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This report - Ecological Risk Assessment Case Study for the Murray Irrigation Region - is the second in a series of five produced by NPSI project UMO45 Delivering Sustainability through Risk Management.

An ecological risk assessment (ERA) was undertaken in the Murray irrigation region in southern NSW to assess the risks to the ecological values (or assets) from irrigation and other agricultural activities. This case study was part of a larger National Program for Sustainable Irrigation (NPSI) funded project (UMO45 - Delivering Sustainability through Risk Management), which aimed to achieve an improved level of adoption of risk-based approaches in environmental management and a greater capacity to use such approaches within both the Australian irrigation industry and regulatory authorities.

The Murray irrigation region case study sought to work in partnership with the irrigation industry (Murray Irrigation Ltd - MIL) and appropriate State irrigation regulators (the NSW Department of Environment & Conservation) to develop capacity within the individual organizations to use risk-based approaches to improve the ecological sustainability of the Murray irrigation region. An underlying expectation was that the use of ERA procedures would reduce the chance for conflicts between the industry and the government regulators.