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The Commonwealth's Environmental Expenditure

Appendix 4 - Inland Waters

Table A4.1: Inland Waters - Programme and Tax Expenditure Estimates

This table lists activities in the order that they appear in the following text. `na' denotes that spending cannot be precisely identified and it does not mean that spending is not occurring.

Description	1999-00 $m	2000-01 $m	2001-02 $m	2002-03 $m	2003-04 $m
PROGRAMME AND TAX EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES
Rivers
National Rivercare	24.6	23.4	14.8	-	-
National River Health	6.6	6.8	1.8	-	-
Waterwatch Australia	6.8	2.9	2.6	-	-
Lake Eyre Basin	na	na	na	na	na
Murray-Darling 2001	51.6	45.2	32.6	-	-
Wetlands
National Wetlands	4.8	4.7	3.8	-	-
National Centre for Tropical Wetlands Research	na	na	na	na	na
Groundwater
Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative	3.0	6.2	7.9	8.1	6.6
Assessment, Research and Monitoring
Bureau of Meteorology(a)	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
CSIRO Research (total)	na	11.9	11.9	11.9	-
Science based strategies for national water reform	na	3.1	3.1	3.1	-
Sustainable management of coastal rivers and estuaries	na	3.7	3.7	3.7	-
Best practice management of irrigated areas	na	3.2	3.2	3.2	-
Urban water quality and supply	na	1.9	1.9	1.9	-

- denotes nil; na denotes not available

(a) Estimates of appropriation-based Bureau of Meteorology expenditure attributable to hydrological monitoring, research and service provision in support of environmental objectives.

Rivers

National Rivercare
$23.4 million in 2000-01

The National Rivercare Programme is working towards the sustainable management, rehabilitation and conservation of rivers outside the Murray-Darling Basin. Rivercare works with all levels of government, industry and the community to maintain or improve water quality by preventing pollution, improving the management of discharges, controlling stock access to rivers, managing erosion and contributing to healthy stream and riparian ecosystems.

Website: www.rivercare.gov.au
Contact: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-Australia, Water Policy and Reform Section - 02 6272 5502 / 02 6272 3932

National River Health
$6.8 million in 2000-01

The National River Health Programme identifies priorities to protect and repair the health of Australian rivers in partnership with state and territory governments, research organisations, industry, and the community. Investment is being directed through the programme's two sub-components, the Environmental Flows Initiative, and Australia-wide Assessment of River Health. The Environmental Flows Initiative aims to assist in the implementation of the Council of Australian Governments' Water Reform Framework. The initiative supports projects that help identify, allocate, and implement appropriate environmental flow regimes, and targets gaps in environmental flow knowledge. Biological monitoring under the first Australia-wide Assessment of River Health was completed in March 2000. Information from the assessment provides valuable data for the next national State of the Environment Report, the National Land and Water Resources Audit, and for monitoring the outcomes of the Natural Heritage Trust.

Contact: Environment Australia, Water Reform Section - 02 6274 2254

Waterwatch Australia
$2.9 million in 2000-01

Waterwatch Australia is an environmental education programme that coordinates community water monitoring as a catalyst for community action to address water quality. Water monitoring creates an ownership ethic for catchment-wide land and water management. Waterwatch creates links within communities, between local and state governments, and between the business sector and other organisations.

Website: www.waterwatch.org.au
Contact: Environment Australia, Wetlands Section - 02 6274 2797

Lake Eyre Basin

The Commonwealth is continuing to work with relevant Queensland and South Australian agencies and the community to develop and implement the Lake Eyre Basin Agreement. The agreement will provide a framework for the cooperative management of the surface water and related natural resources associated with cross-border river systems in the Lake Eyre Basin, and the protection of dependent aquatic ecosystems. The National Landcare Programme is supporting capacity-building within the community to recognise the natural values associated with the Basin's land and waters, and to identify and promote changes in land use and practices to maintain these values.

Contact: Environment Australia, Regional Water Initiatives Section - 02 6274 2784

Murray-Darling 2001
$45.2 million in 2000-01

The primary focus of the Murray-Darling 2001 Programme is to improve the health of the Basin's river systems by promoting an integrated catchment management approach to the use of its water, land and other environmental resources. The programme seeks to improve the Basin's water quality and the health and productivity of its riparian land systems, wetlands and floodplains. It also aims to reduce salinity and waterlogging in irrigated and dryland areas, through the widespread adoption of sustainable land use and management practices by landholders, including the efficient use of irrigation water.

Website: www.nht.gov.au
Contact: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-Australia, Murray-Darling Basin Section - 02 6272 5502

Wetlands

National Wetlands
$4.7 million in 2000-01

The National Wetlands Programme promotes the conservation, repair and wise use of wetlands across Australia. The Commonwealth is progressing a range of initiatives under the programme to implement the Commonwealth wetlands policy and support Australia's obligations under international conventions and bilateral agreements. These initiatives include a national framework of wetland policies; management plans for all Australian Ramsar sites; a national wetland inventory; the nomination of additional sites to the Ramsar Convention and to the East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Site Network; and support for community wetlands projects.

Website: www.environment.gov.au/bg/wetlands/
Contact: Environment Australia, Wetlands Section - 02 6274 2508

National Centre for Tropical Wetlands Research

A National Centre for Tropical Wetlands Research has been established in Darwin in northern Australia. The centre is an initiative announced by the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Robert Hill, to develop collaborative research and training programmes related to tropical wetlands. The Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, the James Cook University, the Northern Territory University and the University of Western Australia, have formed an alliance to further effective conservation and management of tropical wetlands.

Contact: Environment Australia, Supervising Scientist - 08 8979 9711

Groundwater

Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative
$6.2 million in 2000-01

This initiative encourages the rehabilitation of bores and the replacement of bore drains in the Great Artesian Basin. Its main objective is to partially restore artesian pressure in strategic areas of the Basin. This will be positive for the pastoral industry and the environment and will maintain options for the future. This work is vital to the Strategic Management Plan for the Great Artesian Basin because renewed infrastructure is a necessary precursor for users to improve management and use the water more sustainably.

Website: www.gab.org.au
Contact: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-Australia, Groundwater and Regional Section - 02 6272 4627

Assessment, Research and Monitoring

Bureau of Meteorology-Hydrometeorology
$0.8 million in 2000-01

The Bureau of Meteorology collects information on Australia's water resources, including hydrological and hydrometeorological data to monitor, assess, plan and manage surface water resources. The Bureau operates a network of rainfall and river height stations in conjunction with state and local government agencies. It also researches and develops techniques for quantifying Australian rainfall variability and extremes. These activities support a wide range of hydrological and environmental studies, including catchment and floodplain management, soil conservation, and waste-water storage.

Website: www.bom.gov.au/hydro
Contact: Bureau of Meteorology, Hydrology Unit - 03 9669 4522

CSIRO
$11.9 million in 2000-01

CSIRO's work on inland waters is closely integrated with research on land matters, on coastal and marine related matters, and on urban water supply and quality issues. CSIRO's research aims to provide integrated information to enable better management of water quality and quantity for sustainable use. Key elements of the work include science based strategies for national water reform, sustainable management of coastal rivers and estuaries, best practice management of irrigated areas, and urban water quality and supply.

Website: www.csiro.au and follow links to land and water sector
Contact: CSIRO Land and Water Sector - 02 6246 5951

Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation

See Appendix 3 - Land Resources and Forests.