matters

    Keep up with the latest news on the department's work in managing Australia's water resources.

    Read the latest edition here

  • Parks and heritage
    Parks and heritage Managing Australia’s iconic national parks, historic places and living landscapes.
    • Australian Marine Parks
    • Australian National Botanic Gardens
    • Booderee National Park
    • Kakadu National Park
    • Christmas Island National Park
    • National parks
    • Norfolk Island National Park
    • Heritage
    • Pulu Keeling National Park
    • The Great Barrier Reef
    • Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
    The reef

    Great Barrier Reef

    Australia is protecting and conserving this World Heritage Area.

    Find out more

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Climate change
    • Australia's biological resources
    • National Environmental Science Program (NESP)
    • Office of the Science Convenor
    • Australian Biological Resource Study (ABRS)
    • State of the Environment (SoE) reporting
    • Bird and bat banding
    • Supervising Scientist
    Our climate is changing

    Our climate is changing

    Find out more about how climate science helps Australians with the impacts of climate change.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We lead Australia’s response to climate change and sustainable energy use, and protect our environment, heritage and water.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • People and jobs
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    2023-24 May Budget

    2023-24 Budget

    The 2023-24 Budget has been delivered. Find out what's been announced.

    Find out what's been announced

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, Enviroment and Water

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Water
  3. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
  4. First Commonwealth Environmental Watering for Nature Foundation

Sidebar first - EN - Water

  • Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
    • Managing water for the environment
      • Planning
      • Carryover
      • Water holdings
    • Water use in catchments
      • Border Rivers
      • Gwydir
      • Lachlan
      • Lower Murray-Darling
      • Macquarie
      • Mid-Murray
      • Murrumbidgee
      • Namoi
      • Northern Unregulated Rivers
      • Victorian Rivers
      • Lower Darling-Baaka and Great Darling Anabranch water updates 2021-2023
      • Low-Oxygen Blackwater Mitigation 2022-23
      • Murray Wetland Flow 2021
      • 2023-24 Macquarie River Valley Updates
    • Trade
      • Trade intentions
      • Trade rules and legislation
      • Past trades
    • CEWO Environmental Activities Framework
    • Local engagement
      • Delivery partners
    • Making a difference
    • Working with First Nations
    • Monitoring and evaluation
      • Monitoring Evaluation and Research Program
      • Future Flow-MER
      • Recent highlights Flow-MER Program
      • Aquatic ecosystems toolkit
    • About wetlands
    • Northern Basin Environmental Watering Group
    • Publications and resources
      • Events
        • Fish, Feathers and Flows
        • Webinar: A conversation with the CEWH
      • Freedom of Information
    • Multimedia gallery
      • Audio
      • Photographs
      • Videos
    • News and media
    • Contact us
    • Subscribe

First Commonwealth Environmental Watering for Nature Foundation

2013
Commonwealth Environmental Water Office

In February 2013 the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, David Papps, was a guest speaker at a Nature Foundation South Australia event which celebrated the start of watering on Clark's Floodplain near Berri in the Murray-Darling Basin. This was the first Commonwealth environmental watering project under the Nature Foundation's Water for Nature initiative.

For more information see:

  • Media release: Commonwealth works with Nature Foundation South Australia to deliver water - 24 October 2012

Video transcript

[video description: "First Commonwealth Environmental Watering for Nature Foundation"]

00.00-00.07  [video: Logos of the Nature Foundation of South Australia and Commonwealth Environmental Water Office.]

00.08-00.12  [video: David Papps shown starting water pump.]

00.13-00.46 [video: water flowing through pipe to, and sprinklers irrigating vegetation on the floodplain]

Narrator: On the 18th of February 2013, David Papps, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, launched the Clark's Floodplain project. One hundred megaliters of Commonwealth environmental water will be delivered to the floodplain to help redress the loss of habitat and re-establish stands of black box trees.

