After all the damage and difficulties some environmental benefits are starting to emerge from the River Murray floods.

The sound of the musical eastern banjo frog is among the sights and sounds ecologists are observing as floodwaters recede throughout the Murraylands, Riverland and Lower Lakes.

High river flows are important for native fish spawning, bird breeding and plant growth and the flood has provided much-needed water to areas of the river and floodplains for the first time in more than 60 years.

Meanwhile, wood ducks and black swans have converged en masse at Chowilla near the junction of the three state borders.

Wetland bird surveys at Chowilla’s large lakes have also recorded grey teals and coots in their hundreds as waterbirds and woodland birds make the most of the flood enriched breeding and feeding habitat.

Pacific black ducks and nankeen night herons have also been observed in numbers with groups of young having bred during the flood

The reconnection of floodplains and wetlands to the main river has allowed plants and animals to move throughout the river systems and colonise new areas.

The higher flows have also stimulated breeding for native fish species, including Murray cod, silver perch and golden perch, and will improve the chances of successful recruitment by improving habitat availability and food resources.

Further south in the Lower Lakes, increasing numbers of native turtles, or thukabi, important to the Ngarrindjeri people, have been seen after the species was severely impacted by the Millennium drought.

The University of Adelaide and Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation have partnered to monitor thukabi numbers in the Lower Lakes.

Department for Environment and Water staff are working with the Goyder Institute for Water Research along the river to inform the future management of riverine, floodplain and wetland habitats.

Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Susan Close says that while the flood took a heavy toll on many communities, it has also brought benefits.

“Black Box woodlands and other native vegetation that have been struggling in recent years have received a much-needed boost.

“These environmental responses are amazing to see but unfortunately, they do not last. 

“Without follow up watering in the next two to three years many of the benefits delivered by the flood will begin to diminish.

“We will eventually go back into a drier period and that is when the 450 gigalitres promised SA under the Murray Darling Basin Plan but not delivered will be of the utmost importance to maintaining the health of the river system.”