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Our valuesWe agree to work together, and ensure that ourbehaviour reflects the following values.
Courage
• We will take a visionary approach, provide leadership and be prepared tomake difficult decisions.
Inclusiveness
• We will build relationships based on trustand sharing, considering the needs offuture generations, and working togetherin a true partnership.
• We will engage all partners, includingIndigenous communities, and ensurethat partners have the capacity to befully engaged.
Commitment
• We will act with passion and decisiveness,taking the long-term view and aiming forstability in decision-making.
• We will take a Basin perspective and anon-partisan approach to Basinmanagement.
Respect and honesty
• We will respect different views, respecteach other and acknowledge the realityof each other’s situation.
• We will act with integrity, openness andhonesty, be fair and credible, and shareknowledge and information.
• We will use resources equitably andrespect the environment.
Flexibility
• We will accept reform where it isneeded, be willing to change, andcontinuously improve our actionsthrough a learning approach.
Practicability
• We will choose practicable, long-termoutcomes and select viable solutions toachieve these outcomes.
Mutual obligation
• We will share responsibility andaccountability, and act responsibly,with fairness and justice.
• We will support each other throughnecessary change.
Our principlesWe agree, in a spirit of partnership, to use thefollowing principles to guide our actions.
Integration
• We will manage catchments holistically;that is, decisions on the use of land,water and other environmental resourcesare made by considering the effect of thatuse on all those resources and on allpeople within the catchment.
Accountability
• We will assign responsibilities andaccountabilities.
• We will manage resources wisely, beingaccountable and reporting to our partners.
Transparency
• We will clarify the outcomes sought.
• We will be open about how to achieveoutcomes and what is expected fromeach partner.
Effectiveness
• We will act to achieve agreed outcomes.
• We will learn from our successes andfailures and continuously improveour actions.
Efficiency
• We will maximise the benefits andminimise the costs of actions.
Full accounting
• We will take account of the full range ofcosts and benefits, including economic,environmental, social and off-site costsand benefits.
Informed decision-making
• We will make decisions at the mostappropriate scale.
• We will make decisions on the bestavailable information, and continuouslyimprove knowledge.
• We will support the involvement ofIndigenous people in decision-making,understanding the value of thisinvolvement, and respecting the livingknowledge of Indigenous people.
Learning approach
• We will learn from our failures and successes.
• We will learn from each other.
Integrated catchment management in the Murray–Darling BasinA process through which people can develop a vision, agree on shared values and behaviours, makeinformed decisions and act together to manage the natural resources of their catchment: theirdecisions on the use of land, water and other environmental resources are made by considering theeffect of that use on all those resources and on all people within the catchment.
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Lake VictoriaCultural LandscapePlan of ManagementM A Y 2 0 0 2
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Lake Victoria Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
Published by the Murray–Darling Basin MinisterialCouncil
Office addressLevel 5, 15 Moore St, Canberra, Australian CapitalTerritory
Postal addressGPO Box 409, Canberra ACT 2601
Tel: (02) 6279 0100; from overseas +61 2 6279 0100
Fax: (02) 6248 8053; from overseas +61 2 6248 8053
Email [email protected]
Internet http://www.mdbc.gov.au
ISBN 1 876830 35 2
© Murray–Darling Basin Commission 2002
This work is copyright. Photographs and coverartwork, and the MDBC logo, are not to bereproduced or stored by any process withoutpermission. However, text and other graphics in thispublication may be reproduced in whole or in part,provided the information is not sold or put tocommercial use and its source (‘Murray–Darling BasinMinisterial Council 2002, Lake Victoria CulturalLandscape Plan of Management’) is clearlyacknowledged. Reproduction and storage for otherpurposes is prohibited without prior permission of theMurray–Darling Basin Commission.
Ref No. I&D MDBC 7532
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THE s90 CONSENTCULTURAL LANDSCAPE PLAN OF MANAGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1: FOREWORD 1
Introduction 1
Development of the Plan of Management 1
Acknowledgment of the Spirit of Cooperation 3
Geographic Scope of the Plan of Management 3
How to Read This Plan 3
PART 2: THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF LAKE VICTORIA 7
2.1 Lake Victoria’s Role as a Water Storage 7
Legislative Framework—The Murray–Darling Basin Agreement 7
Role of Lake Victoria 7
Historical Operation of Lake Victoria for Water Conservation 8
Harmony Operations with Menindee Lakes 8
Additional Dilution Flows 8
Salinity Management 8
Water Storage and Re-regulation 9
Environmental Flow Management 9
2.2 Lake Victoria as a Cultural Landscape 10
The Cultural Landscape 10
The Lake Environment 10
Cultural Heritage 10
Natural Heritage 11
Values of Associated People 12
2.3 Statement of Significance 17
Assessment of Heritage Significance 17
Statement of Significance 18
2.4 Factors Affecting Heritage 22
Historic and Current Impacts on the Lakeshore 22
Assessment of Impacts on Heritage Significance 23
Management Zones 23
Management Requirements 29
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PART 3: THE CONSENT CONDITIONS 33
3.1 Introduction 33
Legislative Framework 33
Overview of the s90 Consent 33
Objective of the Plan of Management 34
How to Read Part 3 of the Plan of Management 34
3.2 Consent Conditions, Objectives, Strategies and Action Plans 35
Relationship between Consent Conditions, Strategies and Action Plans 35
Life of Consent Condition, Strategy and Action Plans 36
Ongoing Review 36
Formal Review Process 36
3.3 Lake Victoria Advisory Committee and Community Relations 50
Lake Victoria Advisory Committee 50
Barkindji Elders Committee 50
Broader Community 51
3.4 Strategies for Cultural Heritage Conservation 51
Background 51
Vegetation 51
The Lake Victoria Operating Strategy 52
3.5 Research and Monitoring 52
Research 52
Research Plan 55
Monitoring 55
Description of the Monitoring Programs for Consent Condition 10 to 15 56
3.6 Actions Outside the Area of the Lake 62
Groundwater Monitoring and Salinity 62
Natural and Cultural Heritage Inventories of Surrounding Areas 62
3.7 Management and Implementation. 62
Management Responsibilities 62
Decision-making process 64
Life of the Plan of Management 64
Independent Review after Five Years 64
Annual Review of Plan 64
PROTOCOLS 65
Lake Victoria Access Protocol 65
Protocol for the Employment of Aboriginal Workers at Lake Victoria 68
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Protocol for the Protection of Newly Discovered Burials Found at Lake Victoria 69
Protocol for the Maintenance of Existing Burial Protection Works at Lake Victoria 70
Lake Victoria Field Code of Conduct 71
APPENDICES 75
Appendix 1: S87 Permit 75
S90 Consent 85
Appendix 2: References 109
Front Cover: Landsat TM Bands 1,2,3 merged with SPOT Panchromatic Imagery. Landsat TMcaptured 23 April 1999, SPOT captured 14 April 1999. Landsat TM © ACRES/AUSLIG 1999 –Commonwealth of Australia SPOT Image © CNES 1999.
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PART 1: FOREWORD
IntroductionLake Victoria is a naturally occurring shallow
freshwater Lake approximately 60 kilometres
downstream of the Murray–Darling Junction in
south-western New South Wales, close to the
South Australian and Victoria borders
(Figure 1). Since 1928, Lake Victoria has been
operated by the Murray–Darling Basin
Commission (MDBC) as a regulated, off-river
storage as part of the River Murray system. The
other storages in the River Murray system are
Hume Dam, Dartmouth Dam and the
Menindee Lakes. Lake Victoria is managed and
operated by the South Australia Water
Corporation (SA Water), on behalf of River
Murray Water (RMW), an internal business unit
of the MDBC. River Murray Water is responsible
for the overall management and renewal of the
works of the River Murray and Lower Darling
system under the Murray–Darling Basin
Agreement. For convenience this document
refers to the MDBC and this reference should be
interpreted as referring to River Murray Water
for operational, management and renewal
purposes.
Lake Victoria was an important centre for
traditional Aboriginal people, and remains so for
associated Aboriginal people today. The cultural
heritage of Lake Victoria is recognised as being
of exceptionally high significance to Aboriginal
people with traditional and historic affiliation to
the Lake, but it is also highly significant to the
broader Australian community at a national
level.
Regulation of the Lake over the last 70 years has
contributed to the erosion and exposure of
Aboriginal cultural material on the Lakeshore, in
particular Aboriginal burial grounds. Since 1994,
substantial works have been built to protect all
known burials from wave and wind erosion, and
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was
prepared to support an application under s90 of
the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act (1974)
to allow continued disturbance of non-burial
Aboriginal relics by regulation of the Lake.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
(NPWS) issued an eight-year s90 Consent to the
MDBC on 27 August 1998, subject to a series of
Conditions. In the event the MDBC appealed
the original conditions and subsequently a
revised set of Conditions was approved by the
NSW Minister for Environment and adopted by
the NSW Director-General of NPWS on 27
May 2002. The Conditions are listed in Table 1.
The s90 Consent has been issued on the basis
that disturbance of Aboriginal relics will be
minimised to the greatest extent possible
through future operation of the Lake and
management of the landscape. These Consent
Conditions will be implemented through this
document—the Lake Victoria Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management (the Plan).
Development of the Plan ofManagement
The s90 Consent required a Plan of
Management for the Lake Victoria Cultural
Landscape to be developed:
• in accordance with nationally accepted
heritage principles, procedures and guidelines;
• in close consultation with the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee, and presented to the
Advisory Committee for review;
• with subsequent submission of the final draft
to the Director-General NPWS for approval;
and
• with the capacity to adapt management as
new issues emerge.
Figure 2 shows the planning process that was
used to develop this Plan of Management.
The development of the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management was initially directed by a
sub-committee of the Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee. (The role and composition of the
Lake Victoria Advisory Committee and the
Barkindji Elders Committee are described in
detail in Section 3.3) This sub-committee was
chaired by a heritage management professional
and included three elders from the Barkindji
community, a landholder representative and
representatives from NPWS, Department of
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Land and Water Conservation (DLWC), MDBCas secretariat/author and SA Water.
The sub-committee produced a number of draftsin 1999 which were considered and approved bythe entire Advisory Committee. In December1999, Draft 3 was distributed for comment toexternal agencies including NPWS, the NSWState Heritage Office, Environment Australiaand the NSW State Aboriginal Land Council.Work continued in 2000 under the continuedguidance of the chair of the sub-committee, andvarious aspects of the Plan were considered bythe entire Advisory Committee at a number ofworkshops. Draft 4 was presented to theAdvisory Committee for comment in April 2001and a final draft was distributed to the externalagencies for comment following theincorporation of amendments from that
workshop.
The Plan has been developed in accordance withnationally accepted heritage principles,procedures and guidelines including the BurraCharter, the Draft Guidelines for theManagement of Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Heritage, the Australian NaturalHeritage Charter and the Conditions of the s90Consent for Lake Victoria.
Part 2 of this document establishes thesignificance of Lake Victoria by:
• providing a background to the significance ofLake Victoria as a cultural landscape and inits role as a water storage;
• identifying the diverse values the Lakerepresents and providing a statement of thesignificance of Lake Victoria as a place; and
• explaining the factors which affect the
heritage and identifying management zonesand priority areas of significant heritage.
Condition Topic of Consent Condition
1 Lake Victoria Advisory Committee and Community Relations
2 Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
3 Geographic Scope
4 Approval Processes
5 Reporting Processes
6 Communication and Access Strategy
7 General Principles of the Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
8 Strategies for Revegetation
9 Research Activities
10 Monitoring Cultural Heritage
11 Monitoring Burial Protection Works
12 Understanding, Assessing and Monitoring the Environment, Impacts and Mitigation Actions
13 Monitoring Vegetation
14 Monitoring Non-Native Fauna
15 Monitoring Water Quality
16 Lake Operations
17 Interim Operation of the Lake
18 Impacts on Areas Outside of the Lake
19–27 Specific Terms and Conditions for s90 Consent
28–30 Specific Conditions Applying to the Consent
Table 1: List of Consent Conditions
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Part 3 of this document presents the strategiesdeveloped to address the Consent Conditions.These strategies recognise the need for a balancebetween conserving the competing values atLake Victoria, and ensuring that the operation ofLake Victoria for water supply purposes takesinto consideration the impacts on cultural andnatural heritage values.
Acknowledgment of the Spirit ofCooperation
The process of developing the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management for LakeVictoria has always been an issue of seeking abalance among the many values held by thestakeholders. This has been an involved processand has been characterised by a strong spirit ofcooperation by all involved.
Geographic Scope of the Plan ofManagement
Figure 3 shows the geographic scope of the Planof Management, which is specified in ConsentCondition 3 as:
“the area described in ‘Schedule B’ in the s90Consent, plus the Lake and its bed, FrenchmansCreek downstream of the Inlet Regulator and itsbed.”
Schedule B in the s90 Consent includes:
The Lakeshore of Lake Victoria below 27 mand areas of cliff at 27 m rising to 29–30 m.The section of Frenchmans Ck between Banks 8,9 and 10, and Banks 1 (from the ControlRegulator to Scaddings Bridge) which isinundated when the Lake is at 27 m.
On the southern edge of the Lake, the boundaryhas been extended to follow the line ofEmbankment 6, which runs from the OutletRegulator to the Control Regulator. Thisincludes land that is not directly impacted by theLake regulation, but whose conservationmanagement needs to be consistent with the restof the Lakeshore
How to Read This Plan
The Plan is trying to achieve a number ofpurposes including:
• address the requirements of the Consent andits associated conditions;
• provide some background, especially thereasons why Lake Victoria is such animportant place for cultural and historicalreasons for Aboriginal and non-AboriginalAustralians, as well as its critical role insecuring water resources for NSW, Victoriaand South Australia; and
• provide the essential elements of the LakeVictoria story in an inviting and interestingform.
The individual parts of the Plan are designed as
discrete sections which can be read andunderstood without the need to refer to theother parts. Inevitably, this means somerepetition, but every effort has been made tokeep this to a minimum.
Part 1 provides a simple overview andintroduction to the document.
Part 2 provides a summary of the background tothe cultural significance of Lake Victoria byexamining its cultural landscape, social, aesthetic,historic, geodiversity, biodiversity, scientific andeconomic values. The key message is that findinga solution to conserving the cultural heritage atLake Victoria involves assessing and balancingthese values. The material presented in Part 2 is asummary, and there is a significant amount ofliterature which was developed as a result of theextensive work in support of the EIS. Furtherreferences are listed in Appendix 2.
Part 3 presents the specific response to theConsent Conditions. The majority of conditions,which are in effect conservation policies derivedfrom the Statement of Significance, require theformulation of a management response. Each ofthese conditions has been analysed to determinethe intent of the condition, in order to developthe appropriate strategies and action plans,which are listed.
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In addition, the Plan needs to be understood bya wide variety of people. It needs to besufficiently detailed for operational purposes, butit also needs to be presented in an inviting andplain language format for those who do notrequire the same level of detail. An unfortunate
consequence of including so much material isthat the full Plan is a lengthy document, whichmay discourage some people from reading it.The poster highlights the essential elements ofthe Plan for wider distribution.
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Figure 1: Location of Lake Victoria
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Figure 2: The Cultural Landscape Planning Process
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Figure 3: Boundary of Section 90 Consent
Note: The Section 90 Consent encompasses the area of Lake Victoria up to EL 27 m, plus the areas
of cliff at EL 27 m rising to 29–30 m and Frenchmans Creek downstream of Scaddings Bridge.
The Cultural Landscape Plan of Management encompasses all of the above areas plus Frenchmans
Creek between Scaddings Bridge and the Inlet Regulator.
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PART 2: THE CULTURALSIGNIFICANCE OFLAKE VICTORIA
2.1 Lake Victoria’s Role asa Water Storage
Legislative Framework—TheMurray–Darling Basin Agreement
The system of storages and regulated flows alongthe River Murray supplies water to SouthAustralia, New South Wales and Victoria under awater-sharing agreement which is part of theoverall Murray–Darling Basin Agreement 1992.This replaced the River Murray Waters Agreementof 1915. In 1988 the MDBC replaced itspredecessor, the River Murray Commission,which had been managing the regulation and
storage of flows in the Murray since 1917. TheMDBC was given a new brief and broaderresponsibility to manage the catchmentssurrounding the rivers, with a new emphasis oncatchment management.
The water-sharing agreement guarantees certainminimum flows to South Australia, irrespectiveof the needs of water users upstream. New SouthWales and Victoria are licensed to extract acertain amount of water but South Australia isthe only State that is guaranteed a minimummonthly flow (entitlement) under theMurray–Darling Basin Agreement. The onlyexception is during periods of severe drought,when the total volume of stored water is sharedequally between New South Wales, Victoria andSouth Australia.
One of the main consequences of any change toLake Victoria that would affect the amount ofwater stored, would be a reduction in the totalavailable diversions to New South Wales andVictoria together with a reduction in the securityof supply (under the current legislatedMurray–Darling Basin Agreement, South Australiawould not be affected). Without revision of thecurrent Murray–Darling Basin Agreement, SouthAustralia’s entitlements would not change.However, some consequences to South Australiaresulting from the altered operation of LakeVictoria may arise under severe drought.
Role of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria plays a critical role in increasingthe efficiency of the operation of the RiverMurray system because it:
• provides storage capacity for all water thatenters the River Murray below Hume Damand the Darling River below Menindee Lakesor spills from these storages;
• has a capacity of 680 gigalitres of water whichis equal to approximately three months peakentitlement flow to South Australia;
• is used to balance South Australia’sentitlement by storing water in periods ofhigh flow and releasing water when flows arelow;
• re-regulates surplus flow, for example, insummer there may be a reduction in
irrigation as a result of thunderstorms and acorresponding increase in river flow, whichcan be stored in Lake Victoria for supply toSouth Australia later;
• mitigates against the flow restrictions imposedby a narrow section of the Murray known asthe Barmah Choke (near Echuca);
• provides a buffer for the dilution of highsalinity water in the lower Murray; and
• provides environmental benefits by managinghigh river flows to produce a flow thatoptimises the environmental benefitsdownstream of the Lake, by enhancing,mitigating or prolonging a flood peakdepending upon the particular circumstancesat the time.
The operation of the Lake is based on a numberof principles including the harmony of operationbetween Lake Victoria and Menindee Lakes,salinity management guidelines, water storageand re-regulation requirements and managementof environmental flows.
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Historical Operation of LakeVictoria for Water Conservation
Historically the Lake has been operated with the
principal aim of conserving water resources in
order to guarantee water supply. The Lake was
generally operated by filling it as early as possible
each year, and storing water until it was required.
This meant that sometimes the Lake level was
kept at very high levels for long periods, a factor
which has contributed to significant changes to
the natural environment. To some extent, this
style of operation has evolved recently as a result
of greater awareness of environmental issues.
Further evolution is expected in future, which
may have an effect on the way that Lake Victoria
is managed as a key part of the River Murray
system.
Harmony Operations withMenindee Lakes
Lake Victoria is operated in harmony with
Menindee Lakes, on the Darling River. The
harmony operation has been developed to take
into account the unique circumstances that relate
to Menindee Lakes and Lake Victoria as storages
in an arid environment at the lower end of the
river system. The conventional operation of
storages is to use water from the lower storage
first, as it is possible to release water from the
upper storage later if required. With Menindee
Lakes and Lake Victoria, the application of this
concept does not always result in optimum
operation, as the Menindee Lakes have a
significantly higher evaporation rate than Lake
Victoria.
The harmony operation and the associated target
levels have been developed to maximise the
availability of water and to minimise the loss of
water through evaporation and associated
concentration of salt. A second component of
the harmony operation is the provision of
additional dilution flows to South Australia for
management of salinity in the lower Murray.
The harmony rules call on water from Menindee
Lakes if available and Lake Victoria according to
a series of target levels in Lake Victoria:
• if the water level in Lake Victoria is above
target level then water from Lake Victoria is
used to meet the required flow to South
Australia.
• if the water level in Lake Victoria is below or
about to fall below the target level because the
flow in the River Murray upstream of the
Darling River Junction is insufficient to meet
the required flow to South Australia, then
water is released from Menindee Lakes to
meet the shortfall, and if necessary, to raise
the water level in Lake Victoria to the target
level.
Additional Dilution Flows
South Australia is entitled to Additional Dilution
Flows from Menindee Lakes if certain targets are
met. This additional flow is a result of the
evaporation savings that arose from the
introduction of harmony operation of Menindee
Lakes and Lake Victoria in 1988, and aims to
reduce the salinity of the River Murray in South
Australia. If the combined storage of Hume
Dam and Dartmouth Dam is more than 2 000
gigalitres and the storage in Menindee is above 1
650 gigalitres in June and July, 1 500 gigalitres
in August and 1 300 gigalitres in all other
months, then South Australia is entitled to an
additional 3 000 megalitres per day Additional
Dilution Flow.
Changes to the operation of Lake Victoria can
impact on the timing of releases from other
storages, In turn this could potentially impact
the amount of Additional Dilution Flow
supplied to South Australia.
Salinity Management
Another set of rules for the operation of the Lake
is aimed at optimising water quality to South
Australia.
If the flow to South Australia is less than 11 000
megalitres per day, water salinity is adjusted:
• if the salinity of the water in the River is
higher than the salinity of the water in Lake
Victoria, the bulk of the flow to South
Australia is fed through Lake Victoria to
reduce the salinity downstream of the Lake.
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• if the salinity of the water in the River islower than the salinity of the water in theLake, the bulk of the flow is passed down theRiver to minimise downstream salinity.
If the flow to South Australia is greater than 11 000 megalitres per day, water salinity isadjusted:
• if the salinity in the River is lower than thesalinity in the Lake, then the water is passedthrough Lake Victoria to reduce the Lakesalinity (called flushing). This usually occursduring late winter/spring and reduces Lakesalinity and so improves the quality of waterto be supplied out of the Lake to SouthAustralia during the following summer.
Water Storage and Re-regulation
Lake Victoria provides a re-regulating role toSouth Australia’s required flow in the followingway:
• if the flow in the Murray above Lake Victoriais less than required, additional flow isprovided from the Lake. This generally occursduring the peak summer and autumn demandperiod.
• if the flow in the Murray upstream of theLake is higher than required, the surpluswater is diverted into the Lake and stored.
This is likely to occur during the latewinter/spring period as the river rises inresponse to normal winter/spring rainfall andthe Lake generally fills during this period.
• following a cool or wet period in summerwhen irrigation demand may temporarilyreduce and there is a component of run-offand increased tributary flow (called a rainrejection), any flow above entitlement isstored in the Lake.
Environmental Flow Management
Lake Victoria can be used to manage high riverflows to produce a flow that optimises theenvironmental benefits to the River Murraydownstream of the Lake. This can be achievedby enhancing, mitigating or prolonging floodpeaks, depending upon the particularcircumstances at the time. There isapproximately 650 km of the River Murraydownstream of Lake Victoria that can beinfluenced by the operation of the Lake.
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Figure 4: Lake Victoria storage volume trigger for harmony releases from Menindee Lake
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2.2 Lake Victoria as aCultural Landscape
The Cultural Landscape
The Cultural Landscape of the Lakeshore of
Lake Victoria is made up of multiple layers: the
physical landscape of the Lake, its beaches,
islands and surrounding cliffs; the natural
environment of plants and animals; and the
cultural imprint of humans. This consists of the
changes people have made to the physical and
natural environment, the material remains they
have left behind, as well as human perception of
the landscape, held in history, stories and
memories.
The Lake Environment
Lake Victoria is a substantial, ancient Lake on
the Murray River. It is set into the clays of a
much older and vaster system, Lake Bungunnia.
The surrounding land surface is a flat dry sand
plain, gullied on the west and north of the Lake.
The eastern shore is hugged by a wide sandy
lunette dune behind which are smaller ponds
and an old floodplain. The older history of the
physical landscape is revealed around the
Lakeshore by the older sediments of Lake
Bungunnia, lying above ancient marine and
riverine sediments; and the lunette, which built
up as the Lake fluctuated during climatic
changes over at least the last 50 000 years.
About 10 000 years ago, the amount of water
flowing down the Murray decreased, and the
Lake was reduced to a small pond inside its
bigger basin. Since then, Frenchmans Creek,
Rufus River and a number of interconnecting
channels have built up an extensive floodplain
between the Lake and the River Murray.
Meandering across the Lake floor, they also built
up a floodplain delta in the old Lake basin. A
line of low sandy barriers, running east-west
across the delta, and now known as the
Frenchmans Islands, may mark the level of
highest floods. As the delta floodplain built up
on the southern Lakeshore, a new shoreline
formed on the south-west of the Lake, now
known as Talgarry Barrier.
Cultural Heritage
Traditionally the Lake was within the lands of
the Maraura people, a sub-group of the
Barkindji people, whose country extended from
north of Wilcannia to the Murray–Darling
Junction and west of the Darling to the Chowilla
area. In the 1830s the traditional patterns in the
Lake Victoria region were broken by the invasion
of Europeans, moving vast herds of sheep and
cattle along the northern bank of the River
Murray. Throughout 1841 the Aboriginal people
living here engaged in one of the strongest wars
of resistance in Australia, focussing on three
major river crossings, the Darling River to the
east, Salt Creek to the west, and Rufus River, the
outlet channel of Lake Victoria.
For several months the Aborigines were
successful in routing the invading overlanders,
but the conflict culminated on 27 August 1841,
when the people of Lake Victoria were defeated
by the combined forces of the overlanders and a
police expedition from Adelaide at a crossing
place on Rufus River on the southern lake bed of
Lake Victoria. This event which resulted in the
deaths of at least 30 Aboriginal people, and the
wounding of another 15, is known as the Rufus
River Massacre. Aboriginal people were killed in
other events as well.
Since 1841, Aborigines and Europeans have
shared the landscape of Lake Victoria, but not
on equal terms. The land was taken over by
Europeans and subdivided into pastoral leases. In
the early years, perhaps until the 1860s, Maraura
people worked with the pastoralists, and their
contribution to the success of pastoralists is
recorded in the reminiscences of the Kerridge
family. By the 1890s only a handful of local
Maraura people still lived in the area, some had
moved down the Murray into South Australia,
but most had died. At the same time other
Southern Barkindji–Maraura people from the
Great Anabranch of the Darling River, notably
the Mitchell family, moved to the Lake as
pastoral workers. The extended families of their
descendants who have maintained their historic
ties for the last 100 years, and are now involved
in the conservation of the cultural heritage of
Lake Victoria.
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In the 1920s the Lake was regulated as a waterstorage on the River Murray. Landscape changesincluded rerouting river channels and dammingthe southern Lakeshore with embankments.Changes in the Lake regime killed much of theLakeshore vegetation and changed erosion andsedimentation patterns, exposing Aboriginalburials and campsites. In turn the constructionof the regulation works and subsequentmanagement activities left another cultural layeron the landscape.
Lake Victoria was used as an air-to-groundgunnery range by the RAAF’s 2 OperationalTraining Unit (2OTU) which was based atMildura during World War II. Remnants ofspent ammunition have been found around theLake. In addition, there were a number ofcrashes at the Lake. Some of the aircraft were
salvaged but others remain in the Lake alongwith the remains of some aircrew.
The Lakeshore of Lake Victoria preserves a richrecord of the way people, both Aboriginal andnon-Aboriginal, have lived in this landscape.This cultural record consist of the physical tracesof human life and activity: the campsites,fireplaces, factory floors, and burial grounds ofAboriginal people who lived here over manythousands of years; and the house sites, fences,ruins, roads and water regulation works ofEuropean people, the newcomers who have beenhere just 160 years.
The cultural record also includes the physicalchanges people have made to the landscape: theextensive shell middens in the organic rich soilsbuilt up by Aboriginal people; the changes to theLake, raised water levels and embankments,made by Europeans; and, importantly, the majorburial protection works built jointly by theAboriginal people and Europeans over the lastfew years.
Natural Heritage
The vegetation of the southern lake bed was anatural shoreline zonation of Lakeshorefloodplain communities: river red gumwoodland along the channels of the Rufus River
and Frenchmans Creek; blackbox woodland,sedgeland and grassland on the floodplain. Riverred gum woodland also extended around the restof the Lakeshore, with dense stands on thesheltered western shore, and sparse trees on theexposed and barren eastern shore. In some placessaltbush communities also grew on the Lakeshore.
There is little specific information about the pre-regulation Lakeshore vegetation apart fromannotations on the survey map prepared in1913–18, and no information about the fauna.However, local and regional historic recordsindicate that the original flora and fauna of thisarea was as severely affected last century by sheepand rabbits as anywhere else in western NSW.
The Lake regulation had a substantial impact onthe Lakeshore flora. The most obvious sign is thestands of dead river red gums along the pre-
regulation Lakeshore and especially along thedrowned Rufus–Frenchmans channels on thesouthern lake bed. The four vegetationcommunities which survive on the southern lakebed are ‘derived’ associations formed in responseto 70 years of artificially elevated Lake levelconditions. Despite their artificial nature, theyare floristically and structurally dominated byspecies indigenous to the region. None of theplant species recorded are rare or threatened inNSW or Australia, although a number of themrepresent range extensions.
On the southern lake bed a river red gumwoodland fringe (and some other tree andperennial species) has established itself at thepost-regulation high water level, 27 m.Elsewhere around the Lake, most of the beach iseither unvegetated or dominated by introducedspecies when the Lake is low. Despite theartificial nature of the vegetation associations onthe southern lake bed, they provide importantwildlife habitat for animals, including at least 16species considered of conservation concern inwestern NSW.
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Values of Associated People
Cultural heritage is not just about places and
objects in themselves. Heritage places and
objects are important because they are
meaningful to the people who have cultural and
historic ties and associations to them. This is the
case at Lake Victoria. Traditionally the Lake was
part of the country of the Maraura people, a
sub-group of the Barkindji people, whose
country extended from north of Wilcannia to
the Murray–Darling Junction and west of the
Darling to the Chowilla area.
