Restore environmental flows, wetlands and source-water governance

Set and implement environmental-flow requirements, restore wetlands and riparian processes, and coordinate water allocation across the catchment. Flow objectives should specify magnitude, timing, duration, variability and connectivity required by focal species — not treat any minimum release as sufficient.

The Brisbane Declaration and Global Action Agenda on Environmental Flows describes environmental flows as central to sustainable water management. Implementation typically requires changes to dam operations, abstraction permits, agricultural demand and drought planning.

Restoration must be governed at the hydrological scale and monitored over multiple seasons. Local habitat work cannot compensate for continued upstream depletion or pollution.