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RiverConnect November 2005 PAGE �
Issue Three, November 2005
Since winning the prize in 2003 the Hunter-Central Rivers CMA has seen massive changes. They now work with a larger population and across three landscapes and believe the Riverprize has been important for helping to raise awareness of their work in the greater community.
The CMA is using the prize funds to develop a website that will be an educational resource on the Hunter River. This information helps the community understand how they can better manage their catchment in the future.
Welcome to the third edition of RiverConnect.
We have been extremely busy this last quarter in the lead up to the 8th International Riversymposium and the annual award of associated Riverprizes which are featured extensively in this edition.
Australia’s past National Thiess Riverprize winners going strong
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Authority has invested the Riverprize funds to assist over 30-50 youths from the region to attend the Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s Youth River Health Conference each year.
Since winning the National Thiess Riverprize in 200�, the Authority has been successful at gaining continued state funding and a high level of community support and recognition.
Primary and secondary students from throughout the Goulburn Broken Catchment were sponsored to attend the 2003 River Health Conference at Mildura
Past winners of the National Thiess Riverprize, the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority in 2003 and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Authority in 200� believe the prize provides an on-going legacy.
Chairmans Report IRF is rapidly consolidating its position as
the premier non-government organisation in Australia championing river and catchment protection and restoration activities through both International and Australian programs.
. . . continued page 2
RiverConnect November 2005 PAGE �
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Chariman’s Report cont. State and local Government, as well as industry support, has enabled us to make a record contribution of over AUD $500,000 during the past twelve months in support of our key objectives. This is a remarkable achievement from very modest resources, but much more remains to be accomplished.
A key objective of the IRF is to actively contribute to further development of the annual Symposium as the global meeting place for the exchange of knowledge and demonstrated best practice in river restoration and integrated catchment management.
The IRF has again provided AUD $�50,000 to assist a record number of delegates from �9 needy and developing countries to present case studies, technical papers and networking opportunities with Internationally recognised leaders attending the 8th International Riversymposium.
Next year, the value of the Thiess International and National Riverprizes will be increased to AUD $225,000 and AUD $75,000 respectively. Our goal is to ensure that the prestige of these prizes continues to grow.
Twinning initiatives have become an exciting feature and “point of difference” of winning the prizes. The development of sound scientific evaluation practices for winners who embark on such twinning initiatives is of the utmost importance. Seed funding was therefore provided this year to initiate two pilot programs. Expanding the twinning partnership programs remains a high priority for the IRF and we are committed to the development of the framework for future prize winners to follow.
An exciting outcome from winning the prizes has been increased recognition for achievements of the winner. This has often resulted in renewed funding commitments (much greater than the actual prize) which allow the river restoration journeys to continue with increased momentum.
We are also developing a secondary schools catchment management program and plan next year to launch a complementary Young Catchment Manager’s prize to encourage future Australian river and catchment management. We seek to develop this program in conjunction with the Federal Government and past national prize winning catchment groups.
Such twinning projects featured heavily in discussions during the Riversymposium.
The IRF has funded a scientific evaluation of the Twinning Project for the restoration of Lake Bam in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Alexander River Restoration Administration in Israel, winners of the 2003 International Thiess Riverprize, have twinned with the Burkina Faso Government to prevent the lake from drying up and threatening the survival of �00, 000 people and the natural environment.
Salif Diallo (Minister of Agriculture Hydraulics & Fish Resources, Burkina Faso) and Ambroise Ouedraogo (General Manager of Agriculture Hydraulics & Fish Resources, Burkina Faso) attended the Riversymposium and highlighted the importance of such projects and the opportunity this presents to be a forerunner for many other projects in Africa.
The IRF aims to raise $30 million from organisations in Australia and overseas to effectively sustain the growing
collaborations between the successful river managers and developing countries including Africa Australia is a generous nation as shown by its great contribution to the recent tsunami disaster. The IRF is seeking more funds from Australia and International Aid Agencies not only for the Burkina Faso project but also for many other twinning initiatives to follow.
Another Australian ‘twinning’ project involves the Tweed Shire Council, a finalist in this year’s National Thiess Riverprize, and Kenya.
Mike Rayner, Director of the Operations and Engineering at the Tweed Shire Council has been encouraged by the strong local community support from their African partners in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Water and sanitation officers from Kenya have already visited the Tweed to learn more about water quality testing and monitoring and to exchange information about other river health initiatives,” he said.