Knowledge about the existence of burial grounds
was handed down within the Aboriginal
community even through the social disruptions
of the last 160 years. The burial grounds are of
extremely high spiritual and social value.
Barkindji mortuary beliefs are complex, and
involve the concept of the dangerous nature of
burial places. The large number of people buried
at the Lake reinforces the feeling that the
remains should not be disturbed. It is primarily
the burial grounds that give the Lake its spiritual
and sacred connotations, although associated
Aboriginal people also recognise and value the
other material heritage such as campsites,
middens, stone artefacts and scarred trees that
show where and how people lived around the
Lake.
The Lake is regarded as a place of great spiritual
importance, primarily because of the burial
grounds. However, it is also associated with
traditional regional sacred stories. While the
details have not been handed down in oral
tradition, early anthropological records suggest
that it was a major site, connected to significant
storylines along the Murray and Darling relating
to Eaglehawk and Crow, and to
Ngurunderi/Nurelli, creator of the River Murray.
These factors alone would give the Lake great
cultural significance for Aboriginal people.
However, the Lake was also the focus of a series
of conflicts between Aborigines and overlanders,
culminating in the Rufus River Massacre of 27
August 1841. The Rufus River Massacre gives
the Lake immense cultural significance for the
Aboriginal people. It was the final, and most
tragic event in the Aboriginal war of resistance
along the central Murray, and presaged the
subsequent loss of land and culture.
The large number of burial grounds at Lake
Victoria are a constant and highly visible
reminder to generations of Aboriginal people of
what happened. There has been an historical
belief that the burials include the remains of the
massacre victims, and while this has not been
demonstrated, it remains a possibility. Although
the burials at Lake Victoria are the result of
generations of Aboriginal people living in the
area, the possibility that specific ones may be the
victims of the Rufus River or other massacres,
influences Aboriginal attitudes to them, and is a
constant reminder of loss and dispossession.
These values are embedded in a landscape which
as a whole is important to Aboriginal people.
The traditional and historic meanings are
overlaid by generations of direct association
through families working initially in the pastoral
industry and now in heritage conservation. The
Lake and its environment, the plants and
wildlife, are all culturally important to
Aboriginal people. For many people, their
personal and family ties with the Lake form part
of the spiritual significance.
Today the cultural heritage of the Lake is valued
by the following associated Aboriginal people:
• the descendants of the original Maraura clans
of Lake Victoria, now mainly living in South
Australia.
• people descended from other Maraura people,
who lived elsewhere in south-west NSW.
• people who have historic ties to Lake Victoria
(and who may also be Maraura descendants),
especially the Mitchell family.
• the Barkindji people as a whole.
• Aboriginal people who have worked on the
conservation project, regardless of descent.
Many non-Aboriginal people, including some of
the current local landholders, have had long
associations with Lake Victoria and in some cases
also with the associated Aboriginal families.
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Their views on the Lake are derived from current
and historic personal and family ties, and relate
to the Lake as home, either now or in the past.
The social significance of the Lake to a wider
range of people with historical associations, for
example through work on the Lake regulation or
through the RAAF, has yet to be thoroughly
explored.
The non-Aboriginal people associated with Lake
Victoria include:
• descendants of original pastoral families in the
area, many of whom still live in the region.
• current pastoral families.
• members of the Wentworth Historical Society,
many of whom fall into the above categories,
but who have a particular interest in local
history.
• the broader local community: those with a
general historic interest, and those with an
economic or recreational interest.
• people associated with the RAAF training
unit.
• people associated with the regulation of the
Lake: those involved in the construction, and
the current employees, many of whom have
lived in the area for a long time.
• people who have been associated with
environmental and heritage research at Lake
Victoria.
• government agency employees who have
worked in the area, some for many years.
The figures on the following pages illustrate the
different landscapes at Lake Victoria over the
years:
• Figure 5—Aboriginal people in the landscape
at Lake Victoria over the last 18 000 years;
• Figure 6—European people in the landscape
at Lake Victoria; and
• Figure 7—The post regulation landscape of
Lake Victoria.
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Figure 5: Aboriginal people in the landscape at Lake Victoria over the last 18 000 years(Drawing by F.W. Shawcross)
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Figure 6: European people in the landscape at Lake Victoria (Drawing by F.W. Shawcross)
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Figure 7: The post-regulation landscape of Lake Victoria (Drawing by F.W. Shawcross)
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2.3 Statement of Significance
Assessment of HeritageSignificance
The heritage significance of Lake Victoria forms
the basis for the Consent Conditions and
underpins the Cultural Landscape Plan of
Management. By first identifying the heritage
values of Lake Victoria, the subsequent sections
of the Plan can ensure that the management of
the Lakeshore conserves those values.
The cultural heritage significance of Lake
Victoria was assessed in the Cultural Heritage
Report of the Lake Victoria EIS. The assessment
was based on the criteria of the Burra Charter
and of the Register of the National Estate. The
cultural aspects of the Statement of Significance
below are derived from that assessment.
The broad natural heritage significance of Lake
Victoria was not formally assessed in the EIS.
The focus was on rare and endangered species,
which were assessed in terms of the 8-part test
under the Threatened Species Conservation Act(1995). The Statement of Significance here
includes two sections on natural heritage:
geodiversity and biodiversity. The factual content
of geodiversity assessment is based on the
Cultural Heritage, Geology and Geomorphology
reports of the EIS. The factual content of the
biodiversity assessment is based on the flora and
fauna report by Ian Sluiter and Peter Robertson.
The assessment criteria and terminology are
those of the Australian Natural Heritage Charter.
The section on economic value is also based on
the Australian Natural Heritage Charter. The
natural and cultural heritage aspects are
integrated in several sections of the Statement of
Significance: Cultural Landscape Values,
Aesthetic Values and Scientific Values.
For the Lake Victoria Cultural Landscape there
is a clear imbalance between the very high
heritage significance of the cultural aspects and
the lower heritage significance of much of the
natural aspects. There are two major reasons for
this relating to their uniqueness and integrity, as
explained below.
Uniqueness
The cultural heritage demonstrates a unique
conjunction of a number of highly significant
aspects: the burial grounds, the extensive
preservation of rich Aboriginal heritage material,
and the number of significant historic events and
processes that have occurred here, from the
Rufus River Massacre and other massacres to the
building of the regulation works. Individually,
these aspects are very important, but together
they give the Lake outstanding cultural value to
the Aboriginal people who have traditional and
historic ties, as well as to other Australians.
Because of this there is no doubt that Lake
Victoria is of national cultural significance.
This is not the case for the natural environment.
The flora and fauna are characteristic of River
Murray wetlands but are not distinctive or
unique. Only aspects of the geodiversity, such as
the Holocene palaeosols, have high natural
heritage value. The natural environment has
cultural value as a component of the cultural
landscape value, but this is not the determining
factor for the cultural heritage significance.
Integrity
In spite of the impact of the Lake regulation, the
cultural heritage retains a remarkable degree of
integrity. Although burials have been exposed
and disturbed, the number of in situ burials
remaining has made it possible to identify and
protect burial grounds in their original location.
The spatial integrity of Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal cultural heritage material is so strong
that the original patterning of human activities is
clear, and it is possible to distinguish this
through the superficial disturbance caused by
erosion. The integrity of cultural heritage
material on the Lake Victoria shore is as good
and in some respects better than that of
comparable material outside the lake bed (and
throughout the Murray Basin) affected by other
erosional forces. The geodiversity values are high
because most of the geological sediments also
preserve a great degree of integrity in spite of
impacts.
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In contrast, the vegetation has suffered badly
over time and has lost virtually all its original
integrity. On the Lakeshore none of the original
vegetation associations exist in their original
form or place. Much of the Lakeshore is either
unvegetated or dominated by introduced weeds.
Where native vegetation does occurs it consists
of extremely modified and disturbed
associations, retaining no inherent natural
heritage value, however it is valued by the
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.
Statement of Significance
The Statement of Significance is a summary of
the heritage values which include the following:
• Cultural landscape values,
• Social values,
• Aesthetic values,
• Historic values,
• Geodiversity values,
• Biodiversity values,
• Scientific values, and
• Economic values.
Cultural Landscape Values
• The Lake Victoria cultural landscape is a
highly significant place, preserving the
material evidence of both Aboriginal and
European history, the patterns of human
use of the landscape, and associations such
as spiritual feelings about burial grounds,
massacres, past connections and the natural
environment.
• The landscape itself is the result of human
actions. Aboriginal people living along the
Lakeshore over thousands of years changed
the soils and vegetation by creating
campsites and burial grounds, lighting
fires, building up shell midden and rubbish
dumps; and by making walking tracks.
• Europeans had a major impact on the
landscape, first by the introduction of
stock, feral animals and weeds. The main
change has been the regulation works
which controlled the flow of the Murray.
This changed the course and width of the
original channels and provided many new
wetlands and raised the Lake, thus
drowning large areas and providing more
regularly fluctuating water levels, resulting
in changed patterns of erosion and
sedimentation.
• At Lake Victoria, the patterns of
Aboriginal and European use are seen in
the camping places and river crossing
places, roads and tracks, which have been
in use by people for generations.
• The Lake Victoria cultural landscape has
spiritual associations for Aboriginal people
because of the burial grounds and
massacres.
• Continuity of family connections with the
area through employment in the pastoral
industry, especially when tied to specific
places in the landscape are also part of the
associative aspects of the cultural
landscape.
• The Lake Victoria cultural landscape has
important associative aspects in people’s
feelings for the natural environment, the
water, the vegetation and the wildlife. This
combines a nostalgia for times past before
the major landscape changes due to the
regulation works, but also includes an
appreciation of changes that the regulation
has brought.
Social Values
• Lake Victoria has exceptional spiritual
values to associated Aboriginal people as a
place of burials.
• Lake Victoria has spiritual values as the
locality where Aboriginal and European
people were killed in clashes in the 19th
century.
• Knowledge of events such as the Rufus
River Massacre has been handed down in
oral tradition, as has the presence of many
burials, which many Aborigines believe to
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include those of the massacre victims. This
contributes to the spiritual and social
values of the Lake and its symbolic role for
Aboriginal people as a memorial of both
traditional and historic life and events.
• The Lake Victoria area has high social
significance to Aboriginal people who have
historic associations with the pastoral
industry.
• Lake Victoria features in important
traditional mythical stories relating to the
Murray and Darling Rivers. The details of
these have been lost from the local oral
tradition but recorded in historical
documents. These have been recovered
through the significance assessment process
and may now contribute to Aboriginal
values of the Lake.
• The landscape of the Lake, combining
both natural features such water, islands,
channels, flora and fauna, and cultural
features such as burial grounds, traditional
living areas, massacre sites, and also
modern burial conservation works, is of
high social and spiritual significance to
associated Aboriginal people.
• Many local pastoral families have
associations with the Lake and the
surrounding pastoral leases dating back to
the earliest pastoral settlement.
• The Lake has played an important role in
the management of the Murray River since
the 1920s, and has social significance to
associated people such as water
management staff employed there over the
years, and both local, upstream and
downstream people who depend on the
Lake for water.
• The Lake has been used for recreation by
picnickers, campers and fishers, as well as
for educational field trips by school and
university groups.
• The Lake was the site of RAAF pilot
training during World War II, and of
several deaths in plane crashes. The Lake is
of social significance to RAAF veterans in a
current phase of reunions and
commemoration.
Aesthetic Values
• Victoria is a landmark feature because of
the visual contrast it provides as a very
large Lake set into a semi-arid landscape,
and the fact that it is the most substantial
and probably the most ancient Lake along
the central Murray River.
• The combination of natural and cultural
aspects, both social and historic, makes
Lake Victoria an important cultural
landscape which has both aesthetic and
social value.
• Associated Aboriginal people feel that the
landscape is an important part of the
significance of the area. The burials and
other heritage material can only retain
their integrity if the environment remains
intact. It is clear that the aesthetic quality
of the landscape is part of the spiritual
aspects of Lake Victoria, so social and
aesthetic significance are closely related.
• Although highly modified, the areas of
native vegetation are highly regarded by
the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
communities, particularly the stands of
river red gum.
Historic Values
• Extensive Aboriginal sites (both living and
burial places) preserve the history of
Aboriginal people from 18 000 years to the
19th century at the unique geographical
meeting place of the cultures of the lower
River Murray and of the Darling River in
western NSW.
• The Lake Victoria area was the main
location of Aboriginal resistance to the
pastoral expansion along the Murray
River into South Australia during the
historic land wars along the pastoral
frontier of south-eastern Australia in the
1830s–1840s. Rufus River on the Southern
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lake bed was the location of the final and
determining conflict between Aborigines
and Europeans on the Murray, the Rufus
River Massacre of 27 August 1841.
• The Lake Victoria area is associated with
the history of the European exploration of
Australia (particularly with Charles Sturt),
the development of the colony of South
Australia (Joseph Hawdon and the
overlanders), and development of
pastoralism and the river boat trade.
• The Lake Victoria area is associated with
the history of pastoralism in the Western
Division of NSW. In particular it has a
long (and continuing) history of
involvement of Aboriginal people in the
pastoral industry.
• Lake Victoria played a key role in the
development of water management in the
Murray–Darling Basin, a significant phase
in the history of land-use and settlement in
Australia, and especially in South Australia.
• Lake Victoria was a training area for the
RAAF No. 2 Operational Training Unit
based at Mildura during World War II.
Several airmen lost their lives in plane
crashes into the Lake.
• Lake Victoria is associated with the
development of the environmental and
archaeological understanding of Australia,
as a result of the pioneering environmental
assessment studies done for the Chowilla
Dam proposal, and with the development
of cultural heritage management in
Australia.
Geodiversity Values
• At Lake Victoria, sediments representing
the full Murray Basin geological sequence
from the Late Tertiary to the present are
visible.
• Lake Victoria is the largest ancient Lake
associated with the River Murray. Its
position, in the lowest part of the Murray
Basin, and known stratigraphy suggest that
it may extend far back into the Pleistocene.
It continued as a functioning Lake through
the Holocene when other Pleistocene Lakes
(Willandra, Menindee) were either totally
abandoned or only occasionally filled.
• The Lake Victoria shoreline has a
remarkable and possibly continuous
Holocene sedimentary sequence, consisting
of stratified organic and culturally-rich
palaeosols. These accumulated as a
distinctive delta floodplain and other
shoreline features within the Pleistocene
Lake basin.
Biodiversity Values
• The majority of the Lakeshore perimeter
has either no natural vegetation at all, or
where vegetation exists it has lost all
natural integrity and is dominated by or
consists entirely of introduced species.
• The surviving native vegetation
communities on the Southern Lakeshore
and parts of the Lakeshore perimeter are
extremely modified, and consist of derived
associations. They have lost their natural
integrity, both spatial and compositional.
• Although the modified native vegetation
communities are dominated by native
species, none of the plant species recorded
is rare or threatened in NSW, although
some have not been recorded in the region
before.
• While the vegetation may not be of
conservation significance in its own right,
it has a value in providing important
habitat for the fauna.
• The fauna is of moderate significance with
at least 16 species of wildlife of important
conservation status recorded; the most
significant is the Southern Bell Frog, which
is considered endangered in NSW.
• A number of waterbird species breed at
Lake Victoria including two species of
conservation concern, the Greater
Cormorant and the Darter.
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Scientific Values
• The Lake Victoria Lakeshore sediments
and features, the associated inlet and outlet
channels and the older floodplain are
important for understanding the long-term
history of the River Murray.
• Lake Victoria, uniquely placed on the
Murray River, and preserving organic rich
sediments rare in semi-arid areas has the
potential to provide an understanding of
how the environment has changed over the
last 10 000 years, for example through
pollen analysis to study the past vegetation
of the region.
• Lake Victoria has a remarkable late
Holocene sedimentary and archaeological
sequence, with the potential to provide
understanding of the Aboriginal economy
over the last 10 000 years and especially
the last 2 000 years.
• Lake Victoria lies at a cultural and
environmental boundary between the river
and the semi-arid country, and has the
potential to show how Aboriginal land-use
changed at the boundary between riverine
and semi-arid environments.
• Lake Victoria is part of the lower Murray
cultural area characterised by large
cemeteries. It is unique in that the whole
life of the community is preserved, the
places where people lived as well as their
burial grounds. It has the potential to
demonstrate when semi-permanent life
along the Murray and the use of
permanent burial grounds began.
• The shores of the Willandra Lakes long
ago may have been very similar to Lake
Victoria in the recent past before the Lake
regulation. Lake Victoria may be able to
provide a parallel to the way people lived at
the Willandra Lakes 30 000 years ago.
• Lake Victoria has a remarkable density and
variety of stone artefacts compared to other
places on the Murray; the local area may
have been an important raw material
source.
• Contact historic sites can provide
information about Aboriginal and
European interaction, both independent ofhistoric documents and providing a link
between the very early historic records, up
to 1860, and the later oral and familyhistory of the associated Aboriginal
families.
• Historical sites at Lake Victoria, relating to
the pastoral industry and the regulation ofthe Lake can provide information about
European settlement at Lake Victoria not
available in historic records.
• Both the Aboriginal and European historyindicate that Lake Victoria was a key place
on routes along the Murray and Darling
River: traditional Aboriginal mythologicalstorylines, Aboriginal social and trade
routes up and down the rivers, European
routes of exploration and pastoralexpansion, and later routes of
communication by river, road and
telegraph. Lake Victoria has the potential
to provide information about regional andnational history.
• An understanding of the impact of erosion
on cultural heritage at Lake Victoria will
produce information that can help protectother places where there are wind and
water impacts on cultural heritage.
• The conservation works at Lake Victoriaare the largest ever undertaken for
Aboriginal heritage site protection in
Australia. The lessons learnt here about the
best ways to protect heritage will benefitother places.
Economic values
• The water of the Lake is important to
human life support. The regulation of the
Lake as part of the management of waterin the Murray–Darling Basin, contributes
to the provision of a reliable water supply
to communities upstream and downstreamof Lake Victoria and has underwritten the
growth of communities and agricultural
development in regions along the RiverMurray for the past seventy years.
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• The economic value of Lake Victoria as a
water storage varies as a result of the
climate; in drought years it is
indispensable; in normal, average or wet
years, its value as a water storage, while still
important, is lessened. It continues to
provide value in terms of re-regulation of
water, providing dilution flows following a
flood if needed; and managing salinity in
surface waters as well as in the
groundwater.
2.4 Factors AffectingHeritage
Historic and Current Impacts onthe Lakeshore
All landscapes change and evolve over the long-
term, but a Lake shoreline by its very nature is
dynamic—it changes on a very short time scale
as a result of natural forces. Sand and clays are
carried into the Lake by the inlet channels and
gully erosion, and are repeatedly deposited,
eroded and shifted depending on the state of the
Lake and the weather. Human actions can
contribute to this, for example, by regulating the
water levels in the Lake or adding or changing
other factors, such as increasing impact on the
Lakeshore by introducing grazing animals.
Natural processes of water and wave action have
affected Lake Victoria throughout its history. It
is part of the riverine landscape which has been
constructed over millions of years by a
combination of deposition and erosion. There is
some evidence that there has been substantial
soil instability in the past, particularly in the last
1 000 years.
For at least 70 years prior to the Lake regulation,
natural erosion was exacerbated by European
land-use. The overlanders moving large herds
along narrow corridors close to the rivers were
followed by the pastoralists. While the back
country of Lake Victoria was never heavily
stocked because of lack of water, the Murray
frontage and the areas around the Lake were
under pressure because of the easy access to
water. Attempts at closer settlement in the late
19th century aggravated the situation. Erosion of
Aboriginal burials predates the regulation of the
Lake, with observations back to the 1850s. Salt
has long been recognised as a problem around
Lake Victoria, with historic records dating back
to 1887. Salinity control works were initiated
near Lake Victoria in the 1970s, and the Rufus
River Interception Scheme was completed in
1983.
Lake Victoria in its pre-regulation state would
have fluctuated with the changes in the River
Murray. The Murray and Darling Rivers are
characterised by very irregular flows, ranging
from high floods to periods when, before
regulation, the rivers ceased flowing altogether
for months at a time. Under natural conditions,
flows in the Murray generally peaked in spring
and then rapidly declined to low levels in
summer and autumn. However, the Murray and
Darling flows were extremely variable, so in
drought years no water may have reached the
Lake.
The River and Lake regulation altered the
natural pattern of spring peaks and summer lows
by the storage of winter and spring floods to
enable water to be released to meet irrigation
and other demands during dry periods. The
effect has been to lower the average flow peaks
and to spread them out over a longer time, i.e.
into summer.
The season of high Lake levels, late winter to
early summer, remained the same in the
regulated system, but the natural flood peaks
would have been of much shorter duration.
The effect of the regulation of Lake Victoria was
to move the zone of fluctuation to a higher level,
with the water level above the former highest
flood level of about 25.5 metres for 50% of the
time. Cliffing, erosion and redeposition have
occurred at various locations around the Lake as
the shoreline has adjusted to the new regime.
The most obvious signs are the exposure of old
soils, the lag of artefacts on the surface and
exposed roots of the dead river red gums around
the Lakeshore.
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22
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 22
Moreover, the water level stayed at the maximumlevel of 27 metres for much longer periods,altogether 45% of the time. The naturalshoreline vegetation was discouraged, so thatwhen the Lake was lower, large expanses of bareground were exposed to the wind. Thecombination of wind and water uncovered oldsoil layers containing heritage material. However,the amount of erosion is quite variable aroundthe Lake, and some places where most heritagematerial survives have probably been erodedleast.
Assessment of Impacts onHeritage Significance
The factors that affect the cultural landscape ofLake Victoria include:
• natural environmental processes both beforeand after Lake regulation, including wind andwave action;
• european land-use, including pastoralactivities, forestry, fences and roads;
• introduced feral animals and weeds;
• the original construction of the regulationstructures in the 1920s;
• the subsequent maintenance of the regulationstructures;
• artificially raised Lake levels;
• salinity; and
• removal of heritage material.
The EIS included an analysis of the modelling ofwave impact on the Lakeshore at different waterlevels. The depth at which waves break iscontrolled by wind speed and fetch (the distancethe wind travels across water). The position,extent and intensity of impact of breaking wavesdepends on the Lake level, wind speed andgradient of the beach. Subsequent monitoring ofthe Lakeshore suggests that the amount ofsediment available is a factor determiningwhether wave impact will actually erode heritagematerial on the beach or dump sediment on it.The EIS did not model the impact on wind onthe beach at times of low Lake level, but this is asignificant factor in sediment movement on theshore.
Management Zones
On the basis of the wave modelling, andmonitoring and observations since 1994, theLakeshore has been divided into a number ofManagement Zones (these are based on theThreat Zones defined in the EIS). Several of theoriginal Threat Zones have been subdivided intoa number of Management Zones.
Figures 8 and 9 show the location of theManagement Zones. Table 2 summarises theheritage in each zone and the main factors thathave impacted on the heritage at the time theConsent was issued. The impacts listed at Table 2were recorded as at 1998 and it is recognisedthat these may change over the period of theConsent, as actions in this Plan are undertakenby SA Water, and in some cases (especially in
relation to stock impacts) where landholdershave adjusted their management practices. Somefactors, such as the length of inundation, are notincluded in this table, because they primarilyinfluence the location and length of the impactof wind, waves and other factors. The PriorityAreas identify the places within each Zone wherethe most significant heritage is found and/orwhere the heritage is under greatest threat.
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23
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 23
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24
Figure 8: Management Zones, Lake Perimeter (PS is a Perimeter Survey Marker)
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 24
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25
Figure 9: Management Zones, Southern Lakeshore
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 25
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
26
Tabl
e 2:
MA
NA
GE
ME
NT
ZO
NE
S (I
mpa
cts
asse
ssed
at
the
begi
nnin
g of
the
Con
sent
per
iod)
ZO
NE
HE
RIT
AG
EIM
PAC
TS
ON
HE
RIT
AG
EP
RIO
RIT
Y A
RE
AS
Abo
rigi
nal:
buri
als,
sm
all a
reas
of
hear
th, s
hell
mid
den,
sto
ne a
rtef
acts
.
His
tori
c: s
and
catc
hers
, cam
psit
es.
Veg
etat
ion:
dom
inat
ed b
y w
eeds
.
Abo
rigi
nal:
buri
als
in c
liff,
smal
l are
as o
f he
arth
s,sh
ell m
idde
n, s
tone
art
efac
ts. H
isto
ric:
old
fen
celin
es, c
amps
ites
, log
ged
tree
s.
Veg
etat
ion:
den
se d
ead
tree
s.
Abo
rigi
nal:
none
on
beac
h, o
ld s
oils
exp
osed
ingu
llies
.
His
tori
c: o
ld h
otel
sit
e ab
ove
beac
h.
Veg
etat
ion:
sca
tter
ed d
ead
tree
s on
bea
ch, m
ostly
bare
.
Abo
rigi
nal:
buri
als
on b
each
and
in c
liff,
dens
esh
ell m
idde
ns a
nd s
tone
art
efac
ts in
old
soi
ls, s
ome
shel
l mid
den
in c
liff.
His
tori
c: t
eleg
raph
pos
ts, o
ld s
tock
yard
.
Veg
etat
ion:
bea
ch h
as r
emai
ned
bare
san
d ov
er la
stfo
ur y
ears
.
Abo
rigi
nal:
dens
e sh
ell m
idde
ns a
nd s
tone
art
efac
tsin
old
soi
ls. O
ldes
t se
quen
ce o
f A
bori
gina
loc
cupa
tion
(7
000
year
s).
His
tori
c: p
asto
ral s
ites
, tel
egra
ph p
osts
.
Veg
etat
ion:
sm
all w
etla
nd, r
ed g
um r
egro
wth
at
27 m
, bea
ch m
ainl
y ba
re, s
ome
sedg
e at
sou
th.
Low
win
d an
d w
ave
impa
ct, h
igh
stoc
ktr
affic
, bot
h de
posi
tion
and
ero
sion
fro
mou
twas
h fr
om t
he d
eep
gulli
es a
bove
the
Lake
shor
e.
Ver
y lo
w w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
, low
sto
cktr
affic
, dep
osit
ion
and
eros
ion
from
outw
ash
from
the
dee
p gu
llies
abo
ve t
heLa
kesh
ore.
Ver
y lo
w w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
, a z
one
ofsa
nd d
epos
itio
n by
wav
e ac
tion
. Sto
ck a
ndfe
ral g
oat
traf
fic e
xtre
mel
y hi
gh. O
utw
ash
gully
ing
acro
ss b
each
due
to
over
graz
ing
abov
e 27
m. O
ff-r
oad
vehi
cles
.
Hig
h w
ind
and
wav
e im
pact
, ext
rem
ely
high
sto
ck a
nd f
eral
goa
t tr
affic
, sal
t on
beac
h.
Hig
h w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
, hig
h st
ock
traf
fic.
Bur
ial a
reas
at
1PS
and
4PS;
old
soil
expo
sure
s w
ith
pote
ntia
l for
buri
als.
Bur
ial a
rea
in c
liff
at 1
5PS.
Non
e be
low
27m
; gul
lies
abov
e27
m.
Old
soi
ls w
ith
buri
als
and
othe
rcu
ltura
l mat
eria
l alo
ng e
ntir
ezo
ne.
Old
soi
ls w
ith
cultu
ral m
ater
ial
alon
g en
tire
zon
e.
Sout
h-w
este
rn B
each
Nor
th-w
este
rn B
each
Nor
ther
n B
each
Nor
th-e
aste
rn B
each
Eas
tern
Bea
ch
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 26
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27
ZO
NE
HE
RIT
AG
EIM
PAC
TS
ON
HE
RIT
AG
EP
RIO
RIT
Y A
RE
AS
Abo
rigi
nal:
none
on
beac
h, s
ome
buri
als
in c
liff.
His
tori
c: n
one.
Veg
etat
ion:
red
gum
reg
row
th a
t 27
m, w
ell-
esta
blis
hed
sedg
e tu
ssoc
ks o
n be
ach.
Abo
rigi
nal:
stra
tifie
d ol
d so
ils (
500–
5 00
0 ye
ars)
cont
ain
buri
als,
she
ll m
idde
n, s
tone
art
efac
ts. 6
0+bu
rial
s pr
otec
ted.
His
tori
c: n
one.
Veg
etat
ion:
cor
e of
Bar
rier
has
rem
aine
d ba
regr
ound
ove
r la
st 4
yea
rs, s
mal
l are
a of
reg
row
th r
edgu
m, w
ell e
stab
lishe
d se
dge
at s
outh
ern
end.
Abo
rigi
nal:
Bur
ials
, she
ll m
idde
ns o
n is
land
, bea
chan
d cl
iff t
o no
rth.
His
tori
c: h
ouse
sit
e ‘T
ara’
, ass
oc. e
xoti
c tr
ees.
Veg
etat
ion:
som
e ve
geta
tion
on
isla
nd, s
ome
bare
area
s, s
edge
tus
sock
s on
bea
ch.
Abo
rigi
nal:
maj
or b
uria
l gro
unds
on
Nan
ya a
ndG
ecko
, she
ll m
idde
n, h
eart
hs a
nd s
tone
art
efac
ts.
His
tori
c: N
anya
bri
dge,
his
tori
c m
ater
ial.
Veg
etat
ion:
est
ablis
hed
post
-reg
ulat
ion
woo
dlan
don
isla
nds.
Ree
ds a
nd s
edge
tus
sock
s.
Wav
e an
d w
ind
impa
ct m
oder
ate,
sto
cktr
affic
mod
erat
e, T
alga
rry
Bar
rier
pro
tect
sth
is b
each
but
als
o bl
ocks
the
bui
ld-u
p of
sand
alo
ng t
he c
liff.
Mod
erat
e to
hig
h w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
(var
ies
alon
g B
arri
er),
min
imal
sto
ck t
raff
ic,
rabb
its.
