What is river connectivity?
When water flows uninterrupted along the length of a river into downstream reaches and connected water courses, this is known as longitudinal connectivity. The connection between a river and the wetlands and floodplains alongside it is known as latitudinal connectivity.
Connectivity between river reaches and their surrounding environment is critical for maintaining healthy ecosystems, fulfilling environmental functions like moving nutrients and sediment throughout the river, allowing native fish and other organisms to move disperse, and improving water quality. Connectivity also supports the communities that drink, swim, and fish in rivers as well as agriculture and other industries that rely on water from the river.
Water for the environment and river connectivity
Water for the environment plays an important role in supporting connectivity to keep our rivers, wetlands and floodplains healthy.
Environmental flows are protected from extraction by water sharing plan rules to ensure longitudinal connectivity. In times of drought, releases of held environmental water have been used to reconnect areas. This was seen throughout 2018 and 2019 when multiple releases in the Northern Murray-Darling Basin were used to restart the river from the Queensland border all the way to the Menindee Lakes.
The New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments are continually working together to manage water for the environment in the Basin to improve connectivity.
Connectivity projects and programs
Improving water flowing across connected catchments at important times to improve downstream outcomes.
To improve connectivity between the northern and southern Murray Darling Basin, environmental inflows from the Barwon-Darling will be released from Menindee Lakes when the lakes are a shared resource.
Improving the connectivity of rivers in the northern Murray-Darling Basin.
Protecting environmental water from extraction in the unregulated Barwon-Darling, Gwydir and Macquarie-Bogan water sources.
Improving river, floodplain and aquifer ecosystem health, and system connectivity.
Sustainable and integrated water resource management for the benefit of present and future generations. A focus of the Western Regional Water Strategy was analysis and consultation on potential options for improving connectivity across the northern Basin.
Connectivity Expert Panel
The Connectivity Expert Panel was established to provide independent advice to the Minister for Water on work being carried out to improve connectivity and flows into the Barwon-Darling River. The panel provided its final report in July 2024.
Learn the basics about why river reaches and the surrounding environments are critical for maintaining healthy ecosystems.