The Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring and Assessment Program (VEFMAP) is a large-scale monitoring program that uses innovative scientific approaches to quantify ecological responses to flow. The VEFMAP combines the technical expertise of researchers, with legislative and policy drive of state level managers, local knowledge of Catchment Management Authorities, and the pragramatic approach of consultants to deliver monitoring programs that are sufficiently technical to overcome the scientific problems of detecting ecological effects of environmental flows, yet simple and affordable to implement.

The collaboration between VEFMAP partners has evolved throughout the project and is now a major strength. However, the evolution has not been without some setbacks and with the benefit of hindsight we would have elected to do some things differently.

Science-management collaborations often fail because of different cultures, motivations and reward structures within research and government institutions. Early and explicit recognition of these motivations has been critical to the success of VEFMAP and allowed partners to work towards a shared goal. This paper describes how the VEFMAP partners have collaborated throughout the project. It highlights the aspects of collaboration that have worked well, opportunities that have been missed and considers lessons learned that could be applied to improve the effectiveness of other monitoring programs.