Victorian Constraints Measures Program common questions

The Feasibility Study assesses a range of options to relax constraints. The environmental, social and economic benefits, and impacts on landowners and assets of these options have been evaluated and compared with continuing current operating arrangements.

The initial project proposals used technical information that was available at the time but was not fit-for-purpose for a project like this. In 2019, the Victorian and NSW Ministers for Water commissioned an independent review of existing modelling.

The Feasibility Study was done to action some of those recommendations and to incorporate new and updated fit-for-purpose information (aerial photography, new models, data, river surveys and Geographic Information System tools) and enhanced modelling capabilities. This is to reduce the uncertainties around flow rates and provide better information to landholders should the project proceed to later stages.

The Feasibility Study details a range of benefits and risks to the local community and the environment. For more information, read the Constraints Measures Program overview factsheet and the Environmental benefits factsheet.

The Consultative Committee was established to ensure local insights are considered, and to provide advice about the benefits and impacts of options presented in the Feasibility Study as well as key aspects that should be considered if the program is to progress.

Any future stages will include engagement with the broader community and all potentially affected landholders.

The recent passing of the Commonwealth’s Restoring our Rivers Bill 2023 has implications for the program. Rather than being required to work to a June 2024 deadline for full implementation, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority are required to prepare a Constraints Relaxation Implementation Roadmap by 31 December 2024 which will define an appropriate way forward.

Basin Plan states need to agree on activities and scope across jurisdictions before proceeding further. Victoria remains at the table to participate in this process, to ensure that issues raised in its feasibility study are at the forefront of joint strategies.

The Victorian Government will advocate that the Constraints Roadmap must clearly outline:

• Long and short terms benefits to both communities and the environment
• How risks of inundation will be managed
• A clear process for meaningful ongoing engagement with communities.

It's important to note we will not flood private land without the landholder's consent. We will not use compulsory powers to acquire land or easements, either.

We will continue to engage with landholders to better understand the program’s benefits and impacts to the community if the program proceeds beyond the roadmap.

In the meantime, work will continue to get much needed water back onto high-value floodplains along the Murray River, including through the Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Project (VMFRP).

No. The Feasibility Study identified that there is further benefit in undertaking more work at the system-level to determine if the projects benefits outweigh the costs.

The program is focused on changing how we deliver environmental water to the lowest parts of the floodplains.

Most impacts are related to the inundation of farmland generally up to minor flood levels where there are no dwellings. This means that assets such as pumps and pump sheds, culverts and access tracks may be impacted, or higher water levels may restrict access to some parts of properties.

The program is looking at what measures will also be required to mitigate impacts on landholders.

Modelling forms the basis of the Constraints Measures Program. The Feasibility Study produced inundation modelling under changed river operations that allowed an initial assessment to be made.  Updated technical data and information was used to provide information around what land can be watered, to what depth, how frequently and for how long.

If the program proceeds, this modelling will be subject to ground-truthing with stakeholders and be a key factor in further engagement with individual landholders on potential impacts.

The Victorian Constraints Measures Program looks at ways to allow rivers to connect to their floodplains more often to make best use of the available water for the environment, while managing or mitigating effects on local communities and industries.

Many of Victoria's river systems have been modified as the state has prospered and population grown, to provide water important for towns, industry, and food production.

Instead of water flowing naturally through the landscape, water is now captured in dams and weirs, with releases of water from dams into rivers controlled by river operators for the ultimate delivery of water to end users via pipes and man-made channels. River operating rules are also in place to protect landholders downstream of dams and weirs from unexpected inundation.

Modern irrigation infrastructure has resulted in some low-lying floodplains have become increasingly disconnected from their rivers. By relaxing or removing constraints environmental water can be used to re-establish elements of the natural flow regimes to put water when and where it is needed, and where it cannot currently be delivered.

These periodic higher flows play a key role in vegetation condition, and provide habitat, food, and the conditions to breed for native animals like fish, birds, frogs, and turtles.

These flows will improve environmental outcomes on the floodplain as well as in the river channel.

The Victorian CMP aims to enhance the delivery of already available environmental water and introduce a more natural river flow in the Goulburn and Murray Rivers. It will examine relaxing constraints in 3 key areas:

• Goulburn River: from Lake Eildon to the confluence with the Murray River (note: this project is focused on in-channel work only)
• Murray River: from Lake Hume to Yarrawonga Weir
• Murray River: from Yarrawonga Weir to the confluence of the Wakool River.

DEECA has produced a feasibility study as part of the initial stage of work. This involved appointing a Consultative Committee, undertaking preliminary technical investigations, providing a forum for the exchange and testing of views, and developing advice to the Victorian Government. No further funding is committed beyond this stage.

There is far more work and engagement to be done before a flow rate can be decided. The MDBA-led Roadmap is an appropriate next step and is expected to outline this process. The Victorian Feasibility Study will meaningfully inform its development.

The greatest benefits come from overbank flows that water low-lying vegetation, billabongs and ecosystems more frequently, in the lower Goulburn and Murray Rivers and through national parks.

Relaxing constraints increases the proportion of water-dependent vegetation, even during dry periods.

Large areas of higher floodplain vegetation need moderate and major flooding to gain the most benefit, which can be delivered by programs such as The Living Murray and the proposed Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Project.

Relaxing constraints will also provide cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities including tourism activities along and, on our rivers, such as fishing and bird watching.