Mod
erat
e w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
, mod
erat
est
ock
traf
fic, r
abbi
ts.
Low
to
mod
erat
e w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
,no
sto
ck t
raff
ic, p
ig im
pact
at
tim
es. H
igh
kang
aroo
and
em
u nu
mbe
rs.
Clif
f bu
rial
s.
Ent
ire
Bar
rier
.
Isla
nd a
s a
who
le, c
liff
to n
orth
of is
land
.
Isla
nds
as a
who
le.
Sout
h-ea
ster
n B
each
Talg
arry
Bar
rier
Snak
e Is
land
Wes
tern
Fre
nchm
ans
Isla
nds:
Nan
ya a
nd G
ecko
Tabl
e 2:
MA
NA
GE
ME
NT
ZO
NE
S (I
mpa
cts
asse
ssed
at
the
begi
nnin
g of
the
Con
sent
per
iod)
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 27
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
28
Tabl
e 2:
MA
NA
GE
ME
NT
ZO
NE
S (I
mpa
cts
asse
ssed
at
the
begi
nnin
g of
the
Con
sent
per
iod)
ZO
NE
HE
RIT
AG
EIM
PAC
TS
ON
HE
RIT
AG
EP
RIO
RIT
Y A
RE
AS
Abo
rigi
nal:
maj
or b
uria
l gro
und
on M
oon
Isla
nd,
smal
ler
buri
al g
roun
ds o
n E
ast
Moo
n, s
hell
mid
den,
hea
rths
and
sto
ne a
rtef
acts
.
His
tori
c: n
one.
Veg
etat
ion:
est
ablis
hed
post
-reg
ulat
ion
woo
dlan
don
isla
nds,
ree
ds a
nd s
edge
tus
sock
s.
Abo
rigi
nal:
Ruf
us R
iver
Mas
sacr
e, b
uria
l gro
unds
,de
nse
shel
l mid
dens
, hea
rths
, sto
ne a
rtef
acts
espe
cial
ly g
rind
ston
es.
His
tori
c: o
verl
ande
rs’ r
oute
, fer
ries
, bri
dges
, wav
ebr
eak,
wor
kers
’ cam
ps.
Veg
etat
ion:
spa
rse
annu
als
alon
g le
vee
bank
s.
Abo
rigi
nal:
occa
sion
al s
tone
art
efac
ts.
His
tori
c: o
ccas
iona
l bot
tles.
Veg
etat
ion:
gra
sses
and
sed
ges,
occ
asio
nal l
ignu
m,
rece
nt r
egro
wth
red
gum
see
dlin
gs in
pla
ces
incl
udin
g ea
ster
n si
de o
f In
let
Cha
nnel
.
Abo
rigi
nal:
one
buri
al p
rote
cted
, som
e he
arth
s,sh
ell m
idde
ns, s
tone
art
efac
ts.
His
tori
c: c
ontr
ol r
egul
ator
, em
bank
men
ts, w
orke
rs’
cam
ps.
Veg
etat
ion:
gra
sses
on
flood
plai
n, a
reas
of
rush
es.
Low
to
mod
erat
e w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
,no
sto
ck t
raff
ic, p
ig im
pact
at
tim
es. H
igh
kang
aroo
and
em
u nu
mbe
rs.
Low
wav
e an
d w
ind
impa
ct, s
cour
ing
and
depo
siti
on a
long
cha
nnel
s, n
o st
ock
traf
ficex
cept
on
wes
t ba
nk o
f R
ufus
, pig
impa
ctat
tim
es, h
igh
kang
aroo
and
em
u nu
mbe
rs.
Low
to
mod
erat
e w
ave
and
win
d im
pact
,no
sto
ck t
raff
ic e
xcep
t on
wes
t si
de o
fR
ufus
, pig
impa
ct a
t ti
mes
, hig
h ka
ngar
ooan
d em
u nu
mbe
rs.
No
wav
e or
win
d im
pact
, sco
urin
g an
dde
posi
tion
by
wat
er c
urre
nts,
low
sto
cktr
affic
, pig
s, h
igh
kang
aroo
and
em
u nu
mbe
rs.
Isla
nds
as a
who
le.
Zon
e as
a w
hole
.
No
prio
rity
are
as f
or p
rote
ctio
nof
cul
tura
l her
itag
e m
ater
ial.
Fren
chm
ans
Cre
ek b
anks
– lo
wpr
iori
ty a
reas
.
Eas
tern
Fre
nchm
ans
Isla
nds:
Yel
obel
ly, M
oon
and
Eas
t M
oon
Sout
hern
lake
bed
chan
nels
: ban
ks o
f R
ufus
and
Fren
chm
ans
up t
o15
0 m
fro
m n
atur
alw
ater
’s ed
ge.
Sout
hern
lake
bed
floo
dpla
in
Fren
chm
ans
Cre
ek f
rom
Con
trol
Reg
ulat
or B
ridg
eto
Sca
ddin
gs B
ridg
e,be
low
27
m a
nd b
etw
een
emba
nkm
ents
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:34 AM Page 28
Management Requirements
On the basis of the Statement of Significanceand the identification of Priority Areas, thefollowing list summarises the heritagesignificance relative to impacts and needs.
• The most significant cultural heritage at LakeVictoria is the Aboriginal burials. Existingprotection works and areas with potential forfuture exposure of burials will be the firstpriority for management decisions.
• The southern lake bed is the area of greatestcultural significance as it combines the mostimportant aspects of social, aesthetic andhistoric significance as well being the mostcomplex area of the cultural landscape.
• The Management Zones within the southernlake bed with the most significant material
cultural heritage are the Frenchmans Islandsand the banks of the Rufus River andFrenchmans Creek.
• Talgarry Barrier and Snake Island areidentified as the next most significantManagement Zones for cultural heritage.
• The southern lake bed floodplain is lesssignificant because it contains little materialcultural heritage, but it is important foraesthetic perceptions.
• Management decisions based on a particularsection of the lake bed may or may notimpact on other parts of the shore. Policiesdeveloped on the basis of a particularmanagement zone must be reviewed in termsof their effect elsewhere.
• The long-term stability of the existingprotection works is a priority, so vegetation ofthe nourished sand of the protection worksmust be encouraged to stabilise the protectionworks.
• One of the primary ways to protect thecultural heritage material is to stabilise thesoil. This is best achieved by operating theLake in a way that will promote revegetationwhere possible.
• Maintenance and expansion of the existing
vegetation is a priority, given its role in thecultural landscape significance.
The purpose of conservation management of thecultural landscape is to conserve heritage values.The following is a brief summary of someimportant issues that need consideration.
• The cultural landscape of Lake Victoria is thesum total of all the components of thecultural and natural landscape including allhuman induced changes to the landscape.However, some of these cultural changes havebeen detrimental to other important heritagevalues. In particular, the recent and mostconspicuous change brought about byEuropeans, the regulation of the Lake, hashad a damaging effect on the physical culturalheritage such as the burials, and otherAboriginal cultural material.
• The original heritage value of some aspects ofthe landscape, notably the vegetation, hasbeen totally lost. In fact, it is not possible toassess what the original natural heritage valuemight have been (in terms of biodiversity,uniqueness etc.) because of the degree ofdisturbance. So it is not possible to conserveany natural heritage value of the vegetationbecause of the loss of integrity.
• Aboriginal people have expressed their desirefor better environmental management of theLakeshore, so that the shore is vegetated atlow water levels rather than bare, and in orderto encourage native wildlife. The vegetation,however, can never return to what it wasbefore regulation, or for that matter, beforethe arrival of Europeans. The desire forimproved environmental management is asocial value, but not specifically a heritagevalue (since heritage is those aspects of thepast that we value and wish to keep). It is adesire for improved environmental amenitywhich is shared by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
• The policy direction of the Plan ofManagement is to reduce the physical impactof natural processes (aggravated by the Lakeregulation) on cultural heritage by stabilising
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29
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the Lakeshore. The identified method of
stabilising the shore is through encouraging
vegetation. This accords with the desire for
improved environmental management.
For the Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
to be effective, it will be necessary to acquire an
understanding of the dynamics of the
environment of the Lakeshore in order to
develop appropriate and feasible physical
methods for stabilising priority areas where
necessary for the conservation of cultural and
natural significance. Lake Victoria is situated in a
semi-arid environment, where erosion is the
dominant natural process under the current
climatic regime. A Lakeshore anywhere is a
dynamic and evolving geomorphological
environment, and is influenced by a wide range
of interacting factors, only some of which are
amenable to human control. These include:
• the nature of the underlying geology and
geomorphology;
• the regional climate;
• the physical processes of weather and of
alluvial, fluvial, lacustrine and littoral
processes;
• salinisation of the Lakeshore;
• the effect of human intervention on the latter
through historic changes in land usage around
the Lake and the historic regulation of the
River and Lake system;
• the changed hydrological regime;
• the nature of the Lakeshore vegetation and
the long-term history of post-European
impacts on it;
• the impacts of stock, feral animals and native
species on both the Lakeshore sediments and
vegetation; and
• human activities on the Lakeshore, including
foot traffic, vehicles, construction of pipelines
and fences, and also protection actions.
The processes of erosion at Lake Victoria are
complex and interlinked. For example, it may be
obvious that at a particular locality on the
Lakeshore, the immediate cause of erosion of the
old soils containing burials may be wave or wind
action, but the underlying cause may be the
churns and loosening of the surface by trampling
by stock or feral animals. This impact may be
aggravated by surface salinity which makes the
surface soft and spongy rather than hard and
resistant. Removing the trampling pressure will
help, but the soft salinised surface will still be
more vulnerable to wind action. Raising the
Lake would wash out some of the salt, but
would add wave impact.
Changing some or all of these factors will have
an effect on potential revegetation which will
then enter the equation as another factor in
causing/minimising erosion. For example,
grazing pressure on vegetation and direct
trampling by stock and feral animals loosens up
the ground surface and makes it more vulnerable
to the impact of waves, wind, rain and run-off.
Some processes (vehicle tracks, construction,
gullying run-off ) have a heavy localised impact,
others (wind, waves) have a broad-scale impact.
Some of these processes can be managed and
controlled. The impact of waves on specific areas
can be changed by manipulating the regulation
of the Lake. Vehicle and human traffic and the
way management, research and protection works
are carried out can be controlled.
The management of the Lakeshore can include
an input into controlling other factors through
negotiating with landholders and other
government agencies about the management of
grazing, fencing, feral and native control on the
Lakeshore. However, to minimise many of these
erosional factors on the Lakeshore requires major
changes in the management of the overgrazed
lands outside the Lakeshore, and control of feral
and native animals at a regional level.
Finally, the Plan of Management cannot control
some factors, in particular the weather, and
extreme climatic events. Historic evidence shows
that the Lakeshore was an unstable environment
both before Europeans arrived and before the
Lake was regulated. Even if all potentially
controllable processes were managed, erosion
would continue.
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Further, there will be a lag in environmentalresponse to any management actions of years oreven decades, and it may be difficult to predictwhether some actions have a good or bad effectin the long-term. For example, even if grazingpressure on the lands above the Lakeshore weretotally removed, the effects of past managementpractices would persist. Run-off from theexisting gullies would continue to erode theLakeshore, and cliffs eroded by past high waterlevels would continue to collapse until a stableconfiguration was reached.
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PART 3: THE CONSENTCONDITIONS
3.1 Introduction
Legislative Framework
In NSW, the protection of Aboriginal relics isthe responsibility of the Director-General ofNational Parks and Wildlife, under the NationalParks and Wildlife Act (1974). Historic relics arethe responsibility of the Heritage Office of theDepartment of Urban Affairs and Planning,under the Heritage Act (1977).
In 1997–8 the MDBC prepared an EIS on theimpact of operating Lake Victoria above 23.6 m.Developmental consent under Part 4 of theEnvironmental Planning and Assessment Act(1979) was not required to raise the level of the
Lake above 23.6 m. However, a s87 Permit and as90 Consent from the Director-General of theNPWS were required. S87 and s90 dealexclusively with Aboriginal relics. Whendetermining the application for the permit andconsent, the Director-General was obliged tocomply with environmental assessmentrequirements under Part 5 of the EnvironmentalPlanning and Assessment Act (1979).
The Director-General issued a s87 Permit and as90 Consent to the MDBC on 27 August 1998.The Consent was qualified by conditions relatingto the management of the Lake, the culturalheritage, the environment and the River Murray.The preparation of the Lake Victoria CulturalLandscape Plan of Management for theLakeshore of Lake Victoria is a requirement ofthe conditions of the s90 Consent.
The Aboriginal heritage of Lake Victoria alsocomes under the jurisdiction of theCommonwealth Minister for the Environment,through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderHeritage Protection Act (1984). In 1997 two s10applications were made to the Minister from twoAboriginal organisations. These have yet to bedetermined, and will be addressed after the NewSouth Wales State process is completed and theDirector-General NPWS approves the LakeVictoria Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement.
Overview of the s90 Consent
The full text of the Consent, including theconditions, is located at Appendix 1.
NPWS has identified the establishment of nativevegetation on the Lake’s foreshore and littoralzone as the fundamental strategy in the Consentto minimise the risk and extent of future impacton the Aboriginal heritage material at LakeVictoria or to the foreshore of the Lake as anAboriginal place. The underlying rationale forthis is that the vegetation will reduce the rate oferosion by stabilising the soil. To establish andmaintain vegetation on the foreshore will requirechanges to the operational practices at LakeVictoria, therefore negotiation of an alteredoperating strategy is an important enablingstrategy.
The Consent has been issued for a period ofeight years from 27 August 1998 to 27 August2006. It governs interim actions required priorto the implementation of this Plan ofManagement, as well as the actions which thePlan must cover. A formal review will beconducted in 2005 and consideration given to asubsequent Consent. The Consent Conditionsinclude a significant monitoring requirement sothat changes in the environment can bemeasured and assessed in the conduct of thisreview.
The Consent Conditions can be broadly dividedinto the following categories:
• conditions which relate to the interimoperation of Lake Victoria prior to theimplementation of the Plan of Management;
• conditions which relate to the development,approval and geographical scope of the Planof Management, but do not require anyactions within the Plan;
• conditions which require specific actionswhich must be included in the Plan ofManagement; and
• conditions which govern the way the Consentis administered and aspects of the Plan areimplemented.
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Adaptive Management
A key principle of the Consent and the Plan ofManagement is adaptive management. TheConsent Conditions will remain in place for thelife of the Consent, however, as time passes, newinformation may become available frommonitoring, conditions at the Lake may changeas a result of specific strategies undertaken aspart of the Plan, and different issues maybecome important to stakeholders. Managementprocesses must be capable of adapting to meetsuch changes. This is reflected in Figure 2 whichshows the planning process for this Plan ofManagement.
However, any changes to management practiceswill only be made after a structured review, andafter due and thorough consideration of all theinformation available. This is important to
ensure the most thorough consideration of thefull range of possible or foreseeable consequencesof any proposed change to managementpractices. It also ensures that the management ofLake Victoria is approached as a system in whichthe various aspects, such as cultural heritage andthe natural environment, are related.
Intellectual Property
The Plan of Management respects theintellectual property rights of the Barkindjipeople with respect to Aboriginal culturalheritage at Lake Victoria. The Consent and thePlan of Management recognise that reports orpublications associated with Lake Victoria maybe sensitive. Culturally sensitive information isto be managed in consideration of the wishes ofits owners (the Barkindji People). Any reports orpublications containing cultural information willbe referred to the Barkindji Elders Committeeprior to its release and their advice soughtregarding distribution of the information.
Objective of the Plan ofManagement
The objective of this Plan is to:
monitor and manage the impact of theoperation of Lake Victoria as a water storage onthe Lake environment, and on its cultural andnatural heritage values.
How to Read Part 3 of the Plan ofManagement
There are significant areas of overlap betweensome of the Consent Conditions which means itis not possible to present them in the Plan in asimple sequential order. In addition, for someConditions the strategies and action plans arestraightforward and simple, while for others, alot more detail is required. This Plan addressesall of the Consent Conditions in the followingway:
• Section 3.2 will present the Conditions thatrequire specific actions that must be includedin the Plan of Management. Section 3.2contains a table that lists each ConsentCondition in this category, its objective, andthe strategies and action plans that theMDBC will implement to address theCondition. Some of these are self-explanatory,and others need further amplification. TheConditions that require further amplificationwill be the topic of a specific section as
described below.
• Section 3.3 will address Consent Condition 1—Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee and Community Relations.
• Section 3.4 will address Consent Conditions 8 and 16—which deal withrevegetation and Lake operations, and hasbeen titled Strategies for Cultural HeritageConservation.
• Section 3.5 will address Consent Conditions9 to 15, which deal with Research andMonitoring.
• Section 3.6 will address Consent Condition18—Actions outside the area of the Lake.
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• Section 3.7 will address the arrangements formanagement and implementation of the Planof Management. This Section covers all of theConsent Conditions that govern the way theConsent is to be administered and aspects ofthe Plan are implemented. Some of theseConditions are also addressed in otherSections.
• Protocols—This section contains theProtocols that have already been developed insupport of this Plan. Future additions willinclude protocols and briefing packages whichhave been identified in action plans, butwhich have not yet been developed. It is alsorecognised that other requirements forcodification of procedures may be identifiedin the future. If this occurs, any new protocoldeveloped will be added to this section.
3.2 Consent Conditions,Objectives, Strategiesand Action Plans
Relationship between ConsentConditions, Strategies and ActionPlans
Figure 10 shows the relationship between theConsent Condition, strategies and action plans.
Each Consent Condition has been analysed inorder to determine its intended objective. Thishas then been used to develop the strategies andaction plans that will meet the ConsentCondition. A strategy is a broad statement ofwhat will be done to address the ConsentCondition, while an action plan is a moredetailed description of how the strategy will beimplemented. There may be more than onestrategy for each Consent Condition, and morethan one action plan for each strategy. Table 3lists the Consent Conditions, objectives,strategies and action plans for the ConsentConditions that are included in this Plan ofManagement.
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35
Fixed for life of Consent Evolving over life of Consent
Consent Conditions
Objectives StrategyAction Plans
Action Plans
Ongoing Review
Feedback and Adaptive Management
End of Consent PeriodReconsideration of Consent Conditions
Formal Review Process
Figure 10: Relationship between the Consent Conditions, Strategies and Action Plans
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 35
Criteria for Action Plans
Any action plans should meet the following
criteria:
• they should follow the objective of the
Consent Condition and, where applicable, be
developed from the statement of significance
and aim at retaining or enhancing all the
elements of the place’s heritage significance;
• they should deal in a realistic way with the
constraints imposed by the physical nature of
the place, by costs and by technical problems;
• any physical intervention should have the
minimum aesthetic impact on the place;
• as a general rule, the least possible physical
intervention is the best;
• provision should be made for ongoing, long-
term management of the place.
Life of Consent Condition, Strategyand Action Plans
The Consent Conditions are fixed for the life of
the current Consent. In contrast to this, the
strategies and action plans are flexible and may
evolve or be changed during the life of the
Consent because they may have a specific time
frame, or may be designed to gather or respond
to new information or to carry out certain
works. As each strategy or action plan is
completed it may be replaced or followed by
another developed under the existing Consent
Conditions.
Ongoing Review
Ongoing review of the action plans will ensure
that the management practices can be adapted if
required, as further information comes to light
or if a particular strategy or action plan is
completed. Information produced from the
strategies and action plans may also feedback
into a more formal review of the assessment of
the heritage significance and the threats to the
heritage significance as well as the
reconsideration of the Consent Conditions at the
end of the current Consent period.
Importantly, changes to strategies, action plans
or management practices will only be made in a
structured review and after due and thorough
analysis of the information available.
Information from the strategies and action plans
must not be used in an ad-hoc manner as the
cause and effect of changes needs to considered
as part of a rigorous review.
Formal Review Process
The MDBC will establish and resource a Review
Panel, which will consider any proposed changes
to management practices. The composition of
the Review Panel is outlined in Section 3.5. Any
proposal to change management practices which
may affect the cultural heritage or natural
environment at Lake Victoria should be raised
formally at an LVAC meeting, with reasons and
if possible, supporting evidence such as
monitoring results. The LVAC will discuss the
proposal and make a recommendation.
The proposal will be referred to the Review
Panel. Further investigation may be required
before the Review Panel can undertake full
consideration of the change.
The range of issues the Review Panel will
consider includes, but is not limited to the
following:
• whether the change is consistent with the
Consent Conditions and this Plan of
Management;
• all possible effects on cultural heritage and
natural environment at Lake Victoria;
• if applicable, environmental effects outside of
the Lake Victoria area;
• effects on all stakeholders at Lake Victoria;
• effects on water resources;
• the best means of implementing such a
change, any liaison or preparatory actions
required prior to implementation.
The Review Panel may seek additional specialist
advice if required and will consult as appropriate
with NPWS, DLWC, MDBC and SA Water.
The final decision will be made by the MDBC,
taking into account all of the information
considered. Once a decision has been made, it
will be explained in full to the LVAC and any
other interested stakeholders before being
implemented.
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37
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Ens
ure
that
the
LV
AC
giv
es a
maj
or v
oice
to
Abo
rigi
nal
elde
rs w
ith
trad
itio
nal a
nd h
isto
ric
affil
iati
ons
wit
h th
eLa
ke.
•C
onsu
lt w
ith
the
loca
l Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
y th
roug
h th
eLV
AC
abo
ut t
he a
ppro
pria
te m
anag
emen
t of
cul
tura
lhe
rita
ge a
t th
e La
ke.
•E
ncou
rage
and
sup
port
Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
yre
pres
enta
tive
s on
the
LV
AC
to
prov
ide
info
rmed
adv
ice
toth
e br
oade
r A
bori
gina
l com
mun
ity.
•C
omm
unic
ate
in a
cul
tura
lly a
ppro
pria
te m
anne
r w
ith
the
LVA
C a
nd b
road
er A
bori
gina
l com
mun
ity.
•T
he L
VA
C w
ill m
eet
twic
e a
year
or
on a
n "a
s ne
eds"
bas
is.
•T
he L
VA
C w
ill b
e ad
equa
tely
res
ourc
ed.
•T
he B
arki
ndji
Eld
ers
Com
mit
tee
(BE
C)
will
est
ablis
h a
prog
ram
of
mee
ting
s or
con
sulta
tion
s be
twee
n th
em
eeti
ngs
of t
he L
VA
C t
o en
sure
info
rmed
adv
ice
ispr
ovid
ed.
•A
coo
rdin
ator
for
the
BE
C w
ill b
e jo
intly
fun
ded
byN
PWS
and
MD
BC
.•
The
Dar
eton
Loc
al A
bori
gina
l Lan
d C
ounc
il an
d th
eN
SW S
tate
Lan
d C
ounc
il w
ill b
e in
volv
ed in
all
cons
ulta
tive
pro
cess
es.
•C
onsu
ltati
on m
ust
mee
t th
e fo
llow
ing
stan
dard
s:–
all n
eces
sary
info
rmat
ion
abou
t an
issu
e is
pro
vide
d in
an
unde
rsta
ndab
le f
orm
, inc
ludi
ng t
echn
ical
adv
ice.
– su
ffic
ient
tim
e is
allo
wed
for
ful
l con
side
rati
on o
f th
eis
sue
and
the
back
grou
nd in
form
atio
n.–
suff
icie
nt o
ppor
tuni
ty is
pro
vide
d fo
r th
e el
ders
and
othe
r co
mm
itte
e m
embe
rs t
o as
k qu
esti
ons
or c
lari
fym
atte
rs a
bout
whi
ch t
hey
are
unsu
re, i
nclu
ding
acc
ess
tote
chni
cal e
xper
ts w
here
rel
evan
t.–
suff
icie
nt t
ime
is a
llow
ed f
or e
lder
s to
con
sult
wit
h th
ebr
oade
r A
bori
gina
l com
mun
ity.
– su
ppor
t an
d fa
cilit
ies
are
prov
ided
for
mea
ning
ful
com
mun
ity
cons
ulta
tion
.–
cons
ulta
tion
incl
udes
all
rele
vant
issu
es a
s th
ey a
rise
.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To e
nsur
e th
at t
here
is a
for
mal
rol
efo
r th
e A
bori
gina
l com
mun
ity
inde
cisi
on-m
akin
g on
cul
tura
l and
na
tura
l her
itag
e m
anag
emen
t at
the
Lake
.
Obj
ectiv
e 2
To c
omm
unic
ate
in a
n ef
fect
ive
man
ner
wit
h th
e LV
AC
and
the
Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
y.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
—L
ake
Vic
tori
a A
dvis
ory
Com
mit
tee
(LV
AC
) an
d C
omm
unit
y R
elat
ions
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
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38
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Ens
ure
loca
l Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
y m
embe
rs a
re g
iven
the
oppo
rtun
ity
to b
e em
ploy
ed o
n cu
ltura
l and
nat
ural
heri
tage
act
ivit
ies.
•Su
ppor
t co
mm
unit
y re
pres
enta
tion
on
the
LVA
C.
•E
nsur
e th
at s
take
hold
ers
are
awar
e of
cur
rent
act
ivit
ies
atth
e La
ke.
•Im
prov
e pu
blic
app
reci
atio
n an
d un
ders
tand
ing
of t
hecu
ltura
l val
ues
of L
ake
Vic
tori
a.•
Impr
ove
publ
ic a
ppre
ciat
ion
and
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
rol
eof
Lak
e V
icto
ria
in t
he m
anag
emen
t of
wat
er r
esou
rces
inth
e M
urra
y–D
arlin
g B
asin
.•
Impr
ove
com
mun
icat
ion
betw
een
the
stak
ehol
ders
asso
ciat
ed w
ith
Lake
Vic
tori
a.
•K
eep
the
BE
C a
dvis
ed o
f em
ploy
men
t op
port
unit
ies.
•E
stab
lish
an E
mpl
oym
ent
Prot
ocol
to
sim
plify
pro
ject
spec
ific
empl
oym
ent
for
the
loca
l Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
y.(N
ote:
thi
s is
incl
uded
in t
he P
roto
col S
ecti
on o
f th
is P
lan)
•E
ncou
rage
par
tici
pati
on o
f m
embe
rs o
f th
e lo
cal
Abo
rigi
nal c
omm
unit
y in
tra
inin
g pr
ogra
ms
rele
vant
to
cultu
ral a
nd n
atur
al h
erit
age
acti
viti
es.
•E
nsur
e th
at la
ndow
ners
, cat
chm
ent
man
agem
ent
boar
ds,
wat
er u
sers
and
oth
er r
elev
ant
grou
ps a
re r
epre
sent
ed o
nth
e LV
AC
.•
SA W
ater
will
sen
d a
bi-m
onth
ly n
ewsl
ette
r to
LV
AC
mem
bers
and
all
land
owne
rs a
djac
ent
to L
ake
Vic
tori
a.•
Ens
ure
that
any
cul
tura
l inf
orm
atio
n to
be
rele
ased
is w
ith
the
appr
oval
of
the
BE
C.
•M
ake
avai
labl
e in
form
atio
n ab
out
the
sign
ifica
nce
of L
ake
Vic
tori
a to
the
bro
ader
pub
lic t
hrou
gh a
ppro
pria
te m
edia
(boo
ks, p
oste
rs, v
ideo
).•
Prov
ide
on-s
ite
inte
rpre
tive
info
rmat
ion
as a
ppro
pria
te.
•If
app
ropr
iate
, and
sub
ject
to
the
appr
oval
of
the
BE
C,
mak
e av
aila
ble
copi
es o
f re
leva
nt r
epor
ts t
o th
e ge
nera
lpu
blic
.•
Forw
ard
copi
es o
f an
y pu
blic
atio
n to
the
Aus
tral
ian
Mus
eum
and
AIA
TSI
S, w
hile
res
pect
ing
the
inte
llect
ual
prop
erty
rig
hts
of t
he B
arki
ndji
peop
le.
•Pr
oduc
e a
new
slet
ter
desc
ribi
ng a
ctiv
itie
s at
the
Lak
e on
an
as-n
eeds
bas
is.
Obj
ectiv
e 3
To e
nsur
e th
at t
he lo
cal A
bori
gina
lco
mm
unit
y is
invo
lved
whe
reop
port
unit
ies
exis
t in
cul
tura
l and
natu
ral h
erit
age
man
agem
ent
wor
ksat
the
Lak
e.
Obj
ectiv
e 4
To c
omm
unic
ate
wit
h th
e br
oade
rco
mm
unit
y re
gard
ing
the
dive
rsit
y of
inte
rest
s in
volv
ed in
Lak
e V
icto
ria,
part
icul
arly
the
cul
tura
l her
itag
esi
gnifi
canc
e of
the
Lak
e an
d th
e ro
leof
Lak
e V
icto
ria
in w
ater
man
agem
ent.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
—L
ake
Vic
tori
a A
dvis
ory
Com
mit
tee
(LV
AC
) an
d C
omm
unit
y R
elat
ions
—co
ntin
ued
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 38
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
39
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Prep
are
a w
ritt
en A
nnua
l Rep
ort.
•Pr
ovid
e a
publ
ic, o
ral p
rese
ntat
ion
of t
he A
nnua
l Rep
ort
tost
akeh
olde
rs.
•Pr
epar
e an
Ann
ual R
epor
t ac
cord
ing
to t
he f
ollo
win
gti
met
able
:–
pres
ent
the
draf
t re
port
to
the
LVA
C b
y th
e en
d of
Sept
embe
r ea
ch y
ear
for
revi
ew a
nd c
omm
ent;
– su
bmit
the
fin
al r
epor
t, w
ith
the
LVA
C's
com
men
ts, t
oN
PWS
by t
he e
nd o
f O
ctob
er e
ach
year
.
