CANBERRA, ACT, Oct. 29 -- Murray-Darling Basin Authority issued the following news release:

At any given time, water flowing through the river is destined for various uses, including irrigation, industry, communities, the environment, and meeting South Australia's flow entitlement.

The exact mix of these flow components is determined by a number of factors including demand and water availability.

Each month we provide an update showing flows in the River Murray system including the total volume of water flowing for consumptive use and to care for the environment. The update also outlines the intended environmental outcomes.

The September flow to South Australia included water for South Australia's entitlement, traded volumes and water for the environment. Water for the environment at the South Australian border throughout winter-spring comes primarily from return flows from upstream environmental water use.

For the latest information on water for the environment see the River Murray weekly report.

Water for the environment takes time to move through the system. Water from past watering events is still moving through the River Murray as return flows. Environmental water holders can also use water for the environment by extracting allocations directly from the river. These allocations are often used for small-scale watering events rather than having water delivered from a storage.

* Elevated baseflows to support native fish dispersal, provide pre-spawning conditions for flow-specialists species, and flow connectivity benefits along the length of the Murray River.

* Trigger the movement of native fish. * Reduce stagnation in weir pools to maintain water quality. * Provide habitat for platypus, fish and turtles.

* Improve habitat for native fish. * Promoting the growth of bank-stabilising plants. * Improve habitat for waterbugs.

* Maintain connectivity for the movement of native fish. * Maintain instream and fringing vegetation. * Improve habitat for waterbugs.

* Promote wetland vegetation growth and habitat for waterbirds. * Maintain habitat for native fish.

* Maintain habitat and food resources for native fish and support breeding and larval survival.

* Increase small and large bodied fish populations. * Maintain the condition of streamside and instream vegetation. * Maintain water quality to support aquatic animals.

* Maintain lake levels through spring and early summer to support growth of submergent and emergent aquatic plants and to support recruitment of pygmy perch and southern bell frog. * Maintain continuous connectivity between Lake Alexandrina and the Coorong estuary to facilitate upstream passage of YOY catadromous fish (i.e. congolli and common galaxias). * Prioritise flows to the Coorong North Lagoon to support the Coorong food web (invertebrates, estuarine fish, waterbirds) and to minimise the seasonal reduction in Coorong water levels and provide suitable habitat for growth and flowering of Ruppia tuberosa and other associated macrophytes. * Look for opportunities to flush sediment in the Murray Mouth channel region, if additional flow becomes available.

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