Description:
The River Murray basin, Australia's largest, has been significantly impacted by changed flow regimes and increased fluxes of salts and sediments since settlement in the 1840s. The river's flood plain hosts an array of cut-off meanders, levee lakes and basin depression lakes that archive historical changes. Pre-European sedimentation rates are typically approx. 0.1-1 mm year-1, while those in the period after European arrival are typically 10 to 30 fold greater. This increased sedimentation corresponds to a shift in wetland trophic state from submerged macrophytes in clear waters to phytoplankton-dominated, turbid systems. There is evidence for a decline in sedimentation in some natural wetlands after river regulation from the 1920s, but with the maintenance of the phytoplankton state. Fossil diatom assemblages reveal that, while some wetlands had saline episodes before settlement, others became saline after, and as early as the 1880s. The oxidation of sulphurous salts deposited after regulation has induced hyperacidity in a number of wetlands in recent years. While these wetlands are rightly perceived as being heavily impacted, other, once open water systems, that have infilled and now support rich macrophyte beds, are used as interpretive sites. The rate of filling, however, suggests that the lifespan of these wetlands is short. The rate of wetland loss through such increased infilling is unlikely to be matched by future scouring as regulation has eliminated middle order floods from the lower catchment.
Description:
The River Murray basin, Australia's largest, has been significantly impacted by changed flow regimes and increased fluxes of salts and sediments since settlement in the 1840s. The river's flood plain hosts an array of cut-off meanders, levee lakes and basin depression lakes that archive historical changes. Pre-European sedimentation rates are typically approx. 0.1-1 mm year-1, while those in the period after European arrival are typically 10 to 30 fold greater. This increased sedimentation corresponds to a shift in wetland trophic state from submerged macrophytes in clear waters to phytoplankton-dominated, turbid systems. There is evidence for a decline in sedimentation in some natural wetlands after river regulation from the 1920s, but with the maintenance of the phytoplankton state. Fossil diatom assemblages reveal that, while some wetlands had saline episodes before settlement, others became saline after, and as early as the 1880s. The oxidation of sulphurous salts deposited after regulation has induced hyperacidity in a number of wetlands in recent years. While these wetlands are rightly perceived as being heavily impacted, other, once open water systems, that have infilled and now support rich macrophyte beds, are used as interpretive sites. The rate of filling, however, suggests that the lifespan of these wetlands is short. The rate of wetland loss through such increased infilling is unlikely to be matched by future scouring as regulation has eliminated middle order floods from the lower catchment.
Description:
There is an increasing concern that the current management practices for many coastal regions are unsustainable. Very few countries have planned to deal with the exacerbation of environmental decline in the face of sea level rise. It is therefore necessary to assess socioeconomic and environmental impacts of sea level rises to better understand the vulnerability of coastal zones, as part of devising adaptive and integrated management principles. This paper presents a systematic approach by which relevant stakeholders can be actively engaged in prioritising flood impact issues and deriving information for quantification of impacts for adaptation measures and demonstrates the approach through implementation in the Gippsland coastal region. As outcomes of the project, we have identified key issues of concern for this region for flood impacts and constructed synthetic response functions for quantification of impacts of floods on some of the key issues in the region. The analysis also showed that stakeholders consider that some of the issues are not likely to be significantly affected by floods and thus may not require adaptation measures. The analysis did not provide high agreement on some issues. Different approaches are required to assess the importance of these issues and to establish impact response functions for them.
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The Phoenix Foundry and Bairnsdale and District Co-operative Butter Factory are lapped by floodwaters, probably in the early 1900s. Taken from a postcard.
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Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
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Record generated from title list.
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Barraclough, L. - Gippsland in focus|Adams, J.D. - Path among the years
Description:
The Phoenix Foundry and Bairnsdale and District Co-operative Butter Factory are lapped by floodwaters, probably in the early 1900s. Taken from a postcard.
Description:
Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
Description:
Record generated from title list.
Description:
Barraclough, L. - Gippsland in focus|Adams, J.D. - Path among the years
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View from the tramway near the Walhalla battery, showing the flood sweeping through behind the main business centre. The bridge has been washed out and the water is flowing out on the roadway.
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Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
Description:
Record generated from title list.
Description:
The Walhalla story - POT 30|James, G.F. - Walhalla heyday
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View from the tramway near the Walhalla battery, showing the flood sweeping through behind the main business centre. The bridge has been washed out and the water is flowing out on the roadway.
Description:
Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
Description:
Record generated from title list.
Description:
The Walhalla story - POT 30|James, G.F. - Walhalla heyday
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View from the verandah of the Grand Junction Hotel as floodwaters swirl down Stringer's Creek. The water is flowing over a footbridge and is across the road outside the Star Hotel and a row of shops. A baker's cart is standing on the other side of the creek.
Description:
Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
Description:
Record generated from title list.
Description:
The Walhalla story - POT 30|James, G.F. - Walhalla heyday
Description:
View from the verandah of the Grand Junction Hotel as floodwaters swirl down Stringer's Creek. The water is flowing over a footbridge and is across the road outside the Star Hotel and a row of shops. A baker's cart is standing on the other side of the creek.
Description:
Item held by Centre for Gippsland Studies, Federation University Australia.
Description:
Record generated from title list.
Description:
The Walhalla story - POT 30|James, G.F. - Walhalla heyday