•T
he A
nnua
l Rep
ort
will
con
tain
:
– a
repo
rt o
f th
e La
ke o
pera
tion
s fo
r th
e pr
evio
us 1
2m
onth
s;–
a su
mm
ary
of a
ctiv
itie
s re
late
d to
the
man
agem
ent
ofcu
ltura
l and
nat
ural
her
itag
e w
hich
hav
e oc
curr
ed in
the
prev
ious
12
mon
ths;
– a
sum
mar
y of
act
ivit
ies
rela
ted
to c
ultu
ral a
nd n
atur
alhe
rita
ge p
ropo
sed
for
the
next
12
mon
ths;
– al
l rep
orti
ng r
equi
red
by t
he C
onse
nt C
ondi
tion
s;–
all r
epor
ting
pre
scri
bed
by t
he C
ultu
ral L
ands
cape
Pla
nof
Man
agem
ent;
– su
mm
ary
resu
lts f
rom
all
rese
arch
, sur
vey
and
mon
itor
ing
acti
viti
es u
nder
take
n du
ring
the
yea
r;–
the
nam
es a
nd q
ualif
icat
ions
of
peop
le in
volv
ed in
the
impl
emen
tati
on o
f th
e Pl
an o
f M
anag
emen
t;–
any
othe
r m
atte
r re
ques
ted
by t
he D
irec
tor-
Gen
eral
of
NPW
S; a
nd–
any
reco
mm
enda
tion
s re
gard
ing
chan
ges
to t
he o
pera
ting
plan
s w
hich
are
der
ived
fro
m t
he P
lan
of M
anag
emen
t.
•O
rgan
ise
a pr
esen
tati
on o
f th
e A
nnua
l Rep
ort
to t
heLV
AC
.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To c
omm
unic
ate
to t
he c
omm
unit
y,al
l sta
keho
lder
s an
d to
the
Dir
ecto
r-G
ener
al o
f N
PWS
info
rmat
ion
abou
t ac
tivi
ties
rel
atin
g to
the
man
agem
ent
of t
he c
ultu
ral a
ndna
tura
l her
itag
e in
ord
er t
o:
•en
sure
com
plia
nce
wit
h C
onse
ntco
ndit
ions
, and
•
assi
st in
coo
rdin
atin
g ac
tion
s at
Lake
Vic
tori
a w
ith
othe
r pl
anni
ngpr
oces
ses
in a
djoi
ning
are
as.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 5
—R
epor
ting
Pro
cess
es
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 39
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
40
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Man
age
acce
ss t
o La
ke V
icto
ria.
•Im
prov
e pu
blic
app
reci
atio
n an
d un
ders
tand
ing
of t
hecu
ltura
l val
ues
of L
ake
Vic
tori
a.•
Impr
ove
publ
ic a
ppre
ciat
ion
and
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
rol
eof
Lak
e V
icto
ria
in t
he m
anag
emen
t of
wat
er r
esou
rces
inth
e M
urra
y–D
arlin
g B
asin
.
•E
stab
lish
an A
cces
s Pr
otoc
ol w
hich
incl
udes
a s
erie
s of
prot
ocol
s fo
r th
e fo
llow
ing
peop
le o
r ac
tivi
ties
:–
elde
rs o
n th
e LV
AC
;–
Abo
rigi
nal p
eopl
e;–
loca
l lan
dow
ners
;–
educ
atio
nal g
roup
s;–
rese
arch
pro
ject
s;–
recr
eati
on a
ctiv
itie
s; a
nd–
gove
rnm
ent
agen
cy e
mpl
oyee
s.(N
ote:
thi
s is
incl
uded
in t
he P
roto
col S
ecti
on o
f th
isPl
an)
•D
evel
op a
Cod
e of
Con
duct
to
be u
sed
whe
n un
dert
akin
gw
ork
at t
he L
ake.
(Not
e: C
ode
of C
ondu
ct is
incl
uded
in t
he P
roto
col
Sect
ion
of t
his
Plan
)•
Dev
elop
a b
rief
ing
pack
age
for
first
-tim
e vi
sito
rs.
(Not
e: s
till
to b
e de
velo
ped,
and
will
be
incl
uded
in t
hePr
otoc
ol S
ecti
on o
f th
is P
lan)
•Li
mit
rec
reat
iona
l use
to
sele
cted
are
as a
s ag
reed
by
the
LVA
C.
•Li
mit
veh
icle
acc
ess
to t
he la
ke b
ed.
•Pr
ovid
e on
-sit
e in
terp
reta
tive
info
rmat
ion
as a
ppro
pria
te.
•Pr
ovid
e ap
prop
riat
e si
gnag
e.•
Con
sult
wit
h ot
her
gove
rnm
ent
agen
cies
wit
h ju
risd
icti
onov
er a
ctiv
itie
s at
the
Lak
e, s
uch
as N
SW W
ater
way
s, N
SWFi
sher
ies,
to
dete
rmin
e ho
w t
o lim
it a
ctiv
itie
s w
hich
may
be d
etri
men
tal t
o cu
ltura
l her
itag
e.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To s
afeg
uard
the
cul
tura
l her
itag
eva
lues
of
Lake
Vic
tori
a.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 6
—C
omm
unic
atio
n an
d A
cces
s St
rate
gy
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 40
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41
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Exp
and
the
vege
tati
ve c
over
in p
rior
ity
area
s to
sta
bilis
e th
eLa
kesh
ore.
•M
anag
e La
ke le
vels
to
min
imis
e er
osio
n/ph
ysic
al im
pact
s.•
Acc
ept
the
trad
e-of
fs b
etw
een
vege
tati
on e
nhan
cem
ent
and
wat
er c
onse
rvat
ion.
•E
limin
ate
the
impa
cts
of s
tock
gra
zing
on
natu
ral a
ndcu
ltura
l her
itag
e.•
Elim
inat
e tr
ampl
ing
of s
ensi
tive
sit
es b
y st
ock.
•M
aint
ain
and
enha
nce
the
natu
ral a
men
ity
of t
heLa
kesh
ore
as p
art
of t
he c
ultu
ral h
erit
age
valu
e of
the
sit
e.
•D
evel
op g
uide
lines
for
the
rel
atio
nshi
p be
twee
n La
ke le
vels
and
vege
tati
on r
espo
nse
by:
– id
enti
fyin
g ke
y sp
ecie
s to
max
imis
e so
il st
abili
sati
on.
– id
enti
fyin
g ve
geta
tion
cap
acit
y/ca
pabi
lity
of t
he s
hore
line
in e
ach
man
agem
ent
zone
.–
iden
tify
ing
ecol
ogic
al r
equi
rem
ents
of
key
spec
ies.
– m
odel
ling
vege
tati
on r
espo
nse
to a
ran
ge o
f La
keop
erat
ion
scen
ario
s.–
asse
ssin
g im
plic
atio
ns o
f La
ke o
pera
tion
sce
nari
os o
nw
ater
sup
ply.
•M
anag
e ph
ysic
al im
pact
s by
:–
min
imis
ing
the
tim
e La
ke is
hel
d at
any
one
leve
l.–
impl
emen
ting
a f
eral
ani
mal
con
trol
pro
gram
.–
prov
idin
g a
stoc
k w
ater
sup
ply
away
fro
m t
he L
akes
hore
to e
limin
ate
stoc
k im
pact
s on
sen
siti
ve a
reas
.–
Fenc
e se
nsit
ive
area
s if,
and
as,
req
uire
d.•
Rev
iew
ing
the
outc
omes
by:
– m
onit
orin
g ve
geta
tion
res
pons
e.•
Ada
ptin
g th
e m
anag
emen
t re
gim
e in
acc
orda
nce
wit
h th
eR
esea
rch
and
Mon
itor
ing
Polic
ies
•E
nsur
e th
at L
ake
oper
atio
ns t
ake
into
con
side
rati
on t
here
quir
emen
ts o
f ex
isti
ng v
eget
atio
n w
ith
high
am
enit
yva
lues
.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
Min
imis
e th
e ph
ysic
al im
pact
s of
Lake
ope
rati
on o
n th
e La
kesh
ore
whi
le r
ecog
nisi
ng t
he v
alue
of
the
Lake
in w
ater
res
ourc
e m
anag
emen
tin
the
Mur
ray–
Dar
ling
Bas
in.
Obj
ectiv
e 2
Rec
ogni
se t
he a
men
ity
valu
e of
the
Lake
shor
e.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 8
—St
rate
gies
for
Rev
eget
atio
n
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
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42
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Ens
ure
that
res
earc
h ac
tivi
ties
are
con
sist
ent
wit
h th
e ai
mof
ada
ptin
g m
anag
emen
t de
cisi
ons
to m
inim
ise
the
impa
cts
on n
atur
al a
nd c
ultu
ral h
erit
age.
•Im
plem
ent
mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
s to
ass
ess
impa
cts
onna
tura
l and
cul
tura
l her
itag
e va
lues
.•
Est
ablis
h a
Rev
iew
Pan
el w
ith
expe
rtis
e in
cul
tura
l her
itag
esi
gnifi
canc
e, c
ultu
ral h
erit
age
prot
ecti
on, n
atur
al h
erit
age
asse
ssm
ent,
biol
ogy,
geo
mor
phol
ogy,
wat
er s
uppl
yop
erat
ions
and
gro
undw
ater
sal
init
y.•
Ens
ure
prop
osed
cha
nges
in m
anag
emen
t pr
acti
ces
orgu
idel
ines
res
ulti
ng f
rom
res
earc
h ou
tcom
es a
re c
onsi
dere
dby
the
Rev
iew
Pan
el a
nd a
gree
d by
the
Lak
e V
icto
ria
Adv
isor
y C
omm
itte
e, N
PWS
and
MD
BC
.
•E
nsur
e th
at t
he B
EC
is c
onsu
lted
rega
rdin
g an
y re
sear
chpr
opos
al w
hich
invo
lves
cul
tura
l her
itag
e.•
Any
res
earc
h or
inve
stig
ativ
e w
ork
unde
rtak
en a
t th
e La
kew
ill b
e co
nduc
ted
unde
r a
Res
earc
h Pl
an w
hich
will
cont
ain
the
follo
win
g:–
the
need
for
the
res
earc
h.–
the
obje
ctiv
es o
f th
e re
sear
ch.
– th
e pr
opos
ed m
etho
dolo
gy.
– th
e de
tail
of t
he p
ropo
sed
cons
ulta
tion
pro
cess
wit
h th
elo
cal A
bori
gina
l com
mun
ity.
– th
e re
lati
onsh
ip o
f th
e re
sear
ch t
o th
e ob
ject
ives
of
the
Man
agem
ent
Plan
.–
how
the
res
ults
will
be
repo
rted
and
inco
rpor
ated
into
man
agem
ent
outc
omes
.•
All
rese
arch
pla
ns a
nd a
ctiv
itie
s ar
e to
be
revi
ewed
for
reco
mm
enda
tion
by
the
LVA
C b
efor
e be
ing
impl
emen
ted.
•A
ll re
sear
ch p
roje
cts
mus
t ha
ve t
he r
elev
ant
lega
l per
mit
s,an
d th
e ap
prov
al o
f th
e B
EC
.•
The
Rev
iew
Pan
el w
ill r
evie
w t
he r
esul
ts o
f th
e re
sear
chac
tivi
ties
, inc
ludi
ng t
he m
onit
orin
g pr
ogra
m.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To u
nder
stan
d th
e re
lati
onsh
ip(i
nter
acti
on)
betw
een
envi
ronm
enta
lpr
oces
ses,
Lak
e op
erat
ions
and
impa
cts
on c
ultu
ral a
nd n
atur
alhe
rita
ge in
ord
er t
o im
prov
em
anag
emen
t de
cisi
ons
and
acti
ons.
Thi
s ob
ject
ive
rela
tes
to r
esea
rch
whi
ch is
req
uire
d by
the
s90
Con
sent
.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 9
—R
esea
rch
Act
ivit
ies
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 42
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
43
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Faci
litat
e ap
prov
ed r
eque
sts
for
rese
arch
pro
ject
s to
fur
ther
the
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
cul
tura
l her
itag
e va
lues
of
Lake
Vic
tori
a.•
If A
bori
gina
l cul
tura
l mat
eria
l is
unco
vere
d in
the
cou
rse
ofth
e re
sear
ch, a
dvis
e re
sear
ch p
ropo
nent
of
repo
rtin
g an
dar
chiv
ing
requ
irem
ents
of
the
Con
sent
, par
ticu
larl
y th
ein
telle
ctua
l pro
pert
y ri
ghts
of
the
Bar
kind
ji pe
ople
.
•D
evel
op a
pro
cedu
re t
o re
gist
er a
nd p
roce
ss a
ny r
esea
rch
requ
ests
to
the
BE
C a
nd L
VA
C, n
otin
g th
at t
he r
esea
rch
prop
onen
t is
res
pons
ible
for
gai
ning
all
rele
vant
app
rova
ls.
•A
ll re
sear
ch p
lans
and
act
ivit
ies
are
to b
e re
view
ed f
orre
com
men
dati
on b
y th
e LV
AC
bef
ore
bein
g im
plem
ente
d.•
All
rese
arch
pro
ject
s m
ust
have
the
rel
evan
t le
gal p
erm
its,
and
the
appr
oval
of
the
BE
C.
•E
nsur
e th
at r
esea
rch
prop
onen
ts a
re a
war
e of
the
requ
irem
ents
of
the
Con
sent
for
arc
hivi
ng d
ocum
ents
,re
cord
s an
d da
ta c
olle
cted
incl
udin
g:–
depo
siti
ng c
opie
s of
all
rele
vant
doc
umen
ts, r
ecor
ds a
ndph
otog
raph
s w
ith
AIA
TSI
S an
d th
e A
ustr
alia
n M
useu
m.
– id
enti
fyin
g co
pyri
ght
and
inte
llect
ual p
rope
rty
righ
ts, i
npa
rtic
ular
tha
t in
telle
ctua
l pro
pert
y ri
ghts
for
cul
tura
lm
ater
ial u
sed
or d
isco
vere
d in
the
cou
rse
of t
he r
esea
rch
rem
ain
wit
h th
e B
arki
ndji
peop
le a
nd t
hat
dist
ribu
tion
of s
uch
cultu
ral m
ater
ial m
ust
be in
acc
orda
nce
wit
hth
eir
wis
hes.
– th
e re
quir
emen
t to
lodg
e le
gally
req
uire
d si
te r
ecor
dsw
ith
NPW
S.•
Ens
ure
acce
ss c
ondi
tion
s fo
r th
e re
sear
ch p
ropo
nent
sin
clud
e th
e ne
ed f
or c
onti
nued
acc
ess
for
SA W
ater
for
man
agem
ent
purp
oses
.
Obj
ectiv
e 2
To in
crea
se o
ur u
nder
stan
ding
of
the
natu
re o
r si
gnifi
canc
e of
the
cul
tura
lan
d/or
nat
ural
her
itag
e va
lues
at
the
Lake
.
Thi
s ob
ject
ive
rela
tes
to r
esea
rch
whi
ch is
not
req
uire
d by
the
s90
Con
sent
, but
may
be
prop
osed
sepa
rate
ly.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 9
—R
esea
rch
Act
ivit
ies—
cont
inue
d
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 43
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
44
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Col
lect
dat
a on
phy
sica
l cha
nges
to
cultu
ral h
erit
age
mat
eria
l, in
clud
ing
buri
als.
•A
dvis
e th
e B
EC
of
chan
ges
whi
ch m
ight
influ
ence
asse
ssm
ent
of s
igni
fican
ce.
•Pr
otec
t an
y ne
wly
exp
osed
bur
ial.
•A
s pa
rt o
f th
e La
ke V
icto
ria
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
, dev
elop
and
impl
emen
t th
e cu
ltura
l her
itag
e m
onit
orin
gco
mpo
nent
to
incl
ude:
– re
gula
r in
spec
tion
s of
the
Lak
esho
re.
– re
cord
ing
of t
he lo
cati
on a
nd c
ompo
siti
on/d
escr
ipti
on o
fan
y ne
w in
situ
heri
tage
mat
eria
l.–
invo
lvem
ent
of t
he B
EC
in m
onit
orin
g ac
tivi
ties
whe
reve
r po
ssib
le &
pra
ctic
al.
•E
stab
lish
a pr
oces
s to
ens
ure
that
the
BE
C a
re m
ade
awar
eof
the
res
ults
of
mon
itor
ing
acti
viti
es in
a t
imel
y m
anne
r.
•E
stab
lish
a Pr
otoc
ol f
or t
he p
rote
ctio
n of
bur
ials
.(N
ote:
Thi
s is i
nclu
ded
in th
e Pr
otoc
ol S
ectio
n of
this
Plan
)
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To in
crea
se k
now
ledg
e of
impa
cts
oncu
ltura
l her
itag
e w
hich
will
be
used
as p
art
of t
he a
dapt
ive
man
agem
ent
proc
ess.
Obj
ectiv
e 2
To e
nsur
e th
e pr
otec
tion
of
new
lyex
pose
d A
bori
gina
l bur
ials
.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
0—M
onit
orin
g C
ultu
ral H
erit
age
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Rec
ogni
se t
hat
buri
al p
rote
ctio
n is
the
hig
hest
pri
orit
y of
all c
ultu
ral h
erit
age
man
agem
ent
acti
ons.
•E
nsur
e th
at t
he e
xist
ing
buri
al p
rote
ctio
n w
orks
, inc
ludi
ngth
e bu
rial
mou
nds
and
prot
ecti
on s
truc
ture
s re
mai
n in
tact
.
•A
s pa
rt o
f th
e La
ke V
icto
ria
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
, dev
elop
and
impl
emen
t a
com
pone
nt p
rogr
am t
o m
onit
or a
ndm
aint
ain
exis
ting
bur
ial p
rote
ctio
n w
orks
.•
The
BE
C w
ill b
e in
volv
ed w
ith
mon
itor
ing
buri
alpr
otec
tion
wor
ks.
•E
stab
lish
a Pr
otoc
ol f
or t
he m
aint
enan
ce o
f ex
isti
ng b
uria
lpr
otec
tion
wor
ks.
(Not
e: T
his i
s inc
lude
d in
the
Prot
ocol
Sec
tion
of th
is Pl
an)
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To e
nsur
e th
e on
goin
g pr
otec
tion
of
Abo
rigi
nal b
uria
ls.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
1—M
onit
orin
g B
uria
l Pro
tect
ion
Wor
ks
Mor
e de
tail
on t
he a
ctua
l mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
is in
Tab
le 5
in S
ecti
on 3
.5 o
f th
is P
lan.
Mor
e de
tail
on t
he a
ctua
l mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
is in
Tab
le 4
in S
ecti
on 3
.5 o
f th
is P
lan.
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 44
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
45
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Und
erta
ke s
peci
fic m
onit
orin
g to
ass
ess
the
impa
ct o
nun
dist
urbe
d se
dim
ents
con
tain
ing
cultu
ral h
erit
age
mat
eria
l (pa
laeo
sols
).•
Und
erta
ke s
peci
fic m
onit
orin
g to
ass
ess
the
impa
ct o
nla
rge
scal
e bu
rial
pro
tect
ion
wor
ks.
•A
s pa
rt o
f th
e La
ke V
icto
ria
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
, dev
elop
and
impl
emen
t a
com
pone
nt p
rogr
am t
o m
onit
or t
heim
pact
of
Lake
ope
rati
ons
on u
ndis
turb
ed s
edim
ents
and
larg
e sc
ale
prot
ecti
on w
orks
. Thi
s sh
ould
incl
ude:
– a
revi
ew o
f th
e ex
isti
ng e
rosi
on m
onit
orin
g pr
ogra
m a
ndde
term
ine
if it
mee
ts o
ngoi
ng r
equi
rem
ents
.–
esta
blis
h a
long
-ter
m m
onit
orin
g pr
ogra
m, b
ased
on
mea
suri
ng t
rans
ects
at
leas
t on
ce a
yea
r w
hen
the
wat
erre
ache
s th
e lo
w le
vel o
f th
e ag
reed
ope
rati
ng s
trat
egy.
•T
he r
esul
ts f
rom
the
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
will
be
asse
ssed
by t
he R
evie
w P
anel
in a
ccor
danc
e w
ith
the
proc
ess
outli
ned
in t
he P
olic
y on
Res
earc
h an
d M
onit
orin
g an
d th
eG
ener
al M
onit
orin
g Pr
ogra
m P
rinc
iple
s.•
If t
he m
easu
red
eros
ion
exce
eds
the
limit
s se
t in
the
Con
sent
, the
MD
BC
will
rev
iew
and
rep
ort
to t
heD
irec
tor-
Gen
eral
NPW
S on
the
cau
ses
of t
he e
rosi
on a
ndif
appr
opri
ate,
any
mit
igat
ion
mea
sure
s pr
opos
ed.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To u
nder
stan
d th
e en
viro
nmen
tal
and
phys
ical
pro
cess
es a
ffec
ting
eros
ion
and
the
Lake
shor
e.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
2—U
nder
stan
ding
, ass
essi
ng a
nd m
onit
orin
g th
e en
viro
nmen
t, i
mpa
cts
and
mit
igat
ion
acti
ons
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
Mor
e de
tail
on t
he a
ctua
l mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
is in
Tab
le 6
in S
ecti
on 3
.5 o
f th
is P
lan.
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 45
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
46 OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Und
erta
ke s
peci
fic m
onit
orin
g to
ass
ess
the
impa
cts
ofm
anag
eabl
e fa
ctor
s in
clud
ing
Lake
reg
ulat
ion,
sto
ck, f
eral
and
nati
ve a
nim
als
on t
he v
eget
atio
n re
spon
se.
•A
s pa
rt o
f th
e La
ke V
icto
ria
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
, dev
elop
and
impl
emen
t a
com
pone
nt p
rogr
am t
o m
onit
orve
geta
tion
. Thi
s sh
ould
incl
ude:
– ex
pand
ing
the
exis
ting
veg
etat
ion
mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
to
incl
ude
sam
plin
g of
the
ent
ire
Lake
per
imet
er.
– es
tabl
ishi
ng a
long
-ter
m m
onit
orin
g pr
ogra
m, b
ased
on
aco
mbi
nati
on o
f-gr
ound
sur
veys
and
aer
ial p
hoto
grap
hy.
•T
he r
esul
ts f
rom
the
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
will
be
asse
ssed
by t
he R
evie
w P
anel
in a
ccor
danc
e w
ith
the
proc
ess
outli
ned
in t
he P
olic
y on
Res
earc
h an
d M
onit
orin
g an
d th
eG
ener
al M
onit
orin
g Pr
ogra
m P
rinc
iple
s.•
If t
he r
esul
ts o
f th
e m
onit
orin
g sh
ow a
tre
nd f
or a
redu
ctio
n in
the
ext
ent
of k
ey s
peci
es in
pri
orit
y ar
eas,
the
MD
BC
will
rev
iew
and
rep
ort
to t
he D
irec
tor-
Gen
eral
NPW
S on
the
cau
ses
of v
eget
atio
n de
clin
e an
d if
appr
opri
ate,
indi
cate
any
mit
igat
ion
mea
sure
s pr
opos
ed.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
Und
erst
and
the
envi
ronm
enta
l and
phys
ical
pro
cess
es a
ffec
ting
vege
tati
on o
n th
e la
ke b
ed.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
3—M
onit
orin
g Ve
geta
tion
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
Mor
e de
tail
on t
he a
ctua
l mon
itor
ing
prog
ram
is in
Tab
le 7
in S
ecti
on 3
.5 o
f th
is P
lan.
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 46
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
47
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Mon
itor
the
pre
senc
e of
rab
bits
, fer
al p
igs,
cat
tle, s
heep
and
goat
s.•
Impl
emen
t cu
ltura
lly s
ensi
tive
, bes
t pr
acti
ce m
anag
emen
tin
a t
imel
y m
anne
r fo
r di
ffer
ent
anim
al s
peci
es.
•Pr
ogre
ssiv
ely
limit
dom
esti
c st
ock
acce
ss t
o th
e La
kesh
ore
by f
enci
ng a
nd/o
r pr
ovid
ing
alte
rnat
e w
ater
sup
plie
s.•
Con
trol
fer
al p
igs,
goa
ts a
nd r
abbi
ts o
n a
coop
erat
ive
basi
sw
ith
neig
hbou
rs, u
sing
hum
ane
met
hods
app
ropr
iate
for
cultu
rally
sen
siti
ve a
reas
.•
Est
ablis
h a
mon
itor
ing
and
eval
uati
on p
rogr
am b
ased
on
pres
ence
or
abse
nce,
num
ber
of s
ight
ings
, ext
ent
of d
amag
ean
d fr
eque
ncy
of c
ontr
ol p
rogr
ams.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To m
inim
ise
the
impa
ct o
f no
n-na
tive
fau
na o
n bu
rial
s, r
elic
s an
dna
tive
ani
mal
hab
itat
.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
4—M
onit
orin
g N
on-n
ativ
e Fa
una
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Und
erta
ke s
peci
fic m
onit
orin
g to
det
erm
ine
the
impa
cts
ofLa
ke o
pera
tion
on
wat
er q
ualit
y.•
As
part
of
the
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
:–
mon
itor
wat
er q
ualit
y.–
esta
blis
h a
long
-ter
m m
onit
orin
g pr
ogra
m t
o m
easu
rew
ater
qua
lity
indi
cato
rs.
•T
he r
esul
ts f
rom
the
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
will
be
asse
ssed
by t
he E
xper
t Pa
nel i
n ac
cord
ance
wit
h th
e pr
oces
sou
tline
d in
the
Pol
icy
on R
esea
rch
and
Mon
itor
ing
and
the
Gen
eral
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
Pri
ncip
les.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To u
nder
stan
d th
e re
lati
onsh
ipbe
twee
n w
ater
and
Lak
e op
erat
ion.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
5—M
onit
orin
g W
ater
Qua
lity
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 47
L a k e V i c t o r i a C u l t u r a l L a n d s c a p e P l a n o f M a n a g e m e n t
48
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Dev
elop
an
oper
atin
g st
rate
gy f
or L
ake
Vic
tori
a fo
r th
e lif
eof
the
Con
sent
.•
Rev
iew
the
ope
rati
ng s
trat
egy
as r
equi
red
due
to u
nusu
alor
unf
ores
een
wea
ther
con
diti
ons
or in
the
eve
nt t
hat
othe
rw
ater
sto
rage
fac
iliti
es a
re n
ot a
vaila
ble.
•D
evel
op a
n op
erat
ing
stra
tegy
tha
t ba
lanc
es t
here
quir
emen
ts o
f ve
geta
tion
and
cul
tura
l her
itag
e pr
otec
tion
at L
ake
Vic
tori
a, p
rovi
sion
of
wat
er r
esou
rce
for
cons
umpt
ive
use
and
envi
ronm
enta
l req
uire
men
tsel
sew
here
in t
he R
iver
Mur
ray
syst
em.
•In
dev
elop
ing
the
stra
tegy
, con
sult
wit
h al
l sta
keho
lder
sw
hich
incl
ude
NPW
S, M
DB
C, r
epre
sent
ativ
es o
f th
eSt
ates
aff
ecte
d by
any
cha
nge
to w
ater
res
ourc
e av
aila
bilit
yw
hich
may
ari
se f
rom
the
alte
red
stra
tegy
and
any
oth
erpr
ogra
m w
hich
may
be
inte
r-re
late
d, s
uch
as t
heE
nvir
onm
enta
l Flo
ws
Proj
ect
for
the
Riv
er M
urra
y. T
hest
rate
gy w
ill b
e pr
esen
ted
to t
he D
irec
tor-
Gen
eral
NPW
Sfo
r ap
prov
al.
•Pr
ovid
e an
upd
ate
of t
he o
pera
ting
str
ateg
y to
the
LV
AC
wit
h th
e A
nnua
l Rep
ort.
•W
here
cir
cum
stan
ces
nece
ssit
ate
oper
atio
n of
the
Lak
eou
tsid
e th
e st
rate
gy g
uide
lines
, con
sult
wit
h N
PWS,
LV
AC
and
othe
r st
akeh
olde
rs a
bout
the
pro
pose
d va
riat
ion.
Suc
hci
rcum
stan
ces
wou
ld in
clud
e:
– ch
ange
d en
viro
nmen
tal c
ondi
tion
s, s
uch
as a
larg
e flo
odor
ext
ende
d dr
ough
t, or
–
in a
n em
erge
ncy
such
as
the
unav
aila
bilit
y or
mal
func
tion
of
key
stru
ctur
al a
sset
s.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To e
nsur
e th
e op
erat
ion
of t
he L
ake
is c
onsi
sten
t w
ith
the
obje
ctiv
es o
fth
e m
anag
emen
t pl
an.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
6—M
onit
orin
g W
ater
Qua
lity
MDBC 7532 CLPM Lake Vic Inner 28/8/02 11:35 AM Page 48
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49
Tabl
e 3:
Con
sent
Con
diti
ons,
Obj
ecti
ves,
Str
ateg
ies
and
Act
ion
Pla
ns
OB
JEC
TIV
E—
why
do
itST
RAT
EG
IES—
wha
t to
doA
CT
ION
S—ho
w to
do
it•
Und
erta
ke s
peci
fic m
onit
orin
g of
gro
undw
ater
and
sal
init
yle
vels
aro
und
the
Lake
in o
rder
to
asse
ss a
ny im
pact
s on
the
envi
ronm
ent
likel
y to
be
cont
ribu
ted
to b
y th
eop
erat
ion
of t
he L
ake.
•U
nder
take
a n
atur
al a
nd c
ultu
ral h
erit
age
inve
ntor
y of
the
area
s ou
tsid
e of
the
Lak
e.•
Und
erta
ke m
onit
orin
g of
the
cul
tura
l and
nat
ural
her
itag
ein
the
are
as o
utsi
de t
he L
ake
to a
sses
s im
pact
s w
hich
may
be c
ontr
ibut
ed t
o by
the
ope
rati
on o
f th
e La
ke.
•C
ontr
ibut
e ac
tive
ly t
o th
e La
ke V
icto
ria
Ran
gela
nds
Man
agem
ent
Act
ion.
