River Murray erosion monitoring plan: Part 1 –...
URL: https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/river-murray-erosion-monitoring-plan-part-1.pdf
Authors: Thom Gower, Nicole Wheeler, Kira Woods, Christine Lauchlan Arrowsmith, Geoff Vietz
Date of publication: February 2025
- Currently, there is no consistent way to monitor erosion along the whole River Murray. The plan seeks to monitor more than 2,500 km of the main channel across states, making this one of the largest river monitoring plan approaches in Australia and, for its type, one that is unprecedented worldwide.
- Part 1 of the project evaluates various monitoring approaches to determine the most effective and efficient methods for detecting and measuring bank erosion at this scale.
- Based on the evaluation findings from Part 1, the River Murray erosion monitoring plan framework (Part 2) was developed.
Key findings / recommendations:
- Erosion in the River Murray is significant but varies spatially, impacting ecosystems, infrastructure, and community concerns. Current monitoring efforts are inconsistent, with different organizations using various methods, making it difficult to assess erosion system-wide.
- The monitoring approach evaluation identified key measures and metrics to quantify bank erosion. Lidar-derived digital elevation models were found to be the most effective data source for capturing erosion metrics, while python-based geospatial analysis is recommended for automation and scalability.
- Machine learning and automated data processing were identified as the best solutions to handle the scale of data needed.
- A map-based interactive dashboard is recommended for visualisation of results and prioritisation of erosion sites for further investigation.
- Integrating community-driven photo monitoring programs to complement scientific data collection is recommended.
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