<< BACK TO CONTENTS Bankfull flow – A flow that reaches the top of the river bank, with little flow spilling onto the floodplain. Baseflow – A relatively stable, sustained, low flow in a river, generally being its minimum natural level. Blackwater – A natural occurrence caused by the breakdown of organic matter resulting in the water discolouring. The water turns black and can have very low dissolved oxygen levels, which can result in the deaths of fish and other animals that breathe underwater. Carryover – Allows entitlement holders to retain ownership of unused water into the following season (according to specified rules). Catchment management authority (CMA) – A statutory authority established to do regional and catchment planning and to manage salinity, water quality and the overall health of rivers, other waterways and floodplains in its catchment. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) – Manages a large portfolio of environmental water – entitlements with annual allocations that are acquired through the Australian Government’s investment in water-saving infrastructure and strategic water purchasing throughout the irrigation districts of the Murray-Darling Basin. The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s decisions about the best use of this water are guided by The Water Act 2007 and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (specifically, the environmental watering plan and the Basin-wide environmental watering strategy). Environmental water entitlement – An entitlement to water to achieve environmental objectives in waterways including an environmental entitlement, environmental bulk entitlement, water share, section 51 licence or supply agreement. Estuary – A partially enclosed body of water along the coast where freshwater from rivers and streams meets and mixes with saltwater from the ocean. Fish ladder – A series of pools built like steps so fish can travel through a waterway. Fishway – See Fish ladder Fledging – Bringing up a young bird until it can fly. Freshes – Small or short-duration peak-flow events which exceed the baseflow and last for one or several days. Gigalitre (GL) – One billion (1,000,000,000) litres. Groundwater – Water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock. Hydrology – The study of the properties of water and its movement in relation to land. Macroinvertebrates – Animals that have no backbone and can be seen with the naked eye, including worms, snails, mites, bugs, beetles, dragonflies and freshwater crayfish. Megalitre (ML) – One million (1,000,000) litres. Millennium Drought – One of the worst droughts recorded in Australia since European settlement, it went from about 1996 to 2010. Overbank flood or flow – Flow that exceeds the capacity of a river channel and innundates parts of the surrounding floodplain. Pulse – A short duration increase in flow above the normal baseline flow levels. Reach – A stretch or section of a river, generally defined in an environmental flows study. Riparian – The area that is the interface between land and a river. Spawning – When fish release eggs for fertilisation. Spawning sites are the sites where they release the fertilised eggs. Storage manager – Appointed by the Minister for Water to operate major water storages in a river basin to deliver to entitlement holders. 87 | Victorian Environmental Water Holder
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