•A
s pa
rt o
f th
e M
onit
orin
g Pr
ogra
m a
nd in
con
junc
tion
wit
h re
leva
nt g
over
nmen
t de
part
men
ts, t
he L
ake
Vic
tori
aR
ange
land
s M
anag
emen
t A
ctio
n Pl
an C
omm
itte
e an
dot
her
stak
ehol
ders
, det
erm
ine
the
prio
rity
are
as f
orm
onit
orin
g gr
ound
wat
er le
vels
, sal
init
y le
vels
, cul
tura
l and
natu
ral h
erit
age.
•T
he r
esul
ts f
rom
the
Mon
itor
ing
Prog
ram
will
be
asse
ssed
by t
he R
evie
w P
anel
in a
ccor
danc
e w
ith
the
proc
ess
outli
ned
in t
he P
olic
y on
Res
earc
h an
d M
onit
orin
g an
d th
eG
ener
al M
onit
orin
g Pr
ogra
m P
rinc
iple
s.•
If t
he m
onit
orin
g sh
ows
a po
tent
ial i
mpa
ct o
n cu
ltura
l or
natu
ral h
erit
age
by s
alin
isat
ion
whi
ch is
like
ly t
o be
cont
ribu
ted
to b
y th
e op
erat
ion
of t
he L
ake,
the
MD
BC
will
rev
iew
the
cau
ses
and
repo
rt t
o th
e D
irec
tor-
Gen
eral
.
Obj
ectiv
e 1
To u
nder
stan
d an
d m
inim
ise
the
impa
cts
of t
he o
pera
tion
of
the
Lake
on t
he a
reas
out
side
the
Lak
e,sp
ecifi
cally
on
the
east
ern
side
of
the
Lake
.
Con
sent
Con
diti
on 1
8—Im
pact
s on
Are
as O
utsi
de t
he L
ake
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3.3 Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee andCommunity Relations
Lake Victoria Advisory Committee
The Lake Victoria Advisory Committee (LVAC)
has been formalised as an advisory committee to
the MDBC under the Murray–Darling BasinAgreement. Its role is to provide advice to the
MDBC on the preparation and then
implementation of the Plan, and on all issues
related to the conservation management of the
cultural landscape of Lake Victoria in accord
with the Consent Conditions. The LVAC is
resourced by the MDBC.
The LVAC provides the mechanism whereby
Aboriginal people with traditional and historic
ties to Lake Victoria, as well as other
stakeholders, can have input into the
management of the heritage values of the
cultural landscape. Figure 11 shows the
composition of the LVAC. Except where
specifically noted, each of the groups mentioned
has one position on the Committee. Additional
observers are invited and welcome to attend
meetings.
Barkindji Elders Committee
The Barkindji Elders Committee (BEC) is a
group in its own right, whose members are
people with traditional ties to Lake Victoria. The
BEC forms the basis of the Barkindji
representation on the LVAC and provides a link
to the broader Barkindji community to
communicate information about what is
happening at Lake Victoria, as well as providing
informed advice to the LVAC based on the
consultation with the wider community. The
MDBC resources BEC meetings when they are
considering issues relating to Lake Victoria.
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LAKE VICTORIA ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPIndependent Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson
One of these positions is to be held by a person with professional cultural heritage management experience.
Aboriginal Groups
• 14 members of the Barkindji community including:
– 11 Barkindji people with traditional and/or historic ties to the Lake Victoria area; and
– 3 Descendants of Lake Victoria Aboriginal people now living in SA.
• 1 representative from the Dareton Local Aboriginal Land Council.
• 1 representative from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.
Landholder and User Groups
• 2 representatives of Lake Victoria landholders.
• 1 representative from the Lower Murray–Darling Catchment Management Board.
• 1 representative of Water users.
Government agencies: 1 representative each with the exception of MDBC
• MDBC—2 representatives including the Program Manager Lake Victoria and a representative from River Murray Water (RMW).
• SA Water.
• NSW NPWS.
• NSW DLWC.
Figure 11: Lake Victoria Advisory Committee Membership
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Broader Community
Other stakeholders include the local Aboriginaland non-Aboriginal community not representedon the LVAC, representatives from surroundingpastoral properties, the local Aboriginal LandCouncil, government departments withresponsibilities at the Lake, people who rely onwater resources from the River Murray systemand people who use the Lake for recreationalpurposes.
3.4 Strategies for CulturalHeritage Conservation
Background
The environment around Lake Victoria has beensubstantially changed since Europeanoccupation, and more particularly since
regulation of the River Murray system. The s90Consent has a strong emphasis on conservationand protection of the natural environment ofLake Victoria and its surrounds. Re-establishingvegetation on the foreshore has been chosen byNPWS as the central strategy in the Consent forprotecting the cultural heritage in situ aroundthe Lakeshore. This involves developing adifferent Lake operating regime, which willprovide more suitable conditions for the re-establishment of vegetation.
As mentioned in Part 2, the historical operationof the Lake has had an adverse impact on thehealth of vegetation below the 27 m level. Thishas changed to some extent with theintroduction of the Menindee harmony targets,which have included an annual drawdown sincethe mid-1980s. Significant regeneration of manyplants and trees has occurred in specific areas ofthe Lakeshore over the last few years. This hasoccurred without recourse to deliberate re-vegetation exercises and is thought to be aresponse to two significant factors—the changedLake operations since 1994, and the reduction ofimpacts from stock, either by excluding stockcompletely from some areas, provision ofalternative stockwatering supplies and bychanges to stock management practices bylandholders.
Figure 12 shows the relationship between theCultural Landscape Plan of Management andthe Lake Victoria Operating Strategy, and howthe conservation requirements for both culturaland natural heritage feed into the developmentof the operating strategy.
Vegetation
Plants appear to have distinct establishment andmaintenance phases, with different requirementsand tolerances depending on which phase theyare in. The altered operations over the last fewyears in many ways equate to an establishmentphase. The ongoing operating strategy will try asmuch as possible to provide conditions whichallow these plants to survive and expand. It isintended to monitor this natural regeneration tosee how it develops with the ongoing operating
strategy. The vegetation monitoring program isoutlined in Table 7 of this Plan.
Investigation will continue to determine the keyspecies that are likely to survive in theenvironment surrounding Lake Victoria, and theconditions most conducive to their survival. Keyspecies for both objectives under Condition 8 arebeing sought, that is:
• for stabilisation of the soil to minimiseerosion—these are likely to be grasses oraquatic species.
• for amenity value—these are likely to be trees,especially red gum, and lignum.
Other strategies to enhance the vegetationresponse include removing the impacts, bothgrazing and trampling of stock and otheranimals from the Lakeshore. This involvesproviding alternative stock water supply forproperties surrounding Lake Victoria, and alsoan ongoing program for eradication of non-native fauna.
Further investigation may be considered in areaswhere regeneration has not occurred todetermine the suitability of the soil andenvironmental conditions in the specific area,and whether additional intervention is required.
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The Lake Victoria OperatingStrategy
The Lake Victoria Operating Strategy (LVOS) isa companion document to the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management. The LVOSdescribes how the water storage functions ofLake Victoria will be managed in meeting therequirements of the Consent.
In summary, the LVOS aims to enhanceopportunities for drying the lake bed, and limitthe time that the water levels in the Lake arehigh, whilst meeting existing water supply andenvironmental flow obligations. The OperatingStrategy is based on the assumption that nativevegetation will stabilise the Lake foreshore, andaims to simulate a natural hydrological regime,at a higher elevation than occurred under natural
conditions.
The LVOS contains a set of General OperatingRules that will apply most of the time. Indeveloping these rules, consideration was givento the impact on security of existing waterentitlements in New South Wales, Victoria andSouth Australia. Consideration was also given towater quality (particularly salinity) impacts inthe River Murray system. In addition, theOperating Strategy describes circumstances suchas emergency operations, or operations forenvironmental benefit in the Lower MurrayRiver downstream of Lake Victoria, whereoperations may need to be altered from theGeneral Operating Rules. The OperatingStrategy defines the role of the Review Panel(refer to Section 3.5) in relation to Lake Victoriaoperations.
3.5 Research and MonitoringChanges will occur in the natural environmentat Lake Victoria. The changes may be due tolong-term effects, such as the way the Lake isoperated, as a response to deliberate actions suchthe construction of large scale protection worksor changes in stock management on thesurrounding properties, or as a result of specificevents such as a storm. In addition, this Plan ofManagement includes a range of strategies and
action plans which are intended to improve thenatural environment and protect the culturalheritage and it is necessary to determine thesuccess or otherwise of these measures.Consequently, an extensive monitoring programis to be undertaken to measure the nature andextent of the changes to the environment at LakeVictoria.
Research
Section 3.4 identified that there are twoobjectives in relation to research which can bederived from Consent Condition 9:
• Objective 1—For research which is required bythe s90 Consent, to understand therelationship between environmental processes,Lake operations and impacts on cultural andnatural heritage in order to improve
management decisions and actions.
• Objective 2—For research which is notrequired by the s90 Consent, but may beproposed separately, to increase theunderstanding of the nature or significance ofthe cultural and/or natural heritage values atthe Lake.
The first objective recognises that the MDBC isrequired to undertake research which is relatedto minimising impacts of Lake operations oncultural and natural heritage. Further detailabout how this will be undertaken is explainedbelow.
The second objective also recognises that otherparties such as academic institutions, interestgroups and private individuals may be interestedin the cultural, scientific and historic values ofLake Victoria. This provides a process forbroader research proposals to be considered.More importantly, it provides an avenue toensure that the LVAC has an active role in theconsideration of any research proposal and thatthe proponents of any research proposal areaware of, and must conform with, theprocedures and protocols developed to protectthe cultural heritage.
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Figure 12: Relationship between Cultural Landscape Plan of Management and Lake VictoriaOperating Strategy
MDBC Responsibility
RMW ResponsibilityCultural LandscapePlan of Management
Commun ity InvolvementAccess Cultural HeritageCommunication Natural HeritageEducation FaunaMonitoring Aquatic FloraResearch Water Quality
Lake Victoria OperatingStrategy
Water ConservationSupply Entit lementsSalinity ManagementEnvironmental Flows
ConservationRequirements
Approved by Murray-DarlingBasin Commission
Approved by Murray-DarlingBasin Commission
Advice:Lake Victoria
AdvisoryCommittee
Relationships between the Lake Victoria Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement and the Lake Victoria Operating Strategy
Approved by Director-GeneralNPWS
Implemented by River MurrayWater and SA Water
Reviewed by LakeVictoria Advisory
Committee
Reviewed by ReviewPanel
Strategies andActions
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Review Panel
A Review Panel will be established and resourcedby the MDBC and include people with expertisein cultural heritage significance, natural heritageassessment, ecology, geomorphology, watersupply operations, groundwater salinity and anyother subject area deemed necessary once thePlan of Management is operational.
The Review Panel is responsible to:
• review proposals for research at Lake Victoria;
• review and approve the monitoring programrequired for the Consent;
• review results of the monitoring program, andmake recommendations for the subsequentyear’s research plan, and if applicable, anychanges to management practices or Lakeoperations deemed necessary from the
monitoring results; and
• participate in any consideration of proposedchanges to management practices and Lakeoperations, whether the recommendations aremade from the review of monitoring resultsor from any other source.
The Review Panel will meet on an as requiredbasis.
Research Required by the s90 Consent
MDBC and SA Water are responsible to conductresearch activities which are required by the s90Consent. The focus of such research is toimprove the level of understanding about theimpacts of operating Lake Victoria on thecultural and natural heritage at the Lake, andthen feed this back into management decisionsin order to minimise those impacts. The mainvehicle for this research is the monitoringprogram which is aimed at gathering data aboutthe changes occurring at the Lake over theperiod of the Consent, and then trying todetermine the causes of the changes. MDBC andSA Water have engaged suitably qualifiedspecialists to design the various componentprograms required under the Consent.
A Research Plan will be prepared by Octobereach year, in accordance with the requirementslisted below for Research Plans. The ResearchPlan should be formulated so as to incorporateany recommendations from the Review Panelwhich arose as a result of monitoring from theprevious year.
Research Not Required by the Consent
Other research proposals which are beyond therequirements of the Consent may be submittedto the MDBC and SA Water for consideration.In such cases, the MDBC and SA Water willcoordinate the progress of research proposalswhich must follow the following steps:
• the proponent must submit the proposal witha Research Plan in accordance with therequirements for Research Plans listed below.
• the proposal and Research Plan are to bereferred to all relevant agencies or authoritiesfor review, advice on whether permits arerequired, any comments on the proposal anda recommendation regarding each agenciessupport for the proposal.
• the proposal and Research Plan are to bereferred to the BEC and LVAC, along withthe comments from the agencies, for reviewand recommendation. Any research proposalswhich may affect cultural heritage must bespecifically approved by the BEC.
• the proposal and Research Plan will beconsidered, for approval, by the Review Panel,in consultation with NPWS and taking intoaccount the recommendations from the LVACand the relevant agencies and authorities.
The proponent is responsible to identify andobtain all relevant legal permits, and will berequired to provide evidence of approvedpermits. If the research proposal is approved, theproponent must comply with all protocols andprocedures applicable for access and work atLake Victoria, and with any directions from SAWater staff as the research proceeds. Approvalmay be withdrawn if the proponent does notcomply with the requirements of this Plan ofManagement.
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Research Plan
A Research Plan is required for all researchproposed at Lake Victoria. The Research Planshould include but is not limited to thefollowing:
• the need for the research;
• the objectives of the research;
• the relationship of the research to theobjectives of the Plan of Management;
• the proposed methodology;
• identification of any permits required andproof that permits have been issued;
• the proposed consultation process with allstakeholders, especially the local Aboriginalcommunity and landholders;
• the proposed method for reporting results of
the research and if appropriate, how this isintended to be incorporated into managementoutcomes;
• a proposed timeframe for the researchproposal; and
• where there is more than one component tothe activity, an outline of any coordinationrequired between the components.
Management of Data and IntellectualProperty
The Plan of Management respects theintellectual property rights of the Barkindjipeople with respect to Aboriginal culturalheritage at Lake Victoria. This includes any dataor material which becomes known duringresearch. The Consent and the Plan ofManagement recognises that reports orpublications associated with Lake Victoria maybe sensitive. Culturally sensitive information isto be managed in consideration of the wishes ofits owners (the Barkindji people). Any reports orpublications containing cultural information willbe referred to the Barkindji Elders Committeeprior to its release and their advice soughtregarding distribution of the information.
This applies equally to research not related to theConsent, and research proponents will be
required to agree to this principle as a conditionto their proposal being approved.
Monitoring
Objective of Monitoring
The objective of monitoring is to determine theimpact of Lake management on cultural heritage,in order to modify Lake management if the impactexceeds some predetermined thresholds.
Design of Monitoring Program
All of the monitoring requirements listed in thes90 Consent are included in a monitoringprogram. The MDBC and SA Water haveengaged suitably qualified specialists to designthe various components of the monitoringprogram. The separate component programs arebeing coordinated under the annual Research
Plan to maximise efficient and effective use ofresources and to ensure that the requirements ofthe Consent are met. Where possible,monitoring sites will be integrated so they can beused for several different purposes.
Conduct of Monitoring
Maximum care is to be taken to restrict anyimpact caused by the conduct of monitoring. ACode of Conduct regarding access and behaviourhas been developed for any people using theLake or working at the Lake and is included inthe Protocol Section of this Plan. Whereadditional workers are employed to assist withthe monitoring, they must be briefed on theobjectives and procedures of the monitoringsurveys and relevant training is to be provided.
Community Involvement
Communication with the community isessential. The objectives of the monitoringprogram will be communicated to the LVAC andwill be available to the wider community. Inaddition, information about monitoringactivities, including the objectives, conduct andtiming, results and any subsequent decisions ofthe monitoring activities will be communicatedto the community progressively, and in anannual report.
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Where possible, the community, both Aboriginaland non-Aboriginal, will be involved in themonitoring program. Any labour requirementswill be filled in accordance with theEmployment Protocol in the Protocol Section ofthis Plan of Management. In particular,members of the local Aboriginal community willbe employed to assist where there is arequirement for additional workers for taskswhich are related to protection of culturalheritage. A detailed explanation is to be providedif this is not possible.
Reporting Requirements
MDBC and SA Water are required to prepare adetailed report of all monitoring activities foreach Consent Condition on an annual basis andprovided this to NPWS. In addition, a summaryreport of this detailed report will be prepared forinclusion in the Annual Report required underConsent Condition 5 and presented to thecommunity. The BEC will be consulted inrelation to any culturally sensitive material to beincluded in the report.
The detailed report will cover the followingaspects:
• a description of all of the monitoringconducted for the Consent Condition;
• the results of the monitoring;
• details of any environmental or climatic
factors which occurred during the period andwhich may have affected the monitoringresults;
• an interpretation of the results andidentification of possible causes; and
• any appropriate recommendations.
Annual Review of Monitoring Results
The Review Panel will conduct an annual reviewof the monitoring results. Additional opinionmay also be engaged to assist with the review,and to determine the causes of any changesobserved.
Recommendations for Changes toManagement Practices
The Review Panel may make recommendationsrelating to operating the Lake. Trend data,gathered over a reasonable period of time, arerequired in order to develop sufficientinformation to make decisions about Lakemanagement. Any changes in managementdecisions or guidelines resulting frommonitoring activities will only be implementedafter a thorough review by the Review Panel andagreed by the LVAC, NPWS, SA Water andMDBC.
Description of the Monitoring Programs for Consent Condition 10 to 15
The detail of the proposed monitoring programs
to be undertaken in response to the Consent ispresented in Tables 4–9.
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Table 4: Condition 10—Monitoring Cultural Heritage
METHOD DETAIL
Annual survey of the entire exposed Lakeshore to be: • conducted when water level is lowest.• coordinated with other monitoring activities to be conducted
when the Lake level is low.
Regular routine surveys of exposed Lakeshore during theremaining parts of year: • concentrating on known priority areas.• combining a formal rolling program of inspections by sector of
the Lakeshore with opportunistic observations by staff when inlocation.
Following specific events such as strong winds, storms:• conduct an inspection of known priority areas which are
exposed at the time of the event.
Annual Survey
Regular Routine Surveys
Event Specific Surveys
Condition 10: Monitoring Cultural HeritageObjective of Consent: To achieve an annual decrease in the number, size and frequency of exposure
of newly discovered cultural heritage material.
Current Information• A significant amount of work has already been done on locating and recording cultural heritage
material. SA Water holds a database of the existing information.
Responsibility• Inspections are to be coordinated and conducted by SA Water’s Cultural Heritage Manager. • If additional workers are required, they will be employed in accordance with the Employment
Protocol in the Protocol Section of this Plan.• Elders from the BEC will be involved in decision-making relating to protecting cultural heritage.
Action required for all Inspections• Comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.• A written report of all inspections is required.• Any discoveries of cultural material to be recorded in the database.• Known environmental conditions which may have contributed to the discovery should also be
recorded. This includes recent weather conditions (storms, high winds etc.), the Lake level at thetime of discovery, recent Lake operation (Lake level rising, falling or steady), and any vegetationsurrounding the site.
• Legal requirements for reporting are to be followed.• The Barkindji community to be advised of results of inspection, in particular of any discoveries of
new material.
Action on discovery of newly exposed burials • Note that the Consent specifically does not apply to burials. • Any newly exposed burials located must be protected in accordance with the Protocol for the
Protection of Newly Exposed Burials in the Protocol Section of this Plan.
Action on discovery of newly exposed cultural heritage material• Take action in accordance with the Protocol for Reporting Discovery of Cultural Material.
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METHOD DETAIL
Annual inspection of all recorded burial protection works to be:• conducted when the water level is lowest.• coordinated with other monitoring activities to be conducted
when the Lake level is low.
Regular routine surveys of burial protection works on theexposed Lakeshore during the remaining part of the year. • Combining a formal rolling program of inspections by sector
of the Lakeshore with opportunistic observations by staff whenin location.
• Can be conducted in conjunction with monitoring conductedunder Condition 10.
Following specific events such as strong winds, storms:• conduct an inspection of any burial protection works which
are exposed at the time of the event.
Annual Inspection
Regular Routine Surveys
Event Specific Inspections
Consent Condition 11: Monitoring Burial Protection WorksObjective of Consent: To ensure the continued effectiveness of protection works, in particular that
there is no re-exposure of the burials which have already been protected.
Table 5: Consent Condition 11—Monitoring Burial Protection Works
Current Information• This Condition includes burial mounds and constructed protection works such as the sand
sausage.• All known burials are recorded on the SA Water database.
Responsibility• Inspections are to be coordinated and conducted by SA Water's Cultural Heritage Manager. • If additional workers are required, they will be employed in accordance with the Employment
Protocol in the Protocol Section of this Plan.• Elders from the BEC will be involved in decisions relating to protecting cultural heritage.
Action Required for all Inspections • Comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.• A written report of all inspections required.• Protection works are to be photographed on all annual and Event Specific inspections, and on
routine inspections if the protection work is deteriorated.• Any discoveries of deteriorated protection works to be recorded, along with report of actions
taken.• Note known environmental conditions which may have contributed to the deterioration of
protection works, including recent weather conditions (storms, high winds etc.), the Lake level atthe time of discovery, recent Lake operation (Lake level rising, falling or steady), and anyvegetation surrounding the site.
• Legal requirements for reporting to be followed.
Actions on discovery of deteriorated burial protection works• Repair any deteriorated protection works in accordance with the Protocol for the Maintenance of
Existing Burial Protection Works in the Protocol Section of this Plan.• Particular attention is to be given to explaining the method of construction of protection works,
and the difference between superficial disturbance of the protection mounds, and damage to theeffectiveness of the protection works.
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Table 6: Condition 12—Understanding, Assessing and Monitoring Environment, Impacts andMitigation Actions
METHOD DETAIL
To be conducted:• when the Lake is at the low level of the agreed operating
strategy; and • immediately before the Lake begins to be refilled.Using a combination of:• cross-shore profiles with permanent landward benchmarks at
identified priority areas.• photographs of profiles for qualitative visual comparisons.Profiles established in the interim monitoring program willcontinue to be used, and additional profiles may be added ifrequired.
To be conducted: • immediately after high energy events such as storms, high
winds.• following unusual or unanticipated change to the agreed
operating strategy.• using the same combination of cross-shore profiles and
photography.
Annual Survey
Event Specific Surveys
Condition 12: Understanding, Assessing and Monitoring Environment,Impacts and Mitigation Actions
Objective of Consent: To measure the extent of movement of Lakeshore sediments, concentratingon known priority areas for cultural heritage and in particular, areas with exposed palaeosols. The
Consent prescribes that there should be no more than two centimetres per annum of verticalerosion of palaeosols which contain cultural heritage material.
Current Information
• This program will build on the interim monitoring strategy of impacts on cultural heritage,which is already in place.
Responsibility• The program has been designed by a professional geomorphologist.• SA Water is responsible to conduct the surveys in accordance with the program and to maintain
the database.• A geomorphologist will be engaged to interpret results, write the report and make
recommendations.• All workers to comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.
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Table 7: Condition 13—Monitoring Vegetation
METHOD DETAIL
This will include two parts:• follow up action from the baseline study of the southern
Lakeshore conducted in 1998. • a representative sample of the remainder of Lakeshore.These studies will include:• for all new and all 1998 sites, an assessment of soil condition
and type, degree of erosion and impact of grazing.• a stratified vegetation survey of an additional 50–70 sites
around Lake Victoria (other than the southern lake bed) to beconducted in spring 2001.
• sites to be selected at the time of survey and in conjunctionwith other information relating to priority areas for culturalheritage, targeting of identified key species for soil stabilisationand amenity purposes.
A number of permanent gradsect monitoring lines wereestablished on the southern Lakeshore in 1998. New gradsectswill be established on the remainder of the Lakeshore.Monitoring will include:• re-survey and assessment of all existing gradsects.• install, survey and assess new gradsects on remainder of the
Lakeshore.• assessment to include estimates of biomass and scoring of
plant health.• permanent photopoints to be established for all gradsects.• within gradsects, establish permanent belt transects which
contain priority revegetation species and monitor forrecruitment, mortality and growth.
• new gradsects to be selected at time of survey and inconjunction with other information relating to priority areasfor cultural heritage, targeting of identified key species for soilstabilisation and amenity purposes.
• conducted on at least annual basis.Additional permanent monitoring plots may also be establishedto monitor tree health, mortality, recruitment and growth rates, ifthese cannot be accommodated within the gradsects.
Stock exclosures are to be constructed as part of the stockwatersystems on properties adjoining the Lake. Monitoring of stockexclosures once established will include:• estimates of biomass and scoring of plant health.• photomonitoring.• to be conducted at least annually.
Active re-vegetation strategies may not be required. This willdepend on the results from monitoring, and the assessed oranticipated success of other strategies such as the altered Lakeoperating strategy, removal of stock impacts from the Lakeshoreand natural regeneration. If it is decided to undertake re-vegetation trials, the earliest timethat plots will be established is 2002 due to availability of locallygrown stock. Any re-vegetation plots will be monitored inaccordance with the same methodology as other vegetationmonitoring.
Baseline Study
Annual Monitoring ofVegetation Transects
Annual Monitoring ofStock Exclosures
If established, annualmonitoring of re-vegetationplots
Condition 13: Monitoring VegetationObjective of Consent: Over the period of the Consent, to achieve an increase areal coverage of perennial
native vegetation on the Lakeshore, and a reduction in the impacts by domestic stock and feral animals.
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Table 7: Condition 13—Monitoring Vegetation—continued
Current Information• This program will build on the 1998 study and initial monitoring conducted on the southern
Lakeshore.
Responsibility• The program has been designed by a vegetation consultant, with input to design from NPWS.• Ongoing monitoring will be conducted by a vegetation consultant.• All workers to comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.• If additional workers are required they will be employed in accordance with the Employment
Protocol in the Protocol Section of this Plan.
METHOD DETAIL
Establish a monitoring and evaluation program based on presenceor absence, number of sightings, extent of damage and frequencyof control programs.
Link with vegetation monitoring of stock exclosures to determineimpacts of non-native fauna in areas where access for stock hasbeen restricted.
Periodic or seasonalmonitoring for the presenceof non-native fauna
Annual monitoring stockexclosures where stockwatering systems areconstructed
Condition 14: Monitoring and Managing Non-Native FaunaObjective of Consent: To minimise the impact of non-native fauna on burials, relics and
native animal habitat.
Table 8: Consent Condition 14—Monitoring and Managing Non-Native Fauna
Current Information• SA Water currently undertakes feral animal control programs.• Stock watering systems and/or fencing has already been constructed along the eastern and
southern sides of the Lake.
Responsibility• SA Water will continue progress with stock watering systems for remainder of the properties
adjoining the Lake.• SA Water will continue and expand feral animal control.• All workers to comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.
METHOD DETAIL
To be conducted as part of SA Water's routine water qualitysampling program.
Water Quality Sampling
Condition 15: Monitoring Water QualityObjective of Consent: To increase knowledge of water quality.
Current Information• SA Water currently undertakes water quality sampling at a number of points around Lake Victoria. Responsibility• SA Water will continue water quality monitoring and will provide analysis of results.• All workers to comply with Access Protocol and Code of Conduct.
Table 9: Condition 15—Monitoring Water Quality
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3.6 Actions Outside theArea of the Lake
The Cultural Landscape Plan of Managementcovers a relatively small area of land as definedin Part 1 and shown in Figure 3. Bordering onthe perimeter of the Lake are four pastoralproperties, one combined freehold and leasehold(Lake Victoria) and three leasehold (Nulla,Noola and Dunedin Park–Talgarry). Thesouthern boundary of the area, which includes asection of Frenchmans Creek, is bordered by acombination of freehold, leasehold and NSWState Forest.
The boundary of the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement has been set as the area under thecontrol of South Australia. Significant culturalheritage occurs outside the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management boundary as well as within.Activities outside the boundary directly impacton the Lakeshore, while the operation of theLake impacts on the neighbouring land and forthis reason, it is essential that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management is integratedwith any related land and water managementplans.
Some of the Consent Conditions require theMDBC to undertake activities outside of theConsent area as defined in Schedule B. Thestrategies to respond to these requirements aredescribed below.
Groundwater Monitoring andSalinity
MDBC has allocated funds to DLWC to installadditional piezometers in the areas surroundingLake Victoria, to conduct groundwatermonitoring and update salinity mapping ofthese areas. The program to install the additionalpiezometers commenced in 2000 andmonitoring results are likely to be available frommid-2001. When monitoring results becomeavailable, the MDBC and DLWC will host aworkshop to discuss hydrogeological researchand the monitoring results.
Natural and Cultural HeritageInventories of Surrounding Areas
The Lake Victoria Rangelands Management Plan (LVRMAP) includes the propertiesimmediately surrounding Lake Victoria asshown in Figure 13, and is fundedpredominantly by National Heritage Funds.This Plan includes two separate studies, aRangelands Study and a Cultural HeritageStudy, in which surveys of the natural andcultural heritage of the surrounding propertiesare planned. Rather than duplicate this effort,the Consent requires the MDBC to contributeto the LVRMAP and to share information.
To conform with this direction, the MDBC hasallocated funds to assist with aspects of thestudies from which it will gain information in
support of the Consent for Lake Victoria. Bothstudies are in progress, and future actions suchas monitoring will be determined from theresults of these two studies.
3.7 Management andImplementation
Management Responsibilities
NPWS
The NSW NPWS is responsible foradministering the National Parks and WildlifeAct (1974) which covers the protection ofAboriginal cultural heritage. NPWS is theregulatory authority for the Consent and mustapprove the Plan of Management, but is notresponsible for its development orimplementation.