“As an example, the group is promoting the Tweed’s Trade Waste policy for businesses in Nairobi to use as a model for improving river health.” The Thames story
We continue to pursue all avenues to gain financial support for our endeavours and hope this task will become much easier through increasing awareness of our activities and support for an ever increasing number of twinning partnerships.
The establishment of a new office for the Foundation, the appointment of the first full time Executive Manager augers well for future development of the IRF.
Martin Albrecht AC Chairman
He also spoke of the future challenges facing the catchment due to climate change and a “sinking” London. The Thames, similar in size to the Brisbane River, has been under incredible pressure for a long time. Its catchment is now home to �3 million people.
Thanks to a lot of hard work, since the �980s there has been a return of fish, birds (including swans), and even otters (extinct in the Thames by �965).
However, numbers seem to be plateauing and extra effort is needed for the next 50 year vision.
“Some 90 percent of wetlands in the Thames catchment have been lost,” Alastair Driver said.
Alastair Driver from the United Kingdom Environment Agency returned to Brisbane last month, to tell the story of the Thames, including the time in the �950s when the river was declared “biologically dead”.
“The UK Environment Agency doesn’t have a mandate for wetlands but under its £650 million flood defense work mandate, areas of land are being reclaimed and re-converted back into wetland pastures that agriculture can make use of ”.
“Valuable partnerships have been formed with NGOs, Nature Trusts and bird groups with three million members.”
Future challenges for the Thames include managing diffuse pollution from agriculture, and providing incentives for farmers when managing land bordering the Thames. London is a city under threat from the sea as the eastern coast of Britain is sinking and climate change is causing rising sea levels.
Alastair Driver was last in Brisbane in �999 to receive the Inaugural International Riverprize for the Mersey River on behalf of the UK Environmental Agency.
Salif Diallo, Minister, and Ambroise Ouedraogo, General Manager of Agriculture Hydraulics & Fish Resources, Burkina Faso, discussed Twinning partnerships during the Riversymposium in September
Successful river managers ‘twin’ with AfricaBetter river management can be a reality for needy African nations if they can be ‘twinned’ with successful river managers.
Mike Rayner, Tweed Shire Council, Olita Ogonjo, Maji Na Ufanisi mentoring, Martin Albrecht, International Riverfoundation and Jane Lofthouse, Tweed Shire Council
Thiess are supporting future Australian river and catchment managers through a new Secondary Schools Catchment Management program and Young Catchment Managers Riverprize
RiverConnect November 2005 PAGE 3
STOP PRESSThe Foundation has just received magnificent support from the Lindores Group, a major privately owned company in Australia in heavy and bulk materials handling. This initiative has been the catalyst for additional funds which will enable us to make further progress with our twinning program.
PAGE � RiverConnect November 2005 RiverConnect November 2005 PAGE 5
Bulimba Creek wins Australia’s National Thiess Riverprize
Brisbane’s Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee (B�C) caught the eye of judges to win the prestigious 2005 National Thiess Riverprize this year. This once degraded urban waterway in south east Queensland, being restored by an active group of volunteers, was recognised as a role model for successful rehabilitation and community participation.
The prestigious $50,000 Riverprize is awarded each year to an outstanding Australian river or catchment restoration project. It is the first Queensland group to ever win the national prize, now in its fifth year.
Mr Luke Diett, coordinator of Bulimba Creek Catchment Association, said the group has an outstanding record of revegetating bushland and improving water quality in a network of Brisbane creeks.
“The association coordinates Waterwatch, supports 23 local Bushcare groups, provides training programs to volunteers, and involves students and community groups in practical conservation projects.”
The 2005 Riverprize was presented on 7 September in front of �50 delegates at International Riversymposium.
Other finalists for National Thiess Riverprize were: Paroo River Association (New South Wales and Queensland border), Tweed Shire Council (Tweed, New South Wales) and Environs Kimberley (Fitzroy, Western Australia).
Winners of the National Thiess Riverprize 2005, B4C collect the award: (from left) Claire Purcell, Alana Cameron, Wayne Cameron, Heather Barns, Sue Ellen Andsell and Luke Diett
Bulimba Creek wins Australia’s National Thiess Riverprize
The Drome river, once too polluted for swimming and sucked dry by agricultural irrigation, has seen significant improvement in it water quality, wetland biology and flood risks.