It is a first of its kind agreement with a non-government organization. The Nature Foundation of South Australia has been entrusted with 50 gigalitres of water over five years to help rehabilitate River Murray wetlands and floodplains.

00.47-01.11 [video: David Papps speaking into microphone]

David Papps: It's a genuine and great pleasure to be here and I've been the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder for about 8 weeks and this is my first formal function and I can't imagine a better place to be than standing here talking about this project with the rush of the Murray River behind us through the Lock.

[video: water flowing over over the lock infrastructure; a pelican swims in the river in front of the lock]

David Papps: It's just a fabulous project and I think a portent of things to come.

01.12-01.33 [video: Ian Atkinson, CEO Nature Foundation SA]

Ian Atkinson:  The River Murray system has been modified by our activities for over a hundred years now and areas like this have suffered as a result of that. It's not just the most recent drought but it's also just what we've done the valley over the last hundred years.

[video: Nature Foundation SA staff, community volunteers and local irrigators monitoring environmental watering]

Ian Atkinson: So now that the opportunity is there with the environmental water it's time that we did something with it and did some good.

01.34-02.11  [video: people on river bank and on floodplain monitoring environmental watering; scenes of parts of the floodplain]

David Papps (voiceover):  Here we have a group of irrigators, a private land owner and I have to thank Steve for his contribution to this project and for allowing us to work on his land. Working with a non government organisation, the Nature Foundation of SA to deliver on ground environmental outcomes, tangible benefits that over time we will all be able to see and I think that is the perfect essence of 'localism' and in this case of course the Commonwealth providing up to 50 gigalitres over 5 years as our contribution to making this work.

02.12-02.27  [video: Stakeholders include:

  • Commonwealth Environmental Water Office
  • Mr. Steve Clark and Family
  • SA Water
  • Department of Environment, Water & Natural Resources
  • Loxton to Bookpurnong Local Action Planning Group
  • State Emergency Services
  • Australian Conservation Foundation
  • Observant
  • Sinclair Knight Merz
  • Harcourts Foundation
  • SMEC Foundation]

Greg Johnston (voiceover): Collaboration is really crucial to the success of this project. The project is lead by the Nature Foundation through its Water for Nature program.

All of the different groups have come together and collaborated to make this such a successful project.

02.28-03.12  [video: Dr Greg Johnston, Conservation Ecologist Nature Foundation, SA in front of a large pump beside the river]

Greg Johnston:   Now is and excellent time to be doing environmental watering here because we're following on from two really quite wet years.

[video: Sunset over the floodplain; rain falling on the river; floodplain before environmental watering and immediately following; eucalypt seedlings on floodplain]

Greg Johnston:   We've had huge flows in the River Murray which we haven't seen for a long time, we had a drought and now we've got a really wet period and we've got lots of natural recruitment, little seedlings coming up and we want to keep those alive so that they become part of the woodland and help the woodland recover here on the floodplains of the River Murray.

[video: a bird of prey sitting in high branches of mature gum tree on floodplain; scene of opposite side of the river]

Clark's Floodplain is really important as an environmental watering site because its adjacent the Katarapko Conservation Reserve on the other side of the River and so it will help us expand the floodplain woodlands beyond what's already preserved in the Conservation Park.

03.13-03.55  [video:people and areas around the site where the project was launched; David Papps speaking to the audience]

David Papps: This is a great example of the reality that we work within.

My job is about protecting and restoring the environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin but it's doing so in the context of a working river and of regional communities that depend on this river for their livelihood and it strikes me as a great example of how we can demonstrate that those things work beautifully together, particularly in this case where we've got local landholders, local irrigators and the local community so committed to making this project work and I think again that is going to be a feature of the work that we hope to do all the way through the basin.

03.56-End  [video: Logos of the Nature Foundation of South Australia, Commonwealth Environmental Water Office and video producer.]

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI
Last updated: 03 October 2021

© Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.