MDBC
The s87 Permit and s90 Consent have beengranted to the MDBC and the Plan ofManagement is a legal requirement of the s90Consent. The MDBC is therefore the legalentity responsible for implementing theconditions of the Consent, because the Consentdeals with the impact of the regulation of theLake and the MDBC makes the decisions onhow this is done. As a result, the MDBC is also
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legally responsible for the development andimplementation of the Plan, including regularreview of strategies, annual reporting and finalreview.
SA Water
The SA Water Corporation owns most of theLakeshore area covered by the Plan ofManagement and actively manages the Lakeregulation by implementing the MDBC’sinstructions relating to water flows. The MDBCmay delegate aspects of the implementation ofthe Plan of Management to SA Water, but willretain overall responsibility.
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Figure 13: Geographic scope of the Lake Victoria Rangelands Management Plan
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Decision-making process
The MDBC will develop appropriate decision-making processes for the actions within thisPlan. This will include clear identification ofsituations where:
• the MDBC makes the decision, taking intoaccount all advice.
• the LVAC makes the decision, taking intoaccount all advice.
• Aboriginal elders, through the BEC, make thedecision, taking account all advice.
Life of the Plan of Management
The s90 Consent was granted on 28 August1998, for a period of eight years. The end date is28 August 2006.
The Cultural Landscape Plan of Managementwill run from the date it is approved by theDirector-General NPWS to 30 June 2006. TheMDBC must review the effects of themanagement of the Lakeshore through the Planof Management prior to this date, and submit anapplication for an extension of the Consent fromthe 1 July 2006.
Independent Review after Five Years
In addition to the annual reports, the MDBCwill arrange for a major independent review ofthe Plan of Management to be carried outbetween 1 July 2005 and 31 December 2005.This will review the effectiveness of the Plan,and may be the basis of the application for anextension of the s90 Consent.
Annual Review of Plan
The MDBC will prepare an Annual Report onthe implementation of the Cultural LandscapePlan of Management by the end of Septembereach year for advice to the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee and approval by theDirector-General of the NPWS. This is inaccordance with Consent Condition 5. TheMDBC will review and update each strategyannually, and include a report on progress in theAnnual Report. The MDBC may develop newstrategies as required during the life of the Plan.
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PROTOCOLS1. Access Protocol
2. Protocol for the Employment of AboriginalWorkers at Lake Victoria
3. Protocol for the Protection of NewlyDiscovered Burials
4. Protocol for the Maintenance of ExistingBurial Protection Works
5. Code of Conduct for Workers and Visitors toLake Victoria
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VISITOR CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS
This protocol expects visiting individuals and groups to actrespectfully towards the Aboriginal heritage of the Lake and therights, equipment and facilities of the landholders. While thelandholders and the traditional owners will cooperate within thespirit of this protocol wherever possible, they retain the right to refuseadmission to individuals who do not meet these expectations.All visitors are required to remain on tracks if vehicles are being usedand to abide by any other guidelines from SA Water or landownerswhen visiting the Lake.Visitors are requested to report on anything of significance pertainingto Aboriginal cultural heritage to SA Water during their visit or aftertheir return.
• Contact the Lake Victoria Depot prior to the visit if possible(either direct to the SA Water Cultural Heritage Manager orvia the Land Council which can fax details to the Depot).
• On the day of the trip, either (i) pick up key from LandCouncil Office (on Friday for a weekend) and return key tothe Land Council after the trip or (ii) use own key to open thecabinet at the Depot, sign the register and get the gate key,returning gate key to the cabinet after the trip and sign out onthe register.
• Inform and seek the approval of at least three (3) elders on theLake Victoria Advisory Committee, prior to any planned visitto Lake Victoria.
• Inform and seek approval of SA Water.• Inform and seek approval of relevant landholders.• Two days notification will be required for small groups or
families (five or less) and two weeks for large groups or schoolgroups.
• All groups need to be accompanied by an Aboriginal SA Wateremployee.
• All arrangements are required to be finalised with SA Waterprior to visit.
• All Aboriginal visitors are required to remain on tracks ifvehicles are being used and to abide by any other guidelinesfrom SA Water or landowners when visiting the Lake.
• Visitors are requested to report on anything of significancepertaining to Aboriginal cultural heritage to the elders, onreturn from their visit.
Everyone Visiting the Lake
Elders on Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee
Aboriginal people withtraditional and historic ties
LAKE VICTORIA ACCESS PROTOCOL
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VISITOR CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS
• Applications in writing to SA Water (3 Months in advance).• SA Water to advise of requirements for Aboriginal permission,
and other rules.• Consult the Barkindji Elders Committee (2 Months in
advance).• Group must be informed of appropriate fee involved.• Group leader to seek permission from relevant landholders.• Provide SA Water with evidence of approval. • Provide SA Water with travel details (numbers, dates,
itinerary).• Aboriginal employee and/or up to three (3) elders must
accompany the group, depending on size.• Group to be given information about proper behaviour at
Aboriginal sites.• Group leader must sign undertaking of responsibility for
students.• Group leader must sign register at Depot. • No keys given to educational groups.
• Applications in writing to SA Water (3 Months in advance).• SA Water to advise of requirements for Aboriginal permission,
and other rules.• SA Water must advise Lake Victoria Advisory Committee (in
writing if necessary).• Group leader to contact relevant landholders.• Provide SA Water with evidence of approval. • Provide SA Water with travel details (numbers, dates,
itinerary).• Aboriginal employee or elder may be required to accompany
the group. • Group to be given information about proper behaviour at
Aboriginal sites.• Group leader must sign undertaking of responsibility for
students.• Group leader must sign register at Depot. • No keys given to educational groups.
• Advise MDBC/SA Water about proposal.• Advise and seek approval from the Barkindji Elders
Committee and Lake Victoria Advisory Committee.• Research to be consistent with Plan of Management.• MDBC/SA Water to advise Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee. • Follow standard NPWS rules for permits and Aboriginal
consultation.• If project approved, must follow specific requirements set by
NPWS/Aboriginal people (e.g. Aboriginal involvement inproject).
• If project approved, must follow standard requirements set byMDBC/SA Water (e.g. advise of field trips, report in toDepot).
• Keys may be authorised under special conditions.• Provide regular reports on work to MDBC/SA Water/Lake
Victoria Advisory Committee.
People and educationalgroups with genuineinterests in Aboriginalcultural heritage
People and educationalgroups with interests inenvironment or history butnot Aboriginal heritage
Researchers wishing tostudy Aboriginal heritage
LAKE VICTORIA ACCESS PROTOCOL
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VISITOR CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS
• Advise MDBC/SA Water about proposal, advise the BarkindjiElders Committee.
• Research to be consistent with Plan of Management.
• MDBC/SA Water to advise Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee.
• All necessary permits obtained.
• If project approved, must follow standard requirements set byMDBC/SA Water (e.g. advise of field trips, report in toDepot).
• Keys may be authorised under special conditions.
• Provide regular reports on work to MDBC/SA Water/LakeVictoria Advisory Committee.
• Recreational activities are to be consistent with the objectivesof the Cultural Landscape Plan of Management (e.g. speedlimit on Lake is 4 knots).
• A map of Lake showing culturally sensitive areas placed off-limits for recreation to be provided to landholders, SA Waterstaff and Lake Victoria Advisory Committee members.
• Fencing/signs etc. to mark areas where recreation possible orprohibited.
• Advice to interested groups (tourist offices, clubs etc.) of newrules.
• A code of conduct to be provided with information about thenature, location and sensitivity of cultural heritage and thelegal and other requirements to avoid causing damage.
• Briefing sessions for all first-time visitors involved inmanagement activities.
Researchers whose interestsare not related toAboriginal heritage
Access for recreation(including fishing) by thegeneral public (includingfriends and relatives of SAWater employees andlandholders and membersof the Aboriginalcommunity)
Employees, contractors andconsultants of allgovernment departmentsand agencies, andlandholders and theiremployees, contractors orcommercial fishers.
LAKE VICTORIA ACCESS PROTOCOL
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Protocol for the Employment ofAboriginal Workers at LakeVictoria
Objective
To have an agreed procedure for the employmentof Aboriginal people for work associated with themanagement of cultural heritage at LakeVictoria.
Employment Requirements
• SA Water employment needs will bedetermined by the Cultural Heritage Managerin consultation with the Manager RiverMurray Operations Unit.
• The employment needs of Contractors orConsultants performing work on behalf of SAWater, will be determined by them inconsultation with SA Water.
Procedure
• The Cultural Heritage Manager at LakeVictoria will be responsible for coordinatingthe employment procedure.
• Aboriginal people will be employed through aregistered Employment Agency.
• Selection will be by a group consisting ofthree nominated members of the BarkindjiElders Committee, the Employment Agencyand the Cultural Heritage Manager, with arepresentative from the Contractor orConsultant where they are involved.
• The people will be employed and paid by theEmployment Agency, under their terms andconditions, and SA Water will reimburse thecost of the salaries.
• The people employed will work for either SAWater, under the supervision of the CulturalHeritage Manager, or Contractors orConsultants employed by SA Water or theMDBC.
• Wages will be paid in accordance with thework undertaken, as determined under therelevant SA Water Award.
• Employment conditions will be in accordancewith the Employment Agency.
General
• Aboriginal people interested in employmentat Lake Victoria should register with thenominated employment Agency.
• Preference will be given to Aboriginal peoplewith traditional ties to the area.
• Employment opportunities will be given to asmany of the people who have applied aspossible.
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Protocol for the Protection ofNewly Discovered Burials Found atLake Victoria
Objective
To protect newly discovered Aboriginal burialsfound at Lake Victoria.
Procedure
• Whoever finds the burial/s is to advise theCultural Heritage Manager at Lake Victoria.
• The Cultural Heritage Manager will advise:
– the Lake Superintendent;
– the Manager River Murray OperationsUnit;
– the NSW National Parks and WildlifeService Aboriginal Sites Officer at Buronga;
– the Coordinator for the Barkindji EldersCommittee, who will inform thecommunity.
• The Cultural Heritage Manager may need toconfirm the burial with the NSW NationalParks and Wildlife Service Aboriginal SitesOfficer at Buronga.
• Following confirmation of the burial, theCultural Heritage Manager will undertake thefollowing:
– arrange for the burial details to be recordedincluding the following actions:
– assign a number to the burial;
– take a photograph of the burial;
– record the location of the burial with aGPS;
– ensure that the details at this stage areentered in the database;
– complete a NPWS Site Record Card for thesite if it has not previously been recorded inthe NPWS system;
– arrange for the burial to be protected:
– if it is a single burial or a small cluster ofburials, it is to be covered with sandbags;
– if it is a cliff burial and cannot beprotected by sandbagging, arrangementsare to be made to have a minimum ofthree elders from the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee to visit the site anddiscuss the protection method with theCultural Heritage Manager;
– a temporary structure may be placed overthe burial if needed in an emergency. Thiswould only apply when immediate actionis required and conditions do not allowfor the time to protect the burial in themanner outlined above;
• Once the burial protection works have beencompleted, they should be photographed andthe remaining details added into the database.
• Relocation of the burial to the Cemetery Area
may be considered by the elders and theCultural Heritage Manager if normalprotection methods cannot be applied. Thiswill be done in consultation with theNational Parks and Wildlife Service. Detailsare to be recorded on the database.
• On completion of the protection works, theCultural Heritage Manager is to arrange tomeet with the community to advise them ofthe details of the works.
Employment Requirements
If the Cultural Heritage Manager needsassistance to protect the burials, the mattershould be discussed with the LakeSuperintendent and the Manager River MurrayOperations Unit to determine the level ofpractical support and resources required. If it isagreed that Aboriginal people need to beemployed for the works, this is to be done inaccordance with the Employment Protocol.
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Protocol for the Maintenance ofExisting Burial Protection Works atLake Victoria
Objective
To ensure the continued effectiveness of existingburial protection works.
General
This protocol is to be followed where a siteinspection, either by the Cultural HeritageManager, the NPWS Aboriginal Sites Officer oranybody else, raises concern about the ability ofthe existing burial protection works to provideadequate protection.
Procedure
• The Cultural Heritage Manager is to carry
out a detailed inspection of the burialprotection works in question.
• If, in the Cultural Heritage Manager’sopinion, the protection works will continueto protect the burials through the nextfill/empty cycle of the Lake, it will be up tothe Cultural Heritage Manager to decide ifthey need to be repaired straight away or leftfor another year.
• If, in the Cultural Heritage Manager’sopinion, it is decided to leave the burialprotection works for another year, aphotograph of the burial mound, with itsidentifying number, is to be added to thedatabase before it goes under water again.
• If, in the Cultural Heritage Manager’sopinion, the protection works are sufficientlydeteriorated, the Cultural Heritage Managerwill arrange for the mounds to be repaired.
• Repairs are to be carried out to bring theprotection mounds back to the originaldesign.
• A photograph of the repaired mound, with itsidentifying number, is to be added to thedatabase.
• The Cultural Heritage Manager shouldarrange to meet periodically with thecommunity to advise them of maintenanceworks which have been undertaken or whichare planned. This should be arranged throughthe Liaison Officer at the Dareton LocalAboriginal Land Council.
Employment Requirements
If the Cultural Heritage Manager needsassistance to repair any existing burial protectionworks, the matter should be discussed with theLake Superintendent and the Manager RiverMurray Operations Unit to determine the levelof practical support and resources required. If itis agreed that Aboriginal people need to beemployed for the works, this is to be done inaccordance with the Employment Protocol.
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Lake Victoria Field Code ofConduct
Objectives
• To ensure that all persons visiting or working
at Lake Victoria understand their legal
obligations regarding Aboriginal and historic
relics.
• To ensure that all persons visiting or working
at Lake Victoria behave in ways that are
respectful to the significance of the cultural
heritage.
• To ensure that no Aboriginal and historic
relics are damaged either by visitors or during
research, fieldwork, monitoring and
protection works.
• To ensure that Aboriginal and historic relics
are not removed from their locations except
when in accord with procedures set out in
this protocol as approved by the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee.
• To ensure that monitoring and research
programs are not unintentionally disturbed or
jeopardised.
Who the Protocol applies to
• All staff of the MDBC, SA Water, DLWC
and NPWS working at Lake Victoria.
• Consultants of the MDBC, SA Water, DLWC
and NPWS employed in any way at Lake
Victoria.
• Contractors of the MDBC, SA Water, DLWC
and NPWS employed in any way at Lake
Victoria.
• Members of the Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee and the Aboriginal community.
• Landholders of land around the shores of
Lake Victoria.
• All approved visitors to Lake Victoria.
Aboriginal Relics
• All Aboriginal relics, including Aboriginal
burials and fragmentary human bones, stone
artefacts, glass artefacts, shell midden and
fireplaces and animal bones associated with
shell middens and hearths, and scarred trees
are protected under the NSW NPW Act.
• No Aboriginal relics are to be removed from
the Lakeshore by any person except where
authorised as part of the burial protection
program or a specific research project, in
accordance with the NPWS s87 Permit.
• No Aboriginal relics should be moved from
one place to another at Lake Victoria except
where authorised as part of the burial
protection program or a specific research
project in accordance with the NPWS s87
Permit.
• In special cases, it may be appropriate under
Aboriginal tradition to move Aboriginal relics
from one place to another at the Lake or
elsewhere e.g. for safe-keeping or for spiritual
reasons. This can only be done with the
authorisation of the all Aboriginal
representatives on the Advisory Committee.
• All material items on the Lakeshore (e.g.
pieces of stone, bone) should be assumed to
be Aboriginal or historic relics. No items are
to be collected for the purpose of finding out
whether they are protected relics; rather the
location should be recorded and the Lake
Victoria Cultural Heritage Manager advised.
• Any Aboriginal cultural material removed
from the Lakeshore in the past should be
returned to the Lake Victoria Cultural
Heritage Manager for recording and
safekeeping, and if possible, for return to its
original location.
Historic relics
• Historic relics are protected under the
Heritage Act. This includes all material around
the Lakeshore, including all material at the
old house sites (bricks, glass, ceramics etc.),
old bottles, the telegraph posts and aircraft
fragments and shells.
• No historic relics are to be removed from the
Lakeshore by any person except where
authorised as part of a conservation program
or a specific research project, in accordance
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with a permit from the NSW Heritage
Branch (This cannot be authorised by NPWS
in the s87 Permit).
• No historic relics should be moved from one
place to another at Lake Victoria unless
authorised as part of the burial protection
program or a specific research project in
accordance with a permit from the NSW
Heritage Branch (This cannot be authorised
by NPWS in the s87 Permit).
• In special cases, it may be appropriate to
remove historic relics from the Lakeshore e.g.
if they are in danger of immediate physical
damage or theft (this would apply to coins,
and other collectable items and to very fragile
items). This can only be done with the
authorisation of the Lake Victoria Cultural
Heritage Manager.
• All material items on the Lakeshore (e.g.
pieces of brick, bottles etc.) should be
assumed to be historic relics. No items are to
be collected for the purpose of finding out
whether they are protected relics; rather the
location should be recorded and the Lake
Victoria Cultural Heritage Manager should be
advised.
• Any historic cultural material removed from
the Lakeshore in the past should be returned
to the Lake Victoria Cultural Heritage
Manager for recording and safekeeping, and if
possible, for return to its original location.
Vehicles
• No vehicles are to be driven on the Lakeshore
below 27 m except for approved 4WD
motorbikes and trailers, with the following
exceptions:
• Landholders and government agency workers,
in pursuit of their normal operations such as
maintenance of fences, mustering stock, or
monitoring piezometers, may use vehicles
appropriate to the task at hand, but should
exercise caution and observe the guidelines
outlined below.
• All vehicles are permitted on the made roads
and parking bays behind the Frenchmans
Islands, but they must remain on the
constructed surface of the roads and bays and
not travel or park off them.
• In specific circumstances, for example during
major construction of protection works, larger
vehicles such as bobcats, dump trucks and
excavators may be permitted in certain areas.
Use of such vehicles will be restricted to
specific programs and must be justified and
approved during the planning.
• When 4WD bikes and trailers are used on the
Lakeshore, care must be taken to avoid
driving on any exposures of cultural material
(palaeosols, shell middens, stone artefact
scatters and historic sites) by keeping as far as
possible to areas where there is a cover of fresh
sand cover or dense ground vegetation e.g.
thick grass.
• When repeated trips are made to a particular
locality, vehicles should follow pre-existing
wheel tracks to minimise the number of
tracks across the beach. However, if after
repeated traffic, a track is found to be
disturbing heritage material, the Lake Victoria
Cultural Heritage Manager should be advised
so that an alternate route can be found, or
protection works undertaken.
Monitoring and research programs
• No fences, posts, pegs, flags, signs or other
markers around the Lakeshore are to be
removed or shifted. A map and register of all
markers etc. will be held at the SA Depot to
identify the purpose (survey, monitoring or
research) of any particular fences, posts, pegs,
or flags (this is not yet available).
• The proposed location of any approved
fences, posts or pegs must be approved by the
Lake Victoria Cultural Heritage Manager in
order to avoid damage to cultural heritage.
This may involve consultation with NPWS
staff and elders from the Advisory
Committee.
• In order to avoid confusion and damage to
cultural heritage, no fences, posts, pegs etc.
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must be placed on the Lakeshore unless theyare part of an approved monitoring orresearch program.
• Do not enter, walk or drive on any transectsor exclosures marked or enclosed by fence,posts, pegs or flags, except for the purposes ofrecording or surveying the areas.
• When surveying, recording or photographingany marked or fenced transect or exclosure,keep ground disturbance to a minimum,either by remaining outside the area orlimiting the number of people who moveinside. Particular care must be taken to avoidground disturbance by walking or standingnear posts or pegs many of which are used tomeasure erosion by monitoring changes inground height.
• Do not pick or remove any flowers or plantsin or near fenced or marked transects andexclosures.
• Projects that require the digging of holes forenvironmental research (e.g. sediment andsalinity studies), or management purposes(e.g. fencing) must be cleared with the LakeVictoria Cultural Heritage Manager to ensurethat cultural heritage is not disturbed.
General
• Lunch or rest camps must not be set up on ornear areas where there are surface exposures of
heritage material, or on burial grounds evenwhere these have been covered with sand.
• Fires must not be lit on or near surfaceexposures of heritage material or on burialgrounds.
• Do not leave any rubbish anywhere on theLakeshore or dig a hole to bury rubbish. Takeall rubbish back to the SA Water Depot anddispose in rubbish bins there.
• Portable toilets will be provided whereverthere is a substantial work project on theLakeshore. Otherwise, care should be taken tomove well away from any Aboriginal orhistoric cultural material, and when diggingtoilet holes.
Disseminating the Code of Conduct
• An information leaflet will be distributed toall relevant government employees, offices,landholders and visitors.
• A clause covering the Code of Conduct willbe included in the contract of consultants andcontractors, including Aboriginal employees.
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: S87 Permit andS90 Consent and Conditions
SECTION 87 PERMIT
NATIONAL PARKS & WILDLIFE ACT 1974
For a complete transcript including the Section87 Permit Conditions, refer to the Clause 91Determination Report, Under Part 5 of the
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act(1979), “Lake Victoria: Finding the Balance,Environmental Impact Statement”, NSWNational Parks and Wildlife Service.
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SECTION 87 PERMIT CONDITIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Note: Sections A and B only are included forreference. For a complete transcript of the Section87 Permit (including the conditions) refer to theClause 91 Determination Report, Under Part5 of the Environmental Planning andAssessment Act (1979), “Lake Victoria:Finding the Balance, Environmental ImpactStatement”.
A. INTRODUCTION
B. INSTRUMENT
C. SPECIAL CONDITIONS PERTAININGTO THE OPERATION OF LAKE VICTORIA
1. General
1.1 Preamble
1.2 Lake Victoria and the Barkindji
community
1.2.1 Role of Barkindji Community in
Lake Management
1.3 Lake Victoria Advisory Committee
1.3.1 Role of the Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee and its role in
Management
1.3.2 Annual Reporting and Review
Process
1.3.3 Informing the Community about
Cultural Heritage
1.4 General Conditions for Survey,
Monitoring, Research and Protection
Works
1.4.1 Approval of Monitoring, Survey and
Research Strategies/Plans
1.4.2 Approval of protection works
1.4.3 Appropriateness of Cultural
Heritage Research
1.4.4 Approval of Research Plans for
Cultural Heritage
1.4.5 Qualifications/Experience of Persons
doing Monitoring, Research or
Survey
1.5 Environmental Manager
1.6 Protection of Significant Sites
1.6.1 Notification of newly-discovered
burials
1.6.2 Protection of Burials and significant
sites required
1.6.3 Burials unable to be protected in
situ
1.7 Protection of Native Flora and Fauna
2. Plans for Management of Impacts within
Lake Victoria
2.1 Cultural Landscape Management Plan
2.1.1 Specifications for Cultural
Landscape Management Plan
2.1.2 Approval of Cultural Landscape
Management Plan
2.1.3 Annual Review of Cultural
Landscape Management Plan
2.2 Conservation Strategy for Cultural
Heritage
2.2.1 Specifications for Conservation
Strategy
2.3 Vegetation Strategy and Management
2.3.1 Vegetation Strategy
3. Management of Impacts of the Activity
within Lake Victoria
3.1 Impacts on Cultural Heritage
3.1.1 Management actions required in
each Threat Zone
3.1.2 Research into Cultural Heritage
required of MDBC
3.1.3 Monitoring of Impacts to Cultural
Heritage
3.1.4 Management of Erosion Affecting
Relics
3.2 Impacts on the Natural Environment
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3.2.1 Monitoring of Impacts of LakeOperation on Lakeshore vegetationunder the Vegetation Strategy
3.2.2 Interim Monitoring of Impacts onLakeshore Vegetation
3.2.3 Standards for Acceptable Impact onLakeshore Vegetation
3.2.4 Source of Vegetation forRevegetation and Rehabilitation
3.2.5 Monitoring of Impacts of LakeOperation on Fauna as part ofCultural Landscape ManagementPlan
3.2.6 Interim Monitoring of Impacts onFauna
3.2.7 Monitoring of Waterbirds and
Threatened Species
3.2.8 Monitoring and Management ofNon-Native Animals
3.2.9 Monitoring of AquaticEnvironments
3.2.10 Interim Monitoring of AquaticEnvironments
3.2.11 Biological Monitoring of AquaticEnvironments
3.3 Access and Use of the Lake
3.3.1 Implementation of Access Protocol
3.3.2 Use of Powered Boats on the Lake
3.3.3 Management of Other Activities
3.4 Landholders and Co-operativeManagement
3.5 Monitoring and Management ofWater Quality
3.5.1 Monitoring of Water Quality withinthe Lake and supply channels
3.5.2 Management of Impacts on WaterQuality within the Lake
4. Prevention and Management of Impacts onareas outside Lake Victoria affected by theActivity
4.1 General
4.2 Definition and Monitoring of Impact
4.2.1 Groundwater Management Report
4.2.2 Natural Environment ManagementReport
4.2.3 Cultural Heritage ManagementReport
4.2.4 Notification and Management ofGroundwater Impacts
4.2.5 Negotiation with Landholders
4.2.6 Revision of area covered by ImpactManagement Strategy
4.2.7 Monitoring and Management ofImpacts to Native Vegetation
4.2.8 Assessment of Reporting of Impactson Fauna (or their Habitats)
4.3 Water Quality in the Murray
5. Non-compliance with Permit
6. Lake Operation below 24.5 metres—prevention and management of impacts onareas described in Schedule B
6.1 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage below 24.5metres – 6.1.1 Identification of AboriginalCultural Heritage
6.1.2 Protection of Aboriginal CulturalHeritage
7. Lake Operation above 24.5 metres
7.1 Operation in Accord with the CulturalLandscape Management Plan
7.2 Operation for short-term storage of“unplanned” flows
7.3 Operation for environmentalmanagement
7.4 Interim operation above 24.5 metres
7.4.1 Approval of Interim Operation
D. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONSFOR S87 PERMITS AND S90CONSENTS
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E. SPECIFIC CONDITIONS APPLYING TOTHE CONSENT
F. APPENDICES
1. Management Actions required in each ThreatZone.
2. Methods to be considered for erosionmonitoring.
3. Minimum Requirements for Monitoring ofVegetation within Lake Victoria.
4. Minimum Conditions for survey of vegetationin areas outside Lake Victoria potentially affectedby Lake operation.
5. Minimum requirements for monitoring ofimpacts of Lake operation on vegetation in areasoutside Lake Victoria potentially affected byLake operation.
6. Minimum requirements for baseline survey offauna in areas outside Lake Victoria potentiallyaffected by Lake operation.
7. Minimum Requirements for monitoring ofimpacts of Lake operation on fauna in areasoutside Lake Victoria potentially affected byLake operation.
8. Requirements for archaeological research atLake Victoria.
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A. INTRODUCTION
Please note that this introduction does not form
part of the Permit, but is merely provided to give
some background and introduction to the Permit
conditions.
Lake Victoria is of exceptionally high spiritual
significance to Barkindji Aboriginal people. The
extensive burials and the natural landscape of the
Lake are important components of its
significance. There is also rich and extensive
evidence of Aboriginal occupation at Lake
Victoria spanning the past 18 000 years.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service’s
analysis of the environmental impact statement
and the associated information has found that
operation of Lake Victoria as an artificial water
storage has had a significant impact on the
Aboriginal cultural heritage of the Lake, and on
the environment in and around the Lake,
including significant disruption to the regional
groundwater balance, resulting in extensive land
salinisation in low-lying areas around the Lake.
Ceasing operation of the Lake by
decommissioning it as a water supply facility
however, also appears likely to have adverse
environmental impacts. The available evidence
indicates that such an action could result in the
Lake becoming a discharge point for regional
groundwater, leading to both the Lake and its
surrounds becoming progressively saline. This
would particularly have an adverse impact on the
ecology of the Lake and the quality of the water
in the Murray River downstream of the Lake.
The analysis has found that it is probable that
the Lake can be operated sustainably in such a
way that the risk of significant impact on
Aboriginal cultural heritage and other aspects of
the environment can be minimised. This
involves managing the levels of the Lake to allow
re-establishment of the native wetland vegetation
that was previously killed by prolonged
inundation following regulation of the Lake as a
water storage. Re-establishing the natural
landscape of the Lake aims to reduce impacts of
the Activity by not only stabilising the ground
surface of the Lakeshore against erosion by also
by restoring an important component of the
significance of the Lake to Barkindji people.
Ensuring the active involvement of the Barkindji
people in the decision-making process about the
future management of the Lake is an important
aspect of this determination.
The principle of risk minimisation underlies this
determination. The determination has to be
inherently precautionary because the strategies to
minimise and prevent environmental risks that it
is based upon have not yet been put in place and
demonstrated to work at the Lake. Furthermore,
the information about the environment at the
Lake is still incomplete, and many of the
environmental processes affecting the Lake and
its surrounds are not yet well understood.
These environmental processes are ongoing, and
there would be adverse environmental, social and
economic consequences of suspending either the
determination decision itself, or the management
of the Lake and its environment, until all
desirable information and understanding is
available. Therefore, the approach taken in this
determination is to:
• set initial conditions for limited Lake
operation so as to minimise the risk of
environmental impact;
• require further information gathering and
planning of the management of the Lake and
its environment before full operation can
resume;
• require ongoing monitoring of the
environmental responses to the changes in
environmental management; and
• establish a process by which to feed this
increased knowledge and understanding back
into the general conditions for Lake operation
so as to allow more flexibility and
responsiveness as the ability to prevent
significant environmental impact improves.
