Many wetlands along the Murray River in the Mallee rely on water for the environment to restore more natural flow regimes and support ecological health. While there has been a long history of monitoring efforts directed at watered wetlands in the region, a review of this work has identified the need for a systematic approach to monitoring and evaluation that is more integrated, prioritised, and cost-effective.
In response, a MERI plan for lower Murray wetlands was developed, with a focus on SMART objectives and targets that enable the monitoring and evaluation of the ecological, social and cultural response to watering. A key feature of the plan was a robust and agreed program logic aligned with regional goals and objectives. We also detailed data collection methods and KEQs aligned to best practice evaluation themes: Effectiveness, Appropriateness, Efficiency, Impact and Legacy.
With around 30 wetlands receiving water each year, monitoring every location is neither feasible nor necessary, particularly as sites can vary annually, making it difficult to consistently collect data and track change over time. As a result, a decision-support framework was developed as part of the MERI plan to direct monitoring efforts to sites where the lessons, insights and assumptions can be used to tell a broader regional story, such as sites with broad geographic coverage, existing data and/or good representation of ecological, social and cultural values.
This project highlighted a more targeted and prioritised monitoring approach, generates more consistent and robust long‑term data to demonstrate outcomes and support investment.