The FLOWS method is used to determine environmental water requirements for rivers and streams in Victoria. It was developed by SKM, the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Freshwater Ecology (NRE) and Lloyd Environmental Consultants (2002) and is used primarily for Stream Flow Management Plans and some Bulk Entitlements. It is designed to assess the water requirements for the instream environment and overbank flows for floodplain wetting, it is not applicable to watering regimes for large wetlands or for estuaries.
Search Words:
Inland waters
,
Biota
Publication Date:
01 February 2018
Dataset Status:
Victoria
Progress:
Completed
Access Constraint:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY)
(
License Text
)
General
Data Existence:
Metadata Name
Descriptions
Resource Name:
FLOWS_RIVER_REACHES
Title:
FLOWS Assessed River Reaches
Anzlic ID:
ANZVI0803004924
Custodian:
Owner:
Jurisdiction:
Victoria
Abstract:
The FLOWS method is used to determine environmental water requirements for rivers and streams in Victoria. It was developed by SKM, the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Freshwater Ecology (NRE) and Lloyd Environmental Consultants (2002) and is used primarily for Stream Flow Management Plans and some Bulk Entitlements. It is designed to assess the water requirements for the instream environment and overbank flows for floodplain wetting, it is not applicable to watering regimes for large wetlands or for estuaries.
Search Words:
Inland waters
,
Biota
Purpose:
The dataset contains the following attribute fields:
AssessedAr = the river basin name as indicated by the FLOWS report title
Reach Name = corresponds to the reach name as described in the relevant FLOWS report
CtFlow_Mag = Cease to Flow Magnitude (ML/day)
CtFlow_Frq = Cease to Flow Frequency
CtFlow_Dur = Cease to Flow Duration
LF_Mag = Low Flow Magnitude (ML/day)
LF_Frq = Low Flow Frequency
LF_Duration = Low Flow Duration
WB_Mag = Winter Baseflow Magnitude (ML/day)
WB_Frq = Winter Baseflow Frequency
WB_Dur = Winter Baseflow Duration
Reference = author of the FLOWS study
Geographic Extent Polygon:
Geographic Bounding Box:
-34
141
150
-39
Beginning to Ending Date:
2002-06-30 - 2012-04-30
Maintainence and Update Frequency:
As needed
Stored Data Format:
Available Format(s) Types:
DIGITAL
Positional Accuracy:
Not known
Attribute Accuracy:
Not known
Logical Consistency:
Not known
Data Source:
Dataset Source: The FLOWS method refers to natural and current flow regime. The natural flow regime is defined as the flows that would exist if no diversions or storage or water occurred. Importantly, the natural flow regime accepts that there have been changes in flow associated with landuse alterations -- it is not the flow regime that would have existed prior to European settlement.
Thirty-one FLOWS assessments have been conducted for river basins in Victoria. The Environmental Flow Recommendations provided for each of these catchments, was extracted from each relevant report and collated to produce a GIS layer. The base layer to which the FLOWS data was attributed, was the Index of Stream Condition (ISC) dataset as it was found that in many instances the defined FLOWS reaches corresponded to an ISC reach. In some instances the ISC reaches were edited (i.e. split or joined) to represent the true FLOWS reach as described in the corresponding FLOWS report.
The GIS layer provides the FLOWS results for each of the river reaches assessed, including the magnitude, frequency and duration of the cease to flow, summer low flow and winter low flow components.
Flow recommendations are made for the following components: cease to flow, low flow, freshes, high flow, bankfull flows and overbank flows. The FLOWS dataset attributes mapped river reaches with information obtained from the FLOWS reports regarding the cease to flow and low flow recommendations.
The flow recommendations are linked to reach specific environmental objectives. The objectives are developed for; individual species and communities, habitats, ecological processes Flow recommendations are (typically) made at stream gauge sites but are assumed to apply to an entire reach. The flow recommendations made for each of the flow components are defined as: a volume (ML/day) and a frequency (number of occurrences per year) and a duration (number of days or months).
Dataset Originality: Derived
Contact Organisation:
Contact Position:
Address:
Telephone:
Facsimile:
Email Address:
Metadata Date:
2013-06-20
Additional Metadata:
Related Documents: None
Relevant environmental flow reports for each catchment can be accessed at:
http://www.water.vic.gov.au/environment/rivers/flows/environmental-flow-studies
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