The River Basin Management Society, in association with the Catchments Australia Foundation, will be hosting the 6th Australian Stream Management Conference (6ASM) in Canberra over 3 days from the 6th to 8th February 2012.
Over the past 10 years most of Australia has experienced either severe drought or devastating floods. Much of Australia has experienced both. Is this a sign of the future? 6ASM will explore the theme of ‘managing for extremes’. Does successful management of stream systems lie in managing for the extremes? What are these extremes, and how do we predict and plan for them? What are the implications for ecological communities and monitoring and evaluation programs? How do we engage with communities and elected leaders to discuss these issues?
In May 2009 the Australian Government announced up to $77.4 million of funding for the Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP), and I commenced work as Program Manager in June 2009. After just over two years of very intensive activity the HNRRP came to an end in September 2011, having successfully delivered its intended outcomes on time and under budget. The HNRRP has improved river health by making more water available for environmental flows and reducing nutrient inputs to the river system.
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After just over two years of very intensive activity, the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP) is coming to an end, having successfully delivered its intended outcomes on time and under budget. The final edition of HNRRP e-news reflects on some of the major achievements from the seven HNRRP projects and celebrates the great work that has been done to improve the health of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. The Hawkesbury-Nepean river system frames the western edge of the Sydney Basin and is one of New South Wales’ most important natural assets.
Attended by leading scientists, community groups, government agencies and corporate leaders from over 25 nations, the 14th International Riversymposium will explore the multiple reasons that rivers are valuable ranging from economics through to cultural and spiritual values. This year’s program will have a strong focus on the management and recovery of our rivers and waterways, in accordance with the overall theme, The Value of Rivers.
The UK-based Urban River Corridors and Sustainable Living Agendas (URSULA) project is tackling river corridor issues holistically by treating the river and its urban setting as a system. Throughout the project, URSULA is developing innovations, tools and knowledge to help guide the regeneration of urban river corridors worldwide.
The last edition of HNRRP e-news discussed how the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Recovery Program is meeting one of its key objectives – the prevention of an estimated 48.2 tonnes of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) entering the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system each year. In the June 2011 edition of HNRRP e-news we look at our other key objective – securing 7.24 gigalitres (billion litres) per year for additional environmental flows in the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system. You can also read about the HNRRP projects and how they are progressing as the program nears completion.
The CCS seminar: The Social Life of Pesticides: the Future of Urban Agriculture and Biodiversity in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River addresses the ‘social life’ of pesticides in the Hawkesbury region at Sydney’s western fringe, where land use is dominated by small-scale horticulture. The seminar will report on a cross-disciplinary effort, involving researchers working in toxicology, environmental science, social science, design and applied sustainability research, to come to grips with the state of knowledge of the condition of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River and the social causes of its chemicalisation. All interested parties are invited to join in discussing possible avenues for reform such that the ecological resilience of the Sydney basin can be enhanced and the contribution of peri-urban farming communities to our way of life can be appropriately recognised and supported.
“Source to Sea” is an ABC Landline story about balancing urban sprawl with food production in some of the nation’s most fertile farming areas. Much of the debate in the Sydney basin focuses on the demand for new residential developments. But if agriculture, fishing and horticulture are to survive on the fringe of Australia’s biggest city, the health of the Hawkesbury-Nepean river catchment will be of equal importance.