needs are in place for most Australian rivers
(Arthington & Pusey, 2003), but few of these include
specific recommendations that deal with drought. As
the value and scarcity of water has increased the
necessity of environmental flow releases has become
increasingly contentious, and to some degree this
reflects differing philosophies about the sharing of
water between consumptive users and the environment
(Pigram, 2006). Casting these differences aside,
there are specific ecosystems where mounting evidence
suggests that the urgent delivery of
environmental flows will be required to prevent the
collapse of valued aquatic ecosystems and the species
that comprise them