“The restoration of the Drome River Valley is an excellent example of a collaborative partnership of local governments working through the Communaute de Communes du Val de Drome (CCVD) with local stakeholders to produce a model for European river management,” said Professor Paul Greenfield, chair of the international judging panel.
“The panel was particularly impressed with the achievements and progress over a twenty year period to monitor river flows and upgrade sewage treatment facilities.”
The CCVD has initiated a Twinning partnership with a water catchment group in Senegal.
Other finalists for the AUD$�50,000 International Thiess Riverprize were the Kissimmee River Restoration Project (USA), the St. Croix International Waterway project (Canada), the Sha River Restoration project (China) and the Hudson River Estuary project (USA).
Russian salmon habitat helped by watershed study
PAGE � RiverConnect November 2005
Volunteers working on rehabilitation site
Drome River project wins International Thiess RiverprizeThe Drome River Valley in southern France won the prestigious 2005 International Thiess Riverprize this year for its restoration and management efforts.
International Thiess Riverprize winners (from left): Lady Jane Edwards (Honorary French Consul in Brisbane), Roger Trundle (Managing Director of Thiess), Jean Serret (Président of CCVD), Didier Jouve (Directeur Adjoint of CCVD) and Jean-Louis Hilaire (Vice-Président of CCVD) and Martin Albrecht (Chairman of IRF)
As part of the IRF’s Twinning Partnerships program, Russian government officials and natural resource managers from Sakhalin island are visiting the Siuslaw Basin Partnership (the Siuslaw Watershed Council, the Siuslaw Soil & Water Conservation District, USDA-Forest Service, and the Siuslaw Institute) and Wild Salmon Centre in Oregon USA in November 2005 to share methods in watershed management.
Johnny Sundstrom from the Siuslaw Institute said that over the next six months the Siuslaw Basin Partnerships and the Wild Salmon Centre would work with their Russian counterparts to analyse a small watershed on Sakhalin Island, a Russian island north of Japan.
“This analysis will demonstrate the process that our Russian counterparts can carry out across the island,” he said.
“We will then be able to strategically identify restoration opportunities in the watershed”.
Fishing accounts for about one third of the economy of Sakhalin Island. The island’s salmon provide local jobs and nutrition for the thousands of islanders who still live a subsistence lifestyle, although diminishing salmon stocks due to disturbance of feeding and spawning grounds is a major problem.
“We have come to a fork in the road and only a unified and international response to the challenges of survival and sustainability will see us prosper in the century ahead,” Mr Sundstrom said.
“We’re looking at ways to break through bureaucracy, encouraging people to see the value in public agency and private citizen partnerships and finding ways to encourage local landholder involvement in restoration”.
The Siuslaw group will travel to the Russian watershed in 2006 to begin the technical design and improvements to restoration sites based on this scientific analysis.
RiverConnect November 2005 PAGE 5
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Deputy Mayor of Brisbane, Counsellor David Hinchcliffe stressed the situation that Queensland and other Australian states face in confronting issues of prolonged drought. He warned that Queensland was only minutes away from declaring a “state of emergency” around issues related to the quality and quantity of water in the state.
Cr Hinchcliffe told delegates that this was the worst ever case of drought in Queensland since white settlement of Australia.
“Currently, we don’t have a sustainable community,” he said.
He appealed to the many “ostriches” refusing to believe that climate change had little to do with human habitation. He urged Riversymposium delegates to initiate a changing of minds and combine their efforts to face the many challenges ahead.
Opening Plenary speaker, Dr Brian Richter from the Nature Conservancy, US, identified three essential ingredients for protecting rivers: desire, ability and the will to act.
He called on delegates, as representatives of river users, to share with their colleagues and governments the need to better manage rivers.
”While we don’t have quantitative prescriptions for river management for every river in the world, we now have the science to determine them,” he said.
“This science requires public participation and representation to implement immediate and long term management possibilities.”
IRF Assisted Delagates to the 8th International Riversymposium
International Riverprize Winners
National Riverprize Winners
Twinning Partnerships
Past Thiess Riverprize Winners
Mersey River England
Siuslaw River USA
Alexander River Israel
Mekong River Mekong Basin
Blackwood River Australia
Goulburn Broken Victoria
Merri Creek Victoria
Brisbane
Lake Bam Burkina Faso
San Roque Catchment Argentina
India
PhilippinesMalaysia
Cambodia
Indonesia
China
Russia
Nigeria Uganda
Zambia
Bangladesh
NepalPakistan
Kyrgyzstan
NetherlandsUkraine
Thailand
Wallis Lakes New South Wales
Grand River Canada
Hunter River New South Wales
2000
1999
2002
2003
2001
2002
2004
2004
2003
2001
The Riversymposium opened with a welcome from Queensland’s Chief Scientist, Peter Andrews, standing in for Australian state leader, Premier Beattie. The Chief Scientist emphasised the importance of the Riversymposium in allowing a meeting of the minds and opening communication between scientists and the community.