Constraints are a key part of implementing the health of our rivers via the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Changing the way dams and rivers are managed can help Basin States (South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria) achieve better environmental outcomes with available water.

The VMFRP is an efficient, targeted tool to get environmental water high and deep into the floodplain and hold it there to boost the ecological state. This will deliver climate resilience and adaptation across our floodplains, which are home to migratory birds, insects, reptiles and incredibly important black box eucalyptus and other species.

Both programs complement each other and are central to delivering environmental and cultural benefits to local communities.

Previous business cases have been prepared to investigate options to address constraints on the Goulburn River. The original business case was based on limited information and data. It made assumptions about the potential impacts and is considered pre-feasibility at best.

Victoria and NSW commissioned a review of the modelling, finding that existing modelling was not fit-for-purpose for a project like constraints relaxation.

Community members also raised concerns that Victoria has listened to in developing this current program.

We have addressed those gaps and community concerns through this feasibility study. This has provided more clarity on the project’s scope and will inform the Roadmap in the coming months.

Improving the health of floodplains and diversity of plants and animals is good for local communities through cultural benefits, tourism, as well as support for the local economy throughout any stages where works may be implemented.

Delivery of the project achieves better outcomes for the environment and communities with less water while also reducing the amount of water for the environment that needs to be recovered.

Victoria is working with NSW on their Reconnecting River Country Program (the NSW Constraints Measures Program) to ensure a consistent approach across both states. We are sharing data and information across states, which supported Victoria in the preparation of its own feasibility study.

The Commonwealth Government has funded this feasibility study.

Though water for the environment can mean any water in a river or wetland that benefits the environment, when we talk about 'water for the environment' (or 'environmental water') we are referring to water that's set aside in storages such as reservoirs and dams. This water is used to support particular ecological processes and enhance the health of rivers, floodplains and wetlands.

We are continuing to do a lot of work to understand what a more natural watering regime looks like within our rivers. We are working out which species of plants and animals to target, how much water these species need, what time of year the water is needed, and how long the water needs to stay on the floodplain. These decisions will be informed by environmental studies and surveys, as well as the development of environmental water management plans.

Victoria’s Catchment management authorities play a key role in working with the community and supporting their environmental water needs.

The  Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) is responsible for holding and managing Victoria's environmental water entitlements.

Instead of flowing naturally (high flows in winter and low flows in the hotter months of summer), rivers now run higher in summer to meet consumptive (including farming) and urban use, and lower in winter when water is captured in storage.

These changes have interrupted many of the natural river and wetland processes needed by native plants and animals to survive, feed and breed.

Water for the environment is released into some of these rivers and wetlands to improve their health and protect environmental values.

Managers of water for the environment generally focus on returning some of the small and medium-sized river flows important in the life cycles of native plants and animals. By relaxing constraints, areas of the floodplain that receive water from overbank flow could be enhanced, reconnecting floodplains to the river.

During the development of the Feasibility Study, the program assessed environmental benefits and impact, including changes to vegetation, connecting fish to temporary floodplain habitats, creation and access to different food resources (quality and quantity), waterbird responses and food webs.

The assessment was informed by existing information and studies, reporting and updated modelling. A panel of experts also reviewed the modelling outcomes and investigations to provide further insights into the environmental benefits and impacts that may result from changed river operations.

Yes. Medium and high climate change scenarios have been incorporated in the modelling.

In the development of the Feasibility Study, climate change implications were investigated. This was to assess what environmental benefits can be achieved in the future under these changing conditions, and whether there is sufficient water to meet environmental objectives.

It also reduces the risk of investing in assets, also known as stranded assets.

Under a drier climate future, the floodplain is less likely to be reconnected. This helps provide critical flows to protect ecological processes.

The primary purpose of undertaking the constraints program is to seek environmental benefits from increased river flows. The program is not being undertaken to enable more inter-valley trade.

Operating and trade rules are in place to ensure trade is enabled where there are no unacceptable third-party or environmental impacts.

The Consultative Committee is chaired by the Hon. Patrick McNamara, with members comprising Registered Aboriginal Parties, local landowners, irrigators, community members, river operators, Council representation, Catchment Management Authorities, land managers, agencies, and others.

DEECA engaged with agencies to identify community members who had experience and knowledge across water-based issues. The Committee has now completed its tenure.

The initial stage's focus was working with the Consultative Committee to investigate whether the program is feasible to move onto the next stage where further engagement, including with individual landowners, would occur.    The team also consulted with focus groups and engaged in kitchen table discussions with select members of the community.

This plan will guide a program of extensive, further engagement if the program proceeds to subsequent stages.

DEECA and Catchment Management Authorities have been working directly with Traditional Owners in northern Victoria to create forums for discussion about the impacts of higher flows on the landscape.

As part of the development of the Feasibility Study, we worked with Traditional Owner groups to discuss technical results and to hold meaningful conversations about the cultural benefits and risks of different river flows. The Traditional Owner groups will guide engagement.

The Consultative Committee also included members from Registered Aboriginal Parties.

Community feedback will be considered at all stages of program development and co-design.

In the development of the Feasibility Study, the Consultative Committee comprised of community members from across the three key river reaches being investigated.

If the program is deemed feasible to move into the next stage, significant community engagement will be undertaken in subsequent stages to inform the program planning and delivery.