Commonwealth environmental water plays a critical role in supporting native fish populations throughout the Murray-Darling Basin. However, achieving long-term ecological outcomes often requires more than water delivery alone.
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s (CEWH) Environmental Activities Program invests proceeds from environmental water trade into complementary actions that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Commonwealth environmental water. Since 2021, the program has supported a growing portfolio of projects across the Basin, including fish passage improvements, habitat restoration, river connectivity works and other interventions designed to address key constraints to ecological outcomes. The current portfolio reflects a strong emphasis on native fish recovery and river connectivity outcomes.
This presentation will provide an overview of the CEWH Environmental Activities Prospectus, highlighting current investments, emerging outcomes and key lessons from implementation. It will also examine the next phase of the program, including the development of a strategic prioritisation approach to identify and address threats and barriers that most limit the environmental outcomes achievable from Commonwealth environmental water. With funding demand currently exceeding available resources, highlighting a significant pipeline of projects to further improve the capacity of the Commonwealth environmental water holdings to achieve enhanced outcomes.
The presentation will discuss opportunities for collaborative investment, the role of partnerships with First Nations, governments and local communities, and how complementary measures can support Basin-scale native fish recovery. The approach may provide a model for integrating environmental water management, threat mitigation and targeted restoration investment to achieve more resilient fish populations and healthier river ecosystems.