The conditions contained in the section 87
Permit and section 90 Consent require the
Murray Darling Basin Commission to:
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• prepare a Cultural Landscape ManagementPlan, including a Vegetation Strategy and aConservation Strategy, for approval by theend of June 1999, which has as a major focusensuring revegetation of the Lakeshore toprotect the Aboriginal cultural heritage bystabilising the soil surface and preventingongoing erosion;
• significantly change the operation of LakeVictoria from previous operating regimes inaccord with the approved Vegetation Strategyand to enable the use of the Lake for theessential storage of water where this is notincompatible with protection of theAboriginal cultural heritage throughrevegetation;
• establish a comprehensive survey, research andmonitoring program and annual reporting
mechanism to the Aboriginal community, theLake Victoria Advisory Committee and theDirector-General to ensure compliance withthe section 87 and 90 conditions;
• formalise the role of Barkindji communityelders in decision-making about theprotection and management of their heritageand of the Lake’s landscape, and the carryingout of associated management and protectionworks; and
• formalise the role of the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee, including Barkindjielders but also local landholders andgovernment agency representatives, in theplanning and management of the Lake.
No section 90 Consent has been sought forburials, and none is given. The Service willcontinue to exercise the provisions of its Actconcerning the protection of burials.
The Permit and Consent are issued for a periodof eight years for operation of the Lake at orbelow 24.5 m subject to the accompanyingrelevant conditions. Once the CulturalLandscape Management Plan has been approved,operation of the Lake above 24.5 metres and upto 27 metres will be permissible in accord withthe Plan and the permit conditions for up to
eight years from the date of this Permit. Untilthis Plan is approved, there is provision for theMDBC to apply to the Director-General forinterim approval to operate the Lake above 24.5metres, subject to the conditions covering suchinterim operation. At the completion of theeight year period, the MDBC and the Servicewill reassess the situation.
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B. INSTRUMENT
PERMIT #:
(HO use only)
PERMIT TO COLLECT, DISTURB AND/OR EXCAVATE FOR THE PURPOSE OF SALVAGE OF ABORIGINAL RELICS
WHEREAS the Aboriginal relics described in Schedules “A” and “C” are situated upon the landdescribed in Schedules “B” and “C”, and constitute relics for the purpose of section 87 of theNational Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, and WHEREAS application has been made by
Murray Darling Basin Commission
Fujitsu House
7 Moore St
CANBERRA
ACT 2601
FOR PERMIT for the disturbance or movement, as per section 86(b) of the relics listed in Schedule A,AND, salvage collection and/or excavation, as per section 86(a) of the relics described in Schedule C in thecourse of:
the operation of Lake Victoria
NOW I, Brian John Gilligan, Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, having consideredthe environmental impact of the Activity DO HEREBY PERMIT, under section 87 of the said Act
and in accordance with the said Conditions, the disturbance or movement, as per section 86(b) of thoserelics listed in Schedule A, AND, salvage collection and/or excavation, as per section 86(a) of the relicsdescribed in Schedule C.
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DEFINITIONS
The following definitions apply to terms used in these conditions
“the Activity” is as follows: operating the Lake including diverting water into the Lake up to amaximum of the Full Supply Level and drawing it down, and including the use of its supplychannels
“Director-General” means the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife
“ECs” are units for measuring salinity of water, expressed as a level of electro-conductivity
“E.P. & A. Act” is the New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979
“E.P. & A. Regulation” is the New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation,1994 under the E.P .& A. Act
“flora” and “fauna” are as defined in the NP & W Act, 1974
“full supply level” means the water being held in Lake Victoria at a height of 27 metres
“the Lake” means Lake Victoria, and refers to the water in the Lake itself, and the lake bed up to theheight of 27 metres. This includes any exposed area of the Lakeshore below 27 metres, regardless ofthe water level at the time.
“Lakeshore” means the bed of the Lake below 27 metres elevation and above the current water levelin the Lake
“Lake Victoria Advisory Committee”, “the Advisory Committee” refers to the Committee set upunder the Lake Victoria Framework Agreement, between the MDBC, the NSW National Parks andWildlife Service, the NSW State Aboriginal Land Council, the NSW Department of Land and WaterConservation, and South Australian Water Corporation, and as formalised following the conditionshereunder.
“MDBC” is the Murray–Darling Basin Commission
“N.P. & W. Act” is the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974
“native” where it describes flora or fauna refers to those species that occur naturally in the local areaof Lake Victoria
“priority areas” means to those areas identified as having the highest priority for protection byrevegetation and/or other means in the Cultural Landscape Management Plan
“relic” as defined by the NPW Act (1974) is any deposit, object or material evidence relating toindigenous and non-European habitation of the area that comprises New South Wales, beinghabitation both prior to and concurrent with the occupation of that area by persons of Europeanextraction, and includes Aboriginal remains.
“supply channels” refers to Frenchmans Creek downstream of the Inlet Regulator to the Lake, andthe Rufus River between the Lake and the Murray River
“Threat Zones” are as described in the Lake Victoria EIS Background Report No. 1 (The CulturalHeritage of Lake Victoria), and listed in Schedule B of this Permit
“threatened species” is as defined in the TSC Act, 1995
“T.S.C. Act” is the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995
“24.5 metres”, “27 metres” and other heights referred to in these conditions are elevations above theAustralian Height Datum
“unplanned flows” are flows in the Murray River upstream of the Lake which have not arisenthrough planned release of water from upstream storages for use in Lake Victoria. They include:
• natural flows from unregulated catchments between the upstream storages and the Lake(principally the Ovens and Kiewa Rivers), and
• flows from upstream storages intended for usage upstream, but which have remained in theMurray for one reason or another ( principally “rain rejections” from the Murray irrigation areas)
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PERMIT
The Permit is issued subject to Special Conditions pertaining to the operation of Lake Victoria inSection C, Specific Terms and Conditions pertaining to the Permit in Section E and the GeneralTerms and Conditions covering archaeological Permits and Consents in Section D.
All of these conditions are detailed in the attached pages.
DATED at Sydney this 27th day of August, 1998
Director-General of
National Parks and Wildlife
SCHEDULE A:
Description of Relics covered by this section 87 Permit
Shell middens, stone artefacts and fireplaces (including faunal materials associated with thesefeatures), as described in the Application for Consent and Permit to Salvage dated 10th July, 1998 as
amended by the Murray Darling Basin Commission on 6th August, 1998, which is based on theLake Victoria Environmental Impact Statement, Finding the Balance, dated March 1998.
SCHEDULE B:
Location of Relics covered by this section 87 Permit
The Lakeshore of Lake Victoria below 27 m and areas of cliff at 27 m rising to 29–30 m. The sectionof Frenchmans Ck between Banks 8, 9 and 10, and Banks 1 (from the Control Regulator toScaddings Bridge) which is inundated when the Lake is at 27 m.
Within the area described above, the relics covered by this Permit are found in the following ThreatZones as described in the Lake Victoria EIS Background Report No. 1 (The Cultural Heritage ofLake Victoria):
Western Beach: 22 sites
Northern Beach: 1 zone
Eastern Beach: 11 midden zones
Southeastern Beach: 4 midden zones
Talgarry Barrier
Snake Island
Rufus River–Frenchmans Ck: 4 zones
Western Frenchmans Islands
Eastern Frenchmans Islands
Frenchmans and Rufus Channels outside the lake bed
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SCHEDULE C:
Actions and locations covered by this section 87 Permit
The following actions as per section 86(b):
• the disturbance or movement of those relics listed in Schedule A, and;
The following actions as per section 86(a):
• the salvage collection and reburial of loose human bone fragments;
• salvage collection and reburial of burials, subject to the written agreement of the Director-Generalspecified in Condition 14; and
• excavation of relics in the course of research as specified in Conditions 8 and 22 below, but notincluding burials;
are PERMITTED within the following Threat Zones as described in the Lake Victoria EISBackground Report No. 1 (The Cultural Heritage of Lake Victoria):
Western Beach: 22 sites
Northern Beach: 1 zone
Eastern Beach: 11 midden zones
South-eastern Beach: 4 midden zones
Talgarry Barrier
Snake Island
Rufus River–Frenchmans Ck: 4 zones
Western Frenchmans Islands
Eastern Frenchmans Islands
Frenchmans Creek channel outside the lake bed, including the area of salinised land to the east ofLake Victoria
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SECTION 90 CONSENT
NATIONAL PARKS & WILDLIFE ACT 1974
LAKE VICTORIA
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CONSENT CONDITIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION
B. INSTRUMENT
Schedule A
Schedule B
C. PARTICULAR CONDITIONS
PERTAINING TO THE OPERATION OF
LAKE VICTORIA
1. Lake Victoria Advisory Committee and
Community Relations
1.1 General Conditions
1.1.1 Lake Victoria Advisory Committee
1.1.2 Communication with the Advisory
Committee and the Aboriginal
Community
1.1.3 Aboriginal Involvement in
Management of Lake Victoria
1.1.4 Communication with the broader
community
1.2 Specific Condition
2. Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
2.1 General Condition
2.2 Specific Condition
3. Geographical Scope
3.1 General Condition
3.2 Specific Condition
4. Approval Processes
4.1 General Condition
4.2 Specific Condition
5. Reporting Processes
5.1 General Condition
5.2 Specific Conditions
6. Communication and Access Strategy
6.1 General Condition
6.2 Specific Condition
7. General Principles of the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management
7.1 General Conditions
7.1.1 Development of the CulturalLandscape Management Plan
7.1.2 Specifications for the CulturalLandscape Management Plan
7.1.3 Conservation of Significance
7.2 Specific Condition
8. Strategies for Revegetation
8.1 General Condition
8.2 Specific Condition
9. Research Activities
9.1 General Condition
9.2 Specific Condition
10. Monitoring Cultural Heritage
10.1 General Condition
10.2 Specific Condition
11. Monitoring Burial Protection Works
11.1 General Condition
11.2 Specific Condition
12. Understanding, Assessing and Monitoringthe Environment, Impacts and MitigationActions
12.1 General Condition
12.2 Specific Condition
13. Monitoring Vegetation
13.1 General Condition
13.2 Specific Condition
14. Managing Non-Native Fauna
14.1 General Condition
14.2 Specific Condition
15. Monitoring Water Quality
15.1 General Condition
15.2 Specific Condition
16. Lake Operations
16.1 General Condition
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16.2 Specific Conditions
17. Interim Operation of the Lake
17.1 General Condition
17.2 Specific Condition
18. Impacts on Areas Outside of the Lake
18.1 General Condition
18.2 Specific Conditions
D. SPECIFIC TERMS AND CONDITIONSFOR S90 CONSENTS
Condition 19
Condition 20
Condition 21
Condition 22
Condition 23
Condition 24
Condition 25
Condition 26
Condition 27
E. SPECIFIC CONDITIONS APPLYING TOTHE CONSENT
Condition 28
Condition 29
Condition 30
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A. INTRODUCTION
This introduction does not form part of theConsent, but is provided to give some backgroundand introduction to the Consent conditions.
Lake Victoria is of exceptionally high spiritual
and cultural significance to Aborigines,
particularly the Barkindji Aboriginal people.
There is extensive evidence of Aboriginal
occupation at Lake Victoria spanning the past
18 000 years. The presence of large numbers of
burials and the natural landscape of the Lake and
its environs are important components of the
spiritual and cultural significance. As such,
reports or publications associated with Lake
Victoria may be culturally sensitive. Any
culturally sensitive information is to be managed
according to the wishes of its owners (the
Barkindji People). Any reports or publications
containing culturally sensitive information must
be referred to the Barkindji Elders Committee
prior to its release and their advice sought
regarding distribution of the information.
Lake Victoria is also a major water storage
operated by SA Water on behalf of the
Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC)
in accordance with the Murray–Darling BasinAgreement. Water storage infrastructure,
including a system of regulators, channels and
levees which were originally constructed in the
1920s allows water to be diverted into the Lake
from the River Murray via Frenchmans Creek
and released from the Lake back to the River
Murray via the Rufus River.
Lake Victoria is used to conserve water for
subsequent use as well as manage impacts of
downstream flooding. Releases are made from
Lake Victoria to supplement flows in the River
Murray to meet South Australia's entitlement
flow, to assist in mitigating the impacts of
surface water salinity and to provide enhanced
environmental flows in the Murray. Lake
Victoria has a critical role in the conservation
and management of water resources in the
Murray–Darling Basin and provides significant
socio-economic benefits to communities
throughout the Murray Valley, including NSW,
Victoria and South Australia.
The MDBC has stated that it recognises the
significance of the Lake to the Aborigines and
acknowledges there is potential to cause damage
to Aboriginal relics or to exacerbate foreshore
erosion which may damage the Lake
environment as an Aboriginal place. Due to the
need to continue the operation of Lake Victoria
as a water storage, the MDBC applied to the
Director-General of the NSW National Parks
and Wildlife Service in April 1998 for consent to
destroy, deface or damage an Aboriginal
relic/place under Section 90 of the National
Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974, as well as a Permit
to disturb relics under Section 87 of the Act.
The application did not seek permission to
destroy, deface or damage or any burials. All
known in situ burials at Lake Victoria have been
protected by extensive sand nourishment and
protection works. Where it has not been
practical to protect the burials in situ, the
Barkindji elders have agreed to removing the
remains and reburying them in the dedicated
reburial cemetery established for this purpose.
Any currently unknown burials which may be
identified in the future will be protected or
removed and reburied with consultation and
approval of the elders .
In support of the application, the MDBC
prepared an extensive Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). The EIS identified that the
continuing operation of the Lake as a water
storage has had significant impacts upon the
Aboriginal cultural heritage and the environment
in and around the Lake. The EIS identified
further that, together with the regulation of the
River Murray, the operation of Lake Victoria has
also had an adverse impact on the surrounding
environment, particularly the floodplain east of
the Lake. The main impacts have included
waterlogging caused by constant inundation and
land salinisation caused by rising groundwater.
The EIS identified that decommissioning the
Lake as a water storage would have significant
environmental impacts. The Lake would be
expected to become a groundwater discharge
area, resulting in salinisation of the bed of the
Lake and surrounding areas. This would
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significantly and adversely impact upon the
ecology of the Lake, any Aboriginal relics located
on the bed of the Lake and the water quality of
the River Murray downstream of the Lake. Any
relics, particularly any unidentified and
unprotected burials, may also be at risk from
damage to a greater extent than would occur
under an operating regime which includes
regular and periodic inundation.
In its consideration and assessment of the
information provided within the EIS, the NSW
National Parks and Wildlife Service has
concluded that Lake Victoria may continue to be
operated as a major water conservation and
storage facility while minimising potential
damage to Aboriginal relics or to the foreshore of
the Lake. This would be possible by combining
the re-establishment and maintenance of
vegetation together with strategic management
of Lake water levels to stabilise the surface of the
foreshores of the Lake and provide protection
against erosion. The establishment of the native
vegetation on the foreshore and littoral zone will
contribute to the restoration of the natural values
of the Lake and will constitute more appropriate
management of the Lake as a significant place to
Aborigines.
In reaching a decision on the continued
operation and management of Lake Victoria as a
water storage, the Director-General considered
the need for conservation and protection of the
natural environment of Lake Victoria and its
surrounds, as well as the substantial ongoing
social and economic benefits provided to
communities throughout the Murray Valley by
appropriate water conservation and supply and
the exceptionally high spiritual and cultural
significance of the Lake to the Barkindji
Aboriginal people.
Revegetation of the Lake foreshore and littoral
zone, and a revised operating strategy are
intended to minimise the risk and extent of any
future impact upon the environment of Lake
Victoria. The management of the Lake must be
adaptive, and provision must be made to ensure
all relevant information is available to be
considered in the ongoing management of Lake
Victoria. As more information is collected and
the environmental processes which are affecting
the Lake and surrounding land are better
understood, the operating and management
strategies will be reviewed.
Most importantly, the management of Lake
Victoria must ensure the active involvement of
Aboriginal people in the decision making process
concerning the operations and future
management of Lake Victoria. Similarly, the
broader community, including local landholders
must be involved in the management of the Lake
and river system.
The objectives for the management of Lake
Victoria are to balance the cultural, spiritual,
social, economic and environmental values of the
Lake. This will be done through investigations,
operational changes, implementation of on-
ground works and greater community
involvement in management to improve the
environment of Lake Victoria.
To this end, the Conditions of the Consent
under which the MDBC will continue to
operate Lake Victoria as a major water storage
are focused on:
• formalising the role of the Aboriginal
community elders in decision-making about
the protection and management of their
heritage at Lake Victoria by the establishment
of a Lake Victoria Advisory Committee.
Wherever possible, conservation and
protection works will be undertaken by
members of the local Aboriginal community;
• establishing a communications strategy which
actively involves the Aboriginal community
whom have historic and traditional ties to the
Lake, and wider community interests
including land owners and water users who
benefit from the water supply provided from
the Lake;
• preparing a Cultural Landscape Plan of
Management which recognises the
significance of the Lake Victoria environment
and its spiritual significance to the Aboriginal
people. The plan will provide for work to be
undertaken to rehabilitate the natural
environment where possible, to minimise
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further environmental degradation and forcontinued monitoring and reporting;
• addressing all the issues which have beenraised during the environmental impactassessment process leading up to thisConsent, through the conditions of theConsent and through the Cultural LandscapePlan of Management;
• changing the previous operational practices atLake Victoria to enable the establishment andmaintenance of native vegetation on theforeshores and within the littoral zone so as tominimise potential damage to Aboriginalrelics or to the foreshore of the Lake as anAboriginal place;
• providing for the continued security of supplyto water users in the Murray–Darling Basin
that results from operating the Lake as a waterstorage; and
• recognising that the Murray–Darling BasinCommission will continue to operate andmanage the Lake in accordance with therelevant NSW legislation and theMurray–Darling Basin Agreement.
The conditions have been determined afterextensive consultation with a range ofstakeholders, including the local Barkindjicommunity with traditional ties to the Lake. TheMurray–Darling Commission has shown aconsiderable willingness to reconcile thepotential conflicts between use of the Lake as awater storage, and the conservation of culturaland natural values of the Lake's environment,and has devoted significant resources toimplementing protection works for Aboriginalburials at the Lake. Continuing commitment bythe Murray–Darling Basin Commission tomeeting both the requirements and the spirit ofthis Consent is likely to result in major long-term benefits to both water management in theBasin and to conservation, particularly ofAboriginal cultural values, as well as setting anexample for other similar situations wherecultural and economic values clash.
The Permit and Consent are issued for a periodof eight years from August 1998. This willenable the operation of Lake Victoria for thisperiod consistent with the accompanyingrelevant conditions. There will be on-goingassessment of the operations of the Lakethroughout the term of the permit and consent.At the end of the eight year period, the MDBCand the NSW National Parks and WildlifeService will review the continuing operation ofLake Victoria in accordance with the NationalParks and Wildlife Act, 1974, the Murray–DarlingBasin Agreement 1992 and other relevant legislation
in consultation with the Aboriginal people andthe community.
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B. INSTRUMENT
CONSENT #:
CONSENT TO CARRY OUT THE DESTRUCTION OF AN ABORIGINAL RELIC/PLACE
WHEREAS the Aboriginal relics described in Schedule "A" are situated upon the land described inSchedule "B", and constitute relics for the purpose of section 90 of the National Parks and WildlifeAct 1974, and WHEREAS application has been made by
Murray Darling Basin CommissionFujitsu House7 Moore StCANBERRA ACT 2601
FOR CONSENT to destroy, damage or deface those relics in the course of:
the operation of Lake Victoria
NOW I, Brian John Gilligan, Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, having consideredthe environmental impact of the Activity DO HEREBY GIVE CONSENT under section 90 of thesaid Act, and in accordance with the said Conditions, to the said applicant.
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DEFINITIONS
The following definitions apply to terms used in these conditions
"the Activity" is as follows: operating the Lake including diverting water into the Lake up to amaximum of the Full Supply Level and drawing it down, and including the use of its supplychannels
"the Advisory Committee" refers to the Lake Victoria Advisory Committee (see below)
"Burra Charter" is The Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of CulturalSignificance
"cultural heritage significance" means aesthetic, historic, scientific or social value for past, presentor future generations (as described in the Burra Charter)
"Director-General" means the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife
"EC Units" are units for measuring salinity of water, expressed as a level of electro-conductivity
"elders" are those members of the Barkindji Aboriginal community with traditional or historic ties toLake Victoria considered by the community to have seniority or cultural authority to represent thecommunity on matters relating to the cultural heritage of Lake Victoria.
"E.P. & A. Act" is the New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979
"E.P. & A. Regulation" is the New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation,1994 under the E.P. & A. Act
"flora" and "fauna" are as defined in the NP & W Act, 1974
"full supply level" means the water being held in Lake Victoria at a height of 27 metres
"the Lake" means Lake Victoria, and refers to the water in the Lake itself and the lake bed, up to theheight of 27 metres. This includes any exposed area of the Lakeshore below 27 metres, regardless ofthe water level at the time.
"Lakeshore" means the bed of the Lake below 27 metres elevation and above the current water levelin the Lake
"Lake Victoria Advisory Committee" refers to the Committee set up pursuant to the Lake VictoriaFramework Agreement, and formalised under the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement through theestablishment of the Committee. The parties to the Lake Victoria Framework Agreement were theMurray–Darling Basin Commission, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the NSW StateAboriginal Land Council, the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation, and SouthAustralian Water. Membership of the Advisory Committee includes representatives of the Aboriginalcommunity, landholders, government agencies and both the State and local Aboriginal land councils.
"management zones" are those areas described as Threat Zones, or sub-divisions of same, in theLake Victoria EIS Background Report No. 1 (The Cultural Heritage of Lake Victoria), and listed inSchedule B of this Consent
"MDBC" is the Murray–Darling Basin Commission
"N.P. & W. Act" is the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974
"natural heritage significance" means the importance of ecosystems, biological diversity andgeodiversity for their existence value, or for present or future generations in terms of their scientific,social, aesthetic and life-support value (as referred to in the Australian Natural Heritage Charter)
"native" where it describes flora or fauna refers to those species that occur naturally in the local areaof Lake Victoria
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"priority areas" means to those areas identified as having the highest priority for protection byrevegetation and/or other means in the Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
"relic" as defined by the NPW Act (1974) is any deposit, object or material evidence relating toindigenous and non-European habitation of the area that comprises New South Wales, beinghabitation both prior to and concurrent with the occupation of that area by persons of Europeanextraction, and includes Aboriginal remains
"supply channels" refers to Frenchmans Creek downstream of the Inlet Regulator to the Lake, andthe Rufus River between the Lake and the Murray River
"threat zones" refers to "management zones" above
"threatened species" is as defined in the TSC Act, 1995
"T.S.C. Act" is the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995
"24.5 metres", "27 metres" and other heights referred to in these conditions are elevations above theAustralian Height Datum
"unplanned flows" are flows in the Murray River upstream of the Lake which have not arisenthrough planned release of water from upstream storages for use in Lake Victoria. They include:
• natural flows from unregulated catchments between the upstream storages and the Lake (principally
the Ovens and Kiewa Rivers), and
• flows from upstream storages intended for usage upstream, but which have remained in the Murrayfor one reason or another ( principally "rain rejections" from the Murray irrigation areas)
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS CONSENT
This Consent is issued subject to Special Conditions pertaining to the operation of Lake Victoria inSection C, General Terms and Conditions for S90 Consents in Section D and the SpecificConditions applying to the Consent in Section E.
All of these conditions are detailed in the attached pages.
DATED at Sydney this 27th day of May, 2002
Director-General of
National Parks and Wildlife
SCHEDULE A:
Description of Relics covered by this section 90 Consent
Shell middens, stone artefacts and fireplaces (including faunal materials associated with thesefeatures), as described in the Application for Consent and Permit to Salvage dated 10th July, 1998 asamended by the Murray Darling Basin Commission on 6th August, 1998, which is based on theLake Victoria Environmental Impact Statement, Finding the Balance, dated March 1998. Aboriginalburials are specifically excluded from this Consent.
SCHEDULE B:
Location of Relics covered by this Section 90 Consent
The Lakeshore of Lake Victoria below 27 m and areas of cliff at 27 m rising to 29–30 m. The sectionof Frenchmans Creek between Banks 8, 9 and 10, and Bank 1 (from the Control Regulator toScaddings Bridge) which is inundated when the Lake is at 27 m.
Within the area described above, the relics covered by this Consent are found in the following threatzones as described in the Lake Victoria EIS Background Report No. 1 (The Cultural Heritage ofLake Victoria) where they are referred to as Threat zones:
Western Beach: 22 sites
Northern Beach: 1 zone
Eastern Beach: 11 midden zones
South-eastern Beach: 4 midden zones
Talgarry Barrier
Snake Island
Rufus River–Frenchmans Creek: 4 zones
Western Frenchmans Islands
Eastern Frenchmans Islands
Frenchmans and Rufus Channels outside the lake bed
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C. PARTICULAR CONDITIONSPERTAINING TO THE OPERATIONOF LAKE VICTORIA
This Consent provides the framework under
which the Murray–Darling Basin Commission
will operate and manage Lake Victoria. Each
condition contains a general part and a specific
part. The general part to each condition outlines
the principle and intent for which the condition
has been developed. The Murray–Darling Basin
Commission must operate in accordance with
both the general and specific parts of each
condition.
1. Lake Victoria Advisory Committee andCommunity Relations
1.1 General Conditions
1.1.1 Lake Victoria Advisory Committee
The role of the Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee is to provide advice and ongoing
input into decisions about management of Lake
Victoria in accord with the Consent conditions.
The MDBC will ensure that the Committee
gives a major voice to Barkindji Aboriginal elders
with traditional and historic affiliations with the
Lake. The Murray–Darling Basin Commission
will consult with the local Aboriginal
community through the Lake Victoria Advisory
Committee about the appropriate management
of the cultural heritage at the Lake prior to
commencement of all work covered by this
Consent. The Murray–Darling Basin
Commission will encourage and support the
Lake Victoria Advisory Committee in
communicating with other Aboriginal groups
not currently represented on the committee.
Such communication will be of a time, place and
style judged as culturally appropriate by the
Aboriginal members of the Committee. The
MDBC will also maintain close communication
with the landholders adjacent to the Lake.
1.1.2 Communication with the AdvisoryCommittee and the AboriginalCommunity
When communicating with the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee and the Aboriginal
community, the Murray–Darling Basin
Commission will ensure that its consultation
meets the following standards:
• all necessary information about an issue is
provided in an understandable form,
including appropriate technical advice;
• sufficient time is allowed for full
consideration of the issue and the background
information;
• sufficient opportunity is provided for the
elders or committee members to ask questions
or clarify matters about which they are
unsure, including access to technical experts
where relevant and necessary;
• sufficient time is allowed for the elders to
consult with the broader Aboriginal
community;
• support and facilities are provided for
meaningful community consultation, and;
• consultation includes all relevant issues as
they arise.
1.1.3 Aboriginal Involvement in Management
of Lake Victoria
The MDBC will ensure that works related to the
management of cultural heritage and the cultural
landscape are undertaken by members of the
local Aboriginal community with traditional and
historical affiliation to the Lake wherever and
whenever possible in order to minimise impacts
from inappropriate or insensitive management of
cultural heritage at the Lake. The MDBC will
consult the local Aboriginal community through
Advisory Committee members prior to
commencement of work covered by this Consent
and the MDBC shall respond to any reasonable
request to involve the Aboriginal community in
the work.
1.1.4 Communication with the Broader
Community
There are a diversity of interests and stakeholders
involved in Lake Victoria and the MDBC
therefore will ensure that information about the
management of the Lake is shared with the
broader community on an ongoing basis.
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1.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will formalise the role and status
of the Lake Victoria Advisory Committee as
an advisory committee under the Murray–DarlingBasin Agreement. The MDBC will consider
any recommendation by the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee to appoint additional
members to the Advisory Committee as either
full members or as observers.
2. Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement
2.1 General Condition
The cultural heritage of Lake Victoria is
recognised as being of exceptionally high
significance to Barkindji Aboriginal people with
traditional and historic affiliation to the Lake. It
is also highly significant for the broader
Australian community at a national level. The
cultural heritage of Lake Victoria includes the
landscape as a whole, Aboriginal relics, protected
under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974,
historic relics and places, protected under the
Heritage Act and natural features and processes
of the landscape.
The MDBC will minimise disturbance of
Aboriginal relics and impacts on the
environment to the greatest extent possible
through appropriate future operation of the Lake
and management of the landscape. The MDBC
will minimise impacts to Aboriginal relics and to
the environment by, inter alia, preparing and
implementing a Cultural Landscape Plan of
Management.
The MDBC will prepare the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management with the objective of
setting in place an appropriate management
regime that both minimises any environmental
impacts, and conserves and manages cultural and
natural heritage values. The MDBC will ensure
that the primary focus of the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management is to monitor and manage
the impact of the operation of Lake Victoria as a
water storage on the Lake environment, and on
its cultural and natural heritage values. The
MDBC will base the Plan on ongoing
assessment of the significance of the heritage,
and of the impacts of operation on that heritage,
and identification of the requirements and
constraints affecting that significance, and will
develop policies to retain that significance as far
as is possible. Over time, as knowledge improves,
the significance, or the understanding of
significance, of areas or relics may change. To
accommodate this, the MDBC will ensure that
the Lake Victoria Advisory Committee is given
the opportunity to request changes to the
priority for protection or the management given
to areas or relics.
The MDBC will ensure that the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management follows the
accepted conservation planning processes, which
are adaptive, that is, they include monitoring
and the ability to adapt management to meet
changing conditions, and which apply to both
cultural and natural heritage management. The
MDBC will also ensure that the planning
process is responsive to the values and interests
of the wide variety of stakeholders involved in
cultural and natural heritage management in the
area. The MDBC will ensure that the planning
process is able to incorporate data and research
results from the monitoring and investigation of
environmental processes which affect heritage
management, as well as respond to new issues as
values held by society change. The MDBC must
involve professional conservation planners in the
development of the Plan as an important part of
the process.
2.2 Specific Condition
A Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
will be developed and implemented by the
MDBC using appropriately qualified persons.