Riversymposium opens with call to action
Professor Bill Dennison, Director of the International Riverfoundation
Professor Dennison said extensive channeling along the Mississippi River, removal of natural coastal barriers such as wetlands and dunes, and widespread concreting of coastal areas, makes storm surges more severe and deadly.
“Protection by natural ecosystems against storm surge is more effective than hard, artificial barriers, such as sea walls,” he said.
“As our coastal cities get bigger, and storms become more extreme and frequent due to climate change, it’s a sad fact we’ll see a greater loss of life from tsunamis and hurricanes unless action is taken to rehabilitate our waterways and estuaries.”
More rivers, wetlands and deltas could have lessened the flood impact of the Mississippi River bursting its banks after Hurricane Katrina, according to visiting US water scientist Professor Bill Dennison, a marine scientist at Maryland University (Chesapeake Bay), and a Director of the IRF.
Coastal preservation needed for New Orleans
Highlights of the Riversymposium included presentations from IRF-supported delegates such as Mr Shivashish Bose.Mr Bose presented a detailed case study showing the conflict between pro-development and environmental causes in the Bay of Bengal in India.
“We have to change the human behaviours so we don’t create the problems in the first place,” he said.
Mr Shivashish Bose
“The Sundarbans Delta, fed by the Ganges River, flows into the Bay of Bengal. It houses mangroves that provide protection to the Royal Bengal Tiger.”
Although the tiger has a high profile internationally and parts of the area have had protected biosphere status and world heritage listing since the early �990s, the Sundarbans Development Board remains pro-development.
This results in competing pressures between high ecological conservation and the need for development – and so the story continues.
Royal Bengal tigers under threat
9th International Riversymposium
4-8 September 2006
“Managing rivers in a changing world — coping with climate change.”
Brisbane, Queensland Australia. Next years Riversymposium will focus on: • planning for climate change • wetland management in
a time of change • tsunamis • rivers in the pacific • rivers and human health • as well as other popular
themes from last year.
Case studies will include: • Vistula River, Poland • Congo, Africa • Amazon River, South America • Prayo Chao River, Thailand
PAGE 8 RiverConnect November 2005
The Agreement represents a series of commitments about how to improve water management in Australia based on a coordinated federal approach.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Water Commission, Ken Matthews emphasised that management of the northern river system commits government to improving access to the resource, security of water allocations and knowledge for the community within a national managed funding framework.
Professor Peter Cullen (Director of both Land and Water Australia and Landcare
Australia) warned the NWI would reveal that Australia has drastically under-valued its water resources and has failed to include catchment services charges. When reviewed, this may see a tripling of current water prices to domestic users over the next ten years.
Prof Cullen acknowledged these rises could lead to some protest but believed that once people were informed of the reasons for the rises and the benefits of better water management, they would support the changes.
Application for Membership of The International RiverfoundationMembers will receive quarterly Riverconnect Newsletters and notifications of the Annual General Meeting. Please send your cheque for $100 (plus �0% GST in Australia) to: International RiverFoundationPO Box 15056 City EastBRISBANE QLD 4002Australia
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Good planets are hard to findRiversymposium plenary speaker, Roy Mussell from the Fraser Basin Council in Canada, told delegates that we need to look after what we have, as good planets are hard to find!
National Water Initiative for Northern Tropical Rivers of Australia underwayThe National Water Commission is implementing the National Water Initiative (NWI), a river management agreement between States and Territories, for northern rivers of Australia.
Roy Mussell speaking at the International Riversymposium
PAGE 8 RiverConnect November 2005
About IRFFounding partners of IRF include the Queensland Government, Brisbane City Council, BHP Billiton, Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), and Thiess Pty Ltd. IRF has established an Endowment Fund with an ambitious target of AUD$30 million by the end of 20�0 to underwrite its exciting programs and twinning partnerships globally. All donations are tax deductible.
He believed the biggest challenges to environmental management and sustainability lay in fostering and enhancing understanding and respect between indigenous and non-indigenous communities.
