Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Professor Barry Hart is Director of the environmental consulting company Water Science Pty Ltd. He is also Emeritus Professor at Monash University, where previously he was Director of the Water Studies Centre. Prof Hart has established an international reputation in the fields of ecological risk assessment, environmental flow decision-making, water quality and catchment management and environmental chemistry. He is well known for his sustained efforts in developing knowledge-based decision making processes in natural resource management in Australia and south-east Asia. Prof Hart is currently a board member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and a non-executive Director of Alluvium Consulting Australia Pty Ltd. He is also Deputy Chair of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing of Onshore Unconventional Reservoirs in the Northern Territory, which commenced in December 2016.He has received several awards, including the Limnology Medal (1982) from the Australian Society for Limnology, the Environmental Chemistry Medal (1996) and Applied Chemistry Medal (1998) from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a Centenary Medal for services to water quality management and environmental protection (2003) and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2012. Dr Neil Byron was the Commissioner responsible for environment, agriculture and natural resource management issues in the Productivity Commission from April 1998 to March 2010. He presided over twenty-six public inquiries and directed the PC's environmental economics program. Since 2008, he has been an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Economics at the ANU then at the University of Canberra. In 2014/15 he chaired an independent review of Biodiversity Legislation in NSW which led to the drafting of a new Biodiversity Conservation Act. Neil is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. From 2008 to 2011 he was a non-executive Director of a plantation forestry company in New Zealand and has been a Director of Earthwatch Institute Australia since 2010. Prof Nick Bond’s primary interests are in the effects of flow variability on riverine ecosystems, especially the landscape scale effects of floods and droughts. His research combines empirical field studies with innovative quantitative modelling approaches. He has extensive experience working on river management and environmental flow issues in Australia and internationally, and has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and numerous peer reviewed technical reports. His research focus is supported by active engagement with regional, national, and international water and natural resource management agencies to support evidence-based planning and decision making. Dr Carmel Pollino is a Principal Research Scientist at Land and Water, CSIRO. She has 20 years of experience working on water issues in Australia and throughout Asia.Carmel has a PhD in environmental science and a Masters in environmental law. She works across the science and policy interface, leading significant areas of research in Environmental Flows, Hydrology, Ecology and Integrated River Basin Planning. Carmel is the lead and also a contributor to global working groups on biodiversity, water and impact planning, and has published widely in these domains. Over the last 24 years, Prof. Michael Stewardson’s research has focused on interactions between hydrology, geomorphology and ecology in rivers (http://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person14829). This has included physical habitat modelling, flow-ecology science, and innovation in environmental water practice. Michael has participated in Australia’s water reforms through advisory roles at all levels of government. More recently, his research has focused on the physical, chemical and biological processes in streambed sediments and their close interactions in regulating stream ecosystem services. He leads the Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources Group in Infrastructure Engineering at The University of Melbourne (http://www.ie.unimelb.edu.au/research/water/).

• 1. Introduction to the Murray–Darling Basin system, AustraliaBarry T. Hart, Nick R. Bond, Neil Byron, Carmel A. Pollino, and Michael J. StewardsonSection 1: Rural communities and water-related assets2. Rural and regional communities of the Murray–Darling BasinCarmel A. Pollino, Barry T. Hart, Martin Nolan, Neil Byron, and Rod Marsh3. Hydrology of the Murray–Darling BasinMichael J. Stewardson, Glen Walker, and Matthew Coleman4. Water-based assets of the Murray–Darling Basin and their ecological conditionNick R. Bond, Shane Brooks, Samantha Capon, Jennifer Hale, Mark Kennard, and Heather McGinness5. Ecological condition of the Lower Lakes and CoorongJustin Brookes, Kane Aldridge, Matthew Hipsey, Brendan Busch, Qifeng Ye, Matt Gibbs, and David Paton6. Water quality: Land use impacts on salinity, sediments, and nutrientsGlen Walker and Ian P. Prosser7. Water quality in the Murray–Darling Basin: The potential impacts of climate changeDarren S. BaldwinSection 2: Policy and management of the MDB8. Current water resources policy and planning in the Murray–Darling BasinMegan Dyson9. Current integrated catchment management policy and management settings in the Murray–Darling BasinJohn Riddiford10. Active management of environmental water in the Murray–Darling BasinHilary Johnson, Michael Peat, and Jody Swirepik11. Monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management in the Murray–Darling BasinBen Gawne, Katie A. Ryan, Matthew Coleman, Alex Meehan, Peter E. Davies, Adam Sluggett, Andy Lowes, Neville Crossman, and Colin MuesSection 3: Climate change impacts in the MDB12. Climate change in the Murray–Darling BasinPenny Whetton and Francis Chiew13. Adaptation and policy responses to climate change impacts in the Murray–Darling BasinAnthony (Tony) SlatyerSection 4: Policy and management responses to other future challenges14. Future environmental water managementAndrew K. Sharpe, Darren S. Baldwin, Fiona Dyer, and Iwona Conlan15. Empowering First Nations in the governance and management of the Murray–Darling BasinSue Jackson, Rene Woods, and Fred Hooper16. Challenges to improved integrated management of the Murray–Darling BasinRebecca Nelson17. The role of future science and technologies in water managementChantal Donnelly, Leo Lymburner, Ulrike Bende-Michl, Andrew Frost, and Eva Rodriguez18. The way forward: Continuing policy and management reforms in the Murray–Darling basinBarry T. Hart, Jason Alexandra, Nick R. Bond, Neil Byron, Rod Marsh, Carmel A. Pollino, and Michael J. Stewardson