The MDBC will put the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management in place by 31 January
2000, unless extended by the Director-
General in writing. The MDBC will develop
the Plan in accord with the principles of the
Burra Charter, the Draft Guidelines for the
Management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Heritage, the Australian Natural
Heritage Charter and the conditions of this
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Consent. The MDBC will use the Plan togovern the proposed management of the Lakefor the remainder of the eight-year period ofthis Consent.. The MDBC or the NPWS maychange the plan to address any emergingissues following consultation and agreementbetween the two parties and having advisedthe Lake Victoria Advisory Committee(LVAC) of the proposed change andconsidered any comments the LVAC maymake.
3. Geographical Scope
3.1 General Condition
The MDBC will draft the Cultural LandscapePlan of Management to cover all of the areadescribed in "Schedule B", plus the Lake and itsbed, Frenchmans Creek downstream of the Inlet
Regulator and its bed. The Plan will encompassall of the "Threat Zones" described in the LakeVictoria EIS Background Report 1, which willbe called Management Zones for thedevelopment and implementation of theCultural Landscape Plan of Management. It isrecognised, however, that the Plan is also part ofa broader range of land and water managementplanning processes, including the Lake VictoriaRangelands Management Action Plan and theLower Murray–Darling Rangelands ManagementAction Plan. In particular, the culturalsignificance of the area is not restricted to theimmediate vicinity of the Lake, and recognitionof cultural significance is an integral part of theland management in the area. All of the areaaround Lake Victoria that is likely to be affectedby the operation of the Lake must be capturedby either the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement or other plans relevant to the area.In developing and implementing the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management, the MDBC willensure that management guidelines and policiesare integrated as much as possible with theseplans.
3.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will develop and implement theCultural Landscape Plan of Management toencompass the area described in "Schedule B"plus the Lake and its bed, Frenchmans Creekdownstream of the Inlet Regulator and itsbed, and when drafting or revising the Planthe MDBC will take into consideration theother land and water management plans inthe area. All of the area around Lake Victoriathat is likely to be affected by the operation ofthe Lake must be captured by either the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management or other plansrelevant to the area.
4. Approval Processes
4.1 General Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management is an adaptiveplan encompassing the broad range of activitiesconducted or permitted by the MDBC at theLake and any related impacts thereof. To ensurethat this is possible, the MDBC will includemonitoring of the impacts of the operation ofthe Lake and of the management of the culturallandscape in the Plan. The MDBC will alsoinclude in the Plan details of how it will respondto issues revealed by the monitoring. TheMDBC will develop the Plan in closeconsultation with the Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee, as well as with NPWS and
professional cultural heritage and naturalenvironment consultants.
4.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will develop the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management in closeconsultation with the Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee. A MDBC will provide a draft ofthe Plan for review by the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee and the Director-General. A final draft, addressing all issuesraised by the Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee and the Director-General, must besubmitted by the MDBC to the Director-General by 31 December 1999, unlessextended by the Director-General in writing.This draft must be approved by the Director-General prior to implementation.
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5. Reporting Processes
5.1 General Condition
The MDBC will prepare an Annual Report of
activities relating to the management of cultural
and natural heritage at Lake Victoria by the end
of October each year for approval by the
Director-General. The report will cover the
period of 1 August to 31 July so it reflects the
activity at the Lake. A draft report will be
provided by the MDBC to the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee by the end of September
each year, and the MDBC will provide the final
report together with LVAC's comments to the
Director-General by the end of October. The
Report will describe what has occurred in the
previous 12 months and what is proposed for
the next 12 months. The MDBC will include in
the report all reporting required under these
Conditions, all reporting prescribed in the
Cultural Landscape Plan of Management, and
will include information from all research,
survey, and monitoring activities undertaken
during the year including the names and
qualifications of people involved in the
implementation of the Plan, as well as any other
matter requested by the Director-General.
A public/oral presentation of the Annual Report
will be provided by MDBC to the stakeholders,
so that they are aware of the management issues
being considered in the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management, and to assist the Regional
Action Planning process for the areas adjoining
Lake Victoria through the provision of
appropriate advice and input (in relation to
habitat management, landholder and
Aboriginal community concerns) (see General
Condition 18.1).
5.2 Specific Conditions
5.2.1 The Annual Report will be prepared and
presented by the MDBC by the end of
October each year for approval by the
Director-General. The MDBC will ensure that
the Report summarises activities undertaken
in relation to the operation of Lake Victoria,
the management of the environment and the
conservation and management of cultural and
natural heritage values, and reports on thecompliance with the conditions of thisConsent, as well as recommending anychanges to the Plan. The MDBC willincorporate this into the reporting andfeedback processes which are part of theCultural Landscape Plan of Management.Until the Director-General approves theAnnual Report, MDBC will operate the Lakein accordance with existing approvedoperating regimes, unless otherwise agreedbetween MDBC and the Director-General.
5.2.2 The MDBC will present the LakeVictoria Annual Report at an annualworkshop where management activities andinvestigations will be reviewed.
6. Communication and Access Strategy
6.1 General Condition
The MDBC will develop a communication
strategy as a part of the CLCMP which will
include information on the significance of the
cultural heritage of Lake Victoria, as well as its
role in water management. The MDBC will
ensure that the Cultural Landscape Plan of
Management, as a part of this communication
strategy, provides for education about, and
interpretation of cultural heritage, especially to
minimise risk of inappropriate behaviour and
adverse impacts by visitors to the Lake. The
communication strategy will also deal with
making Aboriginal cultural heritage information
available to the Aboriginal community and,
subject to approval from the Barkindji
community represented on the Advisory
Committee, making this information available to
educational groups and the general public.
6.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management includes astrategy for managing access to the Lake andfor communication, including educationabout and interpretation of the culturalheritage significance of Lake Victoria and itsenvironment, especially to minimise risk ofinappropriate behaviour and adverse impactsby visitors to the Lake.
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7. General Principles of the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management
7.1 General Conditions
7.1.1 Development of the Cultural LandscapeManagement Plan
The MDBC will develop the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management in accord with nationally
accepted principles, procedures and guidelines.
The MDBC will ensure that the strategies
contained in the Plan for conserving both the
cultural and natural significance of the Lakeshore
will take into account the fact that both the
cultural and natural aspects combine to make up
the significance of the Lakeshore as a cultural
landscape. The MDBC will ensure that actions
for the care and management of specific cultural
sites and places, natural habitat and landforms
take into consideration all other aspects of
significance, with the objective of developing a
holistic, integrated management of the
significance of the cultural landscape.
7.1.2 Specifications for the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management
The Cultural Landscape Plan of Management
developed by the MDBC will:
• be in accord with the Burra Charter, Draft
Guidelines for the Management of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Heritage and
Australian Natural Heritage Charter
principles;
• be developed under the accepted best practice
conservation planning processes, and will
include a Statement of Significance for the
area;
• be iterative and adaptive in nature, ensuring
that information from monitoring programs
and research informs and guides future
management principles;
• ensure that stakeholders—including the
Aboriginal community and landholders—are
involved in the development of the Plan;
• ensure that Lake operation for water supply
and management purposes takes into
consideration the impacts on cultural and
natural heritage values; and
• recognise and address the need for a balance
between competing values, as well as regional
and inter-generational equity and ecologically
sustainable development principles.
7.1.3 Conservation of Significance
The MDBC must ensure that issues relating to
the monitoring and management of impacts are
incorporated into the conservation management
planning process by following the general
objectives listed below.
The MDBC will ensure that the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management will:
• have as an objective the conservation of the
cultural and natural significance of the
Lakeshore generally and any specifically
identified heritage places;
• be based on an assessment of the cultural and
natural heritage significance of the Lake,
which will be agreed to by the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee. This will include
Aboriginal heritage, historic heritage, and
natural heritage values and the identification
of any significant sites in the area covered by
this Consent;
• provide for the identification of sites of special
significance and their protection. Sites of
special significance include those sites advised
by the Director-General from time to time as
having been identified as such by the Lake
Victoria Advisory Committee;
• be refined as information from research,
monitoring and ongoing management is
obtained that allows better understanding of
the interactions between Lake operation,
cultural and natural heritage values,
environmental processes and land
management;
• ensure that the cultural heritage significance
of the area, as defined in the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management, is conserved
through the care and management of cultural
heritage sites and places; and
• ensure that all techniques used are consistent
with the principles and guidelines of the
Burra Charter, Draft Guidelines for the
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Management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Heritage, Australian Natural Heritage
Charter principles and the conditions of this
Consent.
7.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management conserves thecultural heritage significance of the areathrough the care and management of allcultural sites and features, and that it includesstrategies for minimisation of impacts on anddirect physical protection of cultural heritagesites and places. The MDBC will includeamong the protection measures thestabilisation of the Lakeshore by revegetationwith native species to minimise erosion wherethis is compatible with both the cultural andnatural significance.
8. Strategies for Revegetation
8.1 General Condition
The MDBC will include in the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management strategies for
revegetation of Lakeshore vegetation using
ecological principles suitable for establishment of
viable native vegetation communities where this
is compatible with both the cultural and natural
significance of the sites and places, as well as
strategies to manage significant aspects of the
physical landforms, including palaeontological
sites.
8.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management conserves thenatural heritage significance of the areathrough the care and management of naturalfeatures and habitat and throughminimisation of impacts on the naturalenvironment.
9. Research Activities
9.1 General Condition
The development of the Cultural Landscape
Plan of Management will involve additional
research and investigation to understand the
nature of the impacts on cultural and natural
heritage values as part of the conservation
management planning process. The MDBC will
ensure that any research undertaken as part of
the Cultural Landscape Plan of Management is
guided by the following principles:
• all research undertaken at the Lake must be
consistent with the Cultural Landscape Plan
of Management;
• research on cultural heritage is consistent with
the aims of improving the understanding of
impacts on cultural heritage, or improving the
understanding of the nature or significance of
the cultural heritage, or improving the
understanding of techniques to reduce the
impacts of the activity on cultural heritage;
• research activities, including the development
of monitoring strategies, will be reviewed by
the Advisory Committee prior to
implementation;
• priority will be given to any issues that the
Director-General identifies, having regard to
the matters in this Consent;
• all research will be consistent with a plan of
research which will be prepared as part of the
Cultural Landscape Plan of Management, and
will include the objectives of the research,
proposed methodology, how the results will
be reported and incorporated into
management actions and a consultation
process with the local Aboriginal community.
9.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will incorporate a Research Planinto the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement.
10. Monitoring Cultural Heritage
10.1 General Condition
This Consent requires that impacts to Aboriginal
relics should be minimised. The MDBC must
therefore include in the Cultural Landscape Plan
of Management strategies to monitor the impact
of the activity directly on cultural heritage by
means of regular inspections to identify and
record where heritage material is being
disturbed, and strategies for ongoing contact
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with the elders on the changing assessment ofsignificance.
This Consent does not cover Aboriginal burials.If the MDBC considers that there is anylikelihood of its activities leading to burials beingdamaged, then it must immediately cease suchactivities and notify the Director-General.Protection measures must then be put in placeby the MDBC consistent with theaccompanying section 87 Permit, and with theCultural Landscape Plan of Management.MDBC must refer the proposed protectionworks to the Advisory Committee for advice toensure the works are culturally appropriate.
If the MDBC considers that there is anylikelihood of its activities leading to relics notcovered by this Consent being damaged, then itmust immediately cease such activities and notify
the Director-General. A separate s90 Consentmay be required in such cases.
10.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management includes theregular monitoring of cultural heritage,particularly targeting the recording,protection and monitoring of any new in situburials, and of any sites identified as being ofspecial significance, according to measuresdescribed in detail in the section 87 Permit.The MDBC will record any new burialsdiscovered, and will ensure that the AnnualReport includes details of this recording.
11. Monitoring Burial Protection Works
11.1 General Condition
Physical protection works have already beenconstructed over the known major Aboriginalburial grounds, and small individual protectionmounds built over individual burials on theLakeshore. The MDBC will continue to refinethe current monitoring and maintenanceprogram for these works, and will continue toassess the efficacy of the works, and repair ormodify them as necessary.
11.2 Specific Condition
Where works have been constructed for thepurpose of protecting burials and othersignificant relics and sites from physicalimpact, a monitoring and maintenanceprogram will be established, and this will beincluded in the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement.
12. Understanding, Assessing andMonitoring the Environment, Impactsand Mitigation Actions
12.1 General Condition
The shoreline environment at Lake Victoria isdynamic and evolving, and is influenced by awide range of interacting factors, not all ofwhich are subject to human control ormanagement. The factors contributing to the
dynamics of the Lakeshore include: the nature ofthe underlying geology and geomorphology; thenature of the Lakeshore vegetation and post-European impacts on it; the regional climate; theeffect of weather and of wind, water and waveaction; the effect of human intervention on theseprocesses through historic changes in land-usearound the Lake and the historic regulation ofthe river and Lake system; and the impacts ofstock, feral animals and native species on boththe Lakeshore sediments and vegetation.
MDBC must investigate and monitor theLakeshore to identify the importance of thesefactors and develop an understanding of thedynamics of the environment of the Lakeshore.MDBC must use this knowledge andunderstanding to develop appropriate andfeasible physical methods for stabilising priorityareas where necessary for the conservation ofcultural and natural significance.
Cultural heritage materials, including burials,and both Aboriginal and European relics, occurwithin and on the Lakeshore sediments. Thesematerials may be affected by all the processesaffecting the Lakeshore sediments, both singlyand in combination. The MDBC must identifyand develop an understanding of the nature anddistribution of Lakeshore geomorphological
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units, distinguishing between pre-regulation
sediments, in situ cultural heritage material, and
post-regulation reworked sediments. The MDBC
must identify and assess the range of physical
processes affecting this geomorphology, such as
rainfall, wind and wave activity, as well as
sedimentation and erosion rates, and their
interactions. The investigation and monitoring
of vegetation and the impact of biological agents
must also be integrated with the investigation
and monitoring of physical processes, since these
interact with the physical processes. The MDBC
must then use this understanding and assessment
to develop erosion management measures that
are focussed on protecting historically
undisturbed sediments containing in situ cultural
material, or that have intrinsic geomorphological
significance.
All investigation, assessment and monitoring
activities will utilise current best practice. The
results of all the investigations, monitoring and
assessment activities will be noted in the Annual
Report.
12.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management contains a
strategy for the identification, assessment,
monitoring, and where possible, management
of all physical and biological processes
affecting the stability of the Lakeshore. The
strategy will include the identification of
priority areas for minimising erosion around
the Lakeshore, focussing on historically
undisturbed sediments, especially those
containing in situ cultural material, or that
have intrinsic geomorphological significance.
The Strategy will also contain actions for the
minimisation of erosion, taking into account
the broader cultural landscape values. Where
measured erosion excluding movement of
drifting sand in priority areas is greater than
2 centimetres per annum, the MDBC will
review the causes of erosion and provide a
copy of that review to the Director-General.
The review will include any measures
proposed to reduce the rate of erosion, and
the timetable for their implementation. Any
changes to strategies in the Cultural
Landscape Plan of Management resulting
from information collected in the monitoring
program must be referred to the Lake Victoria
Advisory Committee for comment and
approved by the Director-General.
13. Monitoring Vegetation
13.1 General Condition
The MDBC must identify the nature and
distribution of Lakeshore vegetation, including
both native and introduced species, and identify
and assess the range of processes affecting these
and their interactions. Vegetation assessment will
include the distribution, structure, composition,
growth and health of vegetation, and will be
focussed on priority areas. Assessment of the
processes influencing vegetation growth on the
Lakeshore will include both historic and current
factors affecting the Lakeshore such as pre-
regulation land-use, the regulation of the Lake,
the effect of land-use immediately external to the
Lakeshore, physical processes such as soils,
weather, deposition and erosion, and biological
processes such as stock, feral and native animal
trampling and grazing. Vegetation assessment
will also include the potential and feasibility of
restoring the pre-regulation vegetation
communities on the Lakeshore.
In its vegetation monitoring, the MDBC will
address the direct as well as indirect impacts of
the Lake operations and will include the
establishment of permanent sample points to
ensure consistency of sampling. Vegetation
monitoring will also include assessment of the
impact of vegetation on the sedimentation and
erosion of sediments with in situ cultural
heritage that have been identified as priority
areas.
13.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will include a strategy for the
ongoing identification, assessment and
monitoring of vegetation on the Lakeshore as
part of the Cultural Landscape Plan of
Management. The strategy will include
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actions for the retention and enhancement ofnative vegetation on the Lakeshore, takinginto account the broader cultural landscapeand cultural heritage values. Where naturalsignificance values, including biodiversityvalues, in identified priority areas aredemonstrably negatively affected by theregulation of the Lake (the activity) and/orthere is a measured decrease in the extent ofvegetation cover by the plant speciesidentified in the CLPoM, the MDBC willreview the causes of vegetation decline andwhere possible, take appropriate correctivemanagement action and report these to theDirector-General.
14. Managing Non-Native Fauna
14.1 General Condition
The MDBC, in consultation with appropriateparties, must identify and assess the nature anddistribution of non-native animal speciesaccessing the Lakeshore. The Plan will includespecific measures for controlling and managingimpacts of non-native animals on the culturaland natural heritage values of the Lake, such asremoving stock and feral animal destructionprograms.
14.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will include a strategy for theidentification, assessment, and managementof non-native animals on the Lakeshore in theCultural Landscape Plan of Management. Thestrategy will include actions for the protectionand enhancement of native fauna habitat.
15. Monitoring Water Quality
15.1 General Condition
The MDBC will ensure that the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management addresses thehealth of the aquatic environment of the Lake,insofar as it affects or is affected by the operationof the Lake and the processes acting on theLakeshore area covered by the Plan. It isrecognised that seepage to the Lake, when theLake is maintained at low levels, will concentratesalinity and impact on cultural heritage. It is
recognised that water quality, especially salinity,is an important aspect of managing wetlandenvironments, but it is also recognised that thehealth of the Lake Victoria environment needs tobe considered within the context of the health ofthe overall River Murray system, since the Lakeplays an integral part in the management ofwater quality in the lower Murray–DarlingBasin. The MDBC will ensure that salinitymonitoring continues to be done. The MDBCwill include water quality monitoringinformation related to Lake Victoria in theAnnual Report, and will share information onthe salinity in the River Murray with NPWS aspart of the public distribution of rivermanagement information.
15.2 Specific Condition
The MDBC will address the role and impactof Lake operations on water quality in theCultural Landscape Plan of Management,taking into consideration the integration ofLake management into the broader waterquality and salinity management activitiesbeing undertaken by the MDBC.
16. Lake Operations
16.1 General Condition
This Consent operates for a period of eight yearsfrom the 28th of August 1998, subject to theconditions and principles outlined in this
Consent. The Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement will stipulate the policies andstrategies which will guide the operation of theLake to minimise negative impacts on thecultural and natural heritage of the area,including managing environmental values suchas vegetation and water quality. The MDBCmust ensure that any operation of the Lake isconsistent with the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement and its objectives, and is alsoconsistent with minimising the likely adverseeffects of Lake operation on the cultural andnatural heritage, and with the establishment andmaintenance of native vegetation.
The MDBC will provide an update on theOperating Strategy for Lake Victoria to the Lake
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Victoria Advisory Committee for theirconsideration as part of the Annual Reportingprocess. The MDBC will consider any adviceprovided by the Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee regarding proposed Lake operation.
16.2 Specific Conditions
16.2.1 The Murray–Darling BasinCommission will present an OperatingStrategy for Lake Victoria to the Director-General for approval following consultationby the Director-General with the Director-General of the Department of Land andWater Conservation. The Operating Strategywill exist for the life of the Consent and willbe reviewed and updated by agreementbetween MDBC and NPWS as part of theadaptive management process. The MDBCwill ensure that the operation of the Lake isundertaken in accordance with the approvedCultural Landscape Plan of Management andthe approved Operating Strategy.
16.2.2 The Murray–Darling BasinCommission will notify the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee and the Director-General if there are significant changes to theproposed operation of the Lake as outlined inthe Operation Strategy Operation of the Lakeoutside of the proposed regime is onlypermissible if:
• it is consistent with the Cultural LandscapePlan of Management and all relevantconditions (including environmentalmanagement purposes); or
• it is an emergency such as unavailability ormalfunction of key structural assets; or
• changed hydrologic conditions significantlydifferent from the range forecast in theoperating plan, such as a very large floodevent, or an extended drought.
The MDBC must inform the Lake VictoriaAdvisory Committee and obtain the concurrenceof the Director-General before implementing thevariation.
17. Interim Operation of the Lake
17.1 General Condition
In the period until the Cultural LandscapeManagement Plan is approved, the MDBC mayapply in writing for approval from the Director-General for interim operation of the Lake above24.5 metres.
17.2 Specific Condition
In the absence of a Cultural Landscape Planof Management, where the conditions of thisConsent refer to the provisions includedwithin the Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement, the MDBC will comply withthe relevant provisions in the draft Plan,provided to NPWS previously, until the Planis approved. Once the Plan is approved, theMDBC must comply with the final Plan.
Prior to the approval of the CulturalLandscape Plan of Management, theapplication from the MDBC for operation ofthe Lake above 24.5 m will identify:
• the reasonably practicable steps that theMDBC has taken to avoid the necessity ofoperating the Lake above 24.5 m and statethat there are no other reasonablypracticable measures available to theMDBC;
• the height and period of filling that theMDBC considers is essential;
• the circumstances which make operation ofthe Lake at that height and for that periodessential;
• the reasons that use of alternative storagesin the water supply system will not providesufficient substitute for the operation ofthe Lake as requested.
The Director-General, if satisfied of thesematters in the application, may approve theapplication subject to the followingconditions:
• the vegetation is monitored for stress andwater level is dropped if vegetation inpriority areas is considered by the Director-General to be showing significant stressfrom inundation;
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• the Lake is operated only to a depth andfor a period that will not threaten viabilityof establishing native vegetation in priorityareas;
• the Lake will not be held at 27 m forlonger than six weeks in any twelve monthsunless in the opinion of the Director-General this is clearly beneficial forvegetation on Lakeshore; and,
• such other conditions as the Director-General considers appropriate.
18. Impacts on Areas Outside of the Lake
18.1 General Conditions
Under his responsibilities conferred by the EP & A Act, the Director-General must takeinto account all the impacts of the activity.While this Consent covers the relics at thelocations described in "Schedule B", there areenvironmental management implications forareas outside "Schedule B" which relate to theoperation of Lake Victoria, including potentialimpacts on threatened species, that the MDBCmust address. The regional environmentcontributes to the cultural and naturalsignificance of Lake Victoria and so the MDBCmust also consider the broader regional contextwhen making management decisions.
Salinisation of the land east of the Lake has beenthe subject of investigation by government
agencies over the past decade and the NSWDepartment of Land and Water Conservationcontinues to carry out a monitoring program.These studies have concluded that salinisation isalso a key factor affecting the environment in theregion, including the viability of someproperties.
The preparation and implementation of aregional Action Plan is currently underway forthe area surrounding the Lake. The developmentof this plan is guided by the Lower Murray–DarlingCatchment Management Committee andinvolves local representatives of relevantgovernment agencies and the landowners directlyaffected by the operation of Lake Victoria. Themajor issues for consideration in the
development of the Plan are land salinisationadjacent to Frenchmans Creek, the protection ofcultural heritage sites and the management ofindividual properties under best managementpractices. The proposed Action Plan will addressland management issues associated withincreasing rates of salinisation on propertiesadjoining Lake Victoria.
The MDBC must maintain its awareness of theAction Plan, and any other regional planning orland management processes which may berelevant to the mitigation of any impacts of Lakeoperation on areas outside Lake Victoria. TheMDBC will also share information arising fromits own management and monitoring with otherrelevant land managers. The MDBC should notduplicate the work already underway in theseplanning processes, but must monitor the work
to ensure its completeness. The MDBC mustidentify gaps in the monitoring or mitigation ofimpacts around Lake Victoria, and ensure thatthese gaps are filled by the preparation andimplementation of appropriate strategies.
As a part of this work, the actions in SpecificConditions 18.2 are to be undertaken by theMDBC.
18.2 Specific Conditions
18.2.1 The MDBC will ensure thatgroundwater levels around the Lake and itsadjacent supply channels will continue to bemonitored and that there is ongoing revisionof mapping of areas affected by salinity asinformation from monitoring and modellingindicates changes to groundwater levels in thearea. The MDBC must implementappropriate management strategies to preventor mitigate impacts on the environmentresulting from any rise in groundwater, likelyto be contributed to by the operation of theLake and report these to the Director-General. Such strategies must include atimeframe for implementation. If approved bythe Director-General, these strategies will beimplemented by the MDBC.
18.2.2 The MDBC will host an annualworkshop to discuss hydrogeological research
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and monitoring results and ensure that theseare incorporated into appropriatemanagement strategies.
18.2.3 The MDBC will undertake a naturaland cultural heritage inventory, includingsurvey for threatened species or relics in thearea likely to be adversely impacted upon bysalinisation that is likely to be contributed toby the operation of Lake Victoria over theperiod of this Consent. This will becompleted by December 2000 and reported tothe Director-General. If the revision underCondition 18.2.1 indicates a change to thisarea, than the MDBC will consult withDirector-General about whether it isnecessary to extend this heritage inventory,and shall do so if the Director-General sodirects.
18.2.4 If any Aboriginal relic found is likelyto be damaged, destroyed or defaced bysalinisation due to changes to groundwaterresulting from the Activity, and that relic isnot included in the approval granted underthis Consent, then the MDBC mustimmediately notify the Director-General.
18.2.5 If the monitoring shows that there islikely to be an impact on fauna, faunalhabitat, or any threatened species or itshabitat by salinisation that is likely to becontributed to by the operation of LakeVictoria, then the MDBC will either, whereappropriate, implement a strategy, agreed toby the MDBC and Director-General toprevent the impact of such salinisation or seekan appropriate licence to cover the impact.
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D. SPECIFIC TERMS ANDCONDITIONS FOR S90 CONSENTS
Condition 19: This section 90 Consent is nottransferable.
Condition 20: The Murray Darling BasinCommission shall be responsible for themanner in which any work covered by thisConsent is performed.
Condition 21: An officer of the NationalParks and Wildlife Service, acting on theauthority of the Director-General, may at anytime examine work done or any objectsrecovered under this Consent.
Condition 22: This Consent does not in itselfgive authority to enter or work on freeholdland or leased Crown Land.
Condition 23: Upon publication of anyinformation relating to work done under thisConsent, a copy of such publication(s) shallbe forwarded to the National Parks andWildlife Service, the Lake Victoria AdvisoryCommittee, The Australian Museum –Sydney, and the Australian Institute ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies –Canberra, unless permission to do otherwisehas been obtained from the Service.
Condition 24: The National Parks andWildlife Service and The Australian Museummay supply copies of relevant reports asfurnished by the holder of the Consent tolocal Aboriginal communities. Upon requestby the Service, the holder of this Consentshall supply a summary of his/her findingswith photographs, diagrams, etc., as required,to local Aboriginal communities or otherlocal interest groups.
Condition 25: The holder of this Consentshall notify the relevant Archaeologist of theNational Parks and Wildlife Service and thelocal Barkindji community at thecommencement and completion of fieldworkincluding monitoring, and shall supply tothose persons details of field work programsand results. When any new relic is discovered,the MDBC shall notify NPWS as soon aspossible, in accord with section 91 of theNational Parks and Wildlife Act.
Condition 26: The granting of this Consentdoes not excuse the MDBC from anyobligation to obtain any authorisationrequired under any other Act to carry out anypart of the activity.
Condition 27: (a) The MDBC shall cease or restrict activityat Lake Victoria, if the Director-Generalserves on it a notice requiring cessation orrestriction of its activity. The MDBC shallthen carry out such steps as are required bythe Director-General in his notice, and in thetime required in that notice.
(b) The Director-General may only servenotice under paragraph (a) if:
1. No Cultural Landscape Plan ofManagement is submitted to theDirector-General pursuant to theseConsent conditions; or
2. Plans, strategies, reports and reviewprocedures required by these conditionsare not submitted when required;
3. A report or review submitted to theDirector-General in accord with theseconditions reveals that the activity is notbeing carried out substantially inaccordance with the conditions of thisConsent; or
4. The Director-General is reasonably ofthe opinion that the MDBC is notcarrying out the activity in a mannerwhich is substantially in accord with theconditions of this Consent;
5. The MDBC has been directed to addressan emerging issue related to impacts onthe environment arising from theoperation or management of LakeVictoria, and the Director-Generalconsiders that it has not been addressedwithin a reasonable time.
(c) The Director-General may amend orrevoke any notice served under paragraph (a),or serve further notices under paragraph (a)from time to time.
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E. SPECIFIC CONDITIONSAPPLYING TO THE CONSENT
Condition 28: In carrying out the ActivityMDBC must not damage any critical habitat,harm or pick any threatened species,population, ecological community orprotected fauna, or damage their habitats.The MDBC shall therefore carry out allnecessary monitoring to detect any risk of thisoccurring.
Condition 29: The Consent covers only thoserelics and areas described in Schedules A andB respectively. Aboriginal burials and loosehuman bone fragments are not included inthis Consent but are covered by theaccompanying Section 87 Permit.
Condition 30: The Consent is granted tocover only the operation of Lake Victoria asconditioned by this Consent and subject tothere not being discovered in the course ofthis operation any other relics which will bedamaged or destroyed by the continuation ofthe operation. (Destruction of such relicswould require the granting of a separateConsent).
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Appendix 2: References1. Lake Victoria: Finding the Balance—AResponse to the Competing Interests of CulturalHeritage, Environment and Resource Use;Environmental Impact Statement; MurrayDarling Basin Commission February 1998.
2. Lake Victoria Operating Strategy; MurrayDarling Basin Commission March 2002
3. Clause 91 Determination Report, Under Part 5 of the Environmental Planning andAssessment Act (1979), “Lake Victoria: Findingthe Balance, Environmental Impact Statement”,NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
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Lake Victoria C
ultural Landscape Plan of Managem
entM
AY 2002
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