Industrialisation left a legacy of heavy pollution in the Mersey Basin. Up until the 1990s, the rivers and canals within the basin were major conduits for removing and transporting both industrial and untreated domestic waste. Many of the watercourses were heavily modified or damaged and water quality became too poor to support the marine flora and fauna that once thrived in the watershed. The Mersey River was 'dirty and lifeless' and its estuary was widely regarded as the most polluted in Europe.

Environment Minister of the time, Michael Heseltine, denounced the state of the Mersey River as 'a disgrace to civilised society' and he became a key driver in establishing the Mersey Basin Campaign in 1985. The Campaign undertook urgent restoration works to specifically tackle water quality and streamside regeneration.

Lessons Learnt

Realistic timescales

The Mersey River suffered over 200 years of abuse and neglect. Whilst emergency responses have been implemented, the task of cleaning up the river basin will take at least 25 years.

’We are beginning to plan for activities beyond the original Mersey Basin Campaign end point of 2010.’
Mark Turner, Mersey Basin Campaign Deputy Chief Executive 

Delivery at all levels

The experience of the Mersey Basin Campaign has shown that organisations and individuals need to be involved at all levels and for the long term. Small-scale community projects are equally valid in terms of reaching the objectives as large-scale capital investment programs.

Leadership

The Chairman of the Mersey Basin Campaign is appointed by the Secretary of State. This high level appointment enables them to engage and motivate partners from all sectors and achieve more immediate and far reaching actions. 

The most significant environmental problems in the Torbay catchment are closely linked to the condition of particular waterways and wetlands.  Large alterations to the natural drainage system keep the wetlands at artificially low levels to prevent flooding and an additional network of agricultural drains creates a highly modified environment. Combined with poor land management practices in the catchment, the result is eutrophic and degraded waterways and a decline in the quality and quantity of native vegetation.

The Torbay Catchment Group was initiated in 1999 in response to community concerns, and quickly received the support of key partners such as the Water Corporation, City of Albany, Western Australia state departments of Conservation and Land Management, Environment and Agriculture, and Green Skills.

Lessons Learnt

Philosophy of change

Have a philosophy of change and use a change framework working on all elements simultaneously – pressure, creating vision, capacity and first steps

Conflicts of interest

Anticipate and manage conflict between interests of different players

Encourage knowledge exchange

Require researchers to collaborate, share equipment, data and results. Foster researcher and community exchange. Engage local researchers if possible as they are better connected and more available. Develop science programs using a civic science approach that values and integrates local values, technical knowledge and research knowledge. Edit technical/science reports in plain language using local examples.

The Siuslaw Watershed was heavily impacted by a great deal of physical change after the arrival of European settlers in the late 1800s. Large scale land clearing, draining of wetlands and channelising of streams has taken place since that time. Coho Salmon inhabiting the rivers within the watershed were subject to forest over-harvesting, loss of habitat and were exposed to high levels of predation, almost to extinction. Streams were cleaned out and straightened and lost the structural complexity necessary to support aquatic life. Clear-cutting of forests and road construction led to increased landslides and debris torrents, while stream-bank erosion contributed unnatural inputs of sediment.

The Siuslaw River Basin Restoration Project was initiated through a partnership that today includes the Siuslaw Institute, Siuslaw Watershed Council, Siuslaw National Forest, Siuslaw Soil and Water Conservation District, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Ecotrust and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Reaching more widely, the Partnership also includes The Campbell Group and other private industrial landowners, the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Salmon Plan participants, Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation and Development Area Inc., local schools, private landowners, local volunteers and more. 

Lessons Learnt                                                                                            

Prioritising actions

Prioritise (expensive restorative) actions to areas of highest need and greatest benefit as a joint exercise. It is a bonding experience. 

Deal with politics and media as a group

Politics which impact the partnerships at government and community levels should be dealt with in a unified way, and common talking points and spokespersons should be determined in advance of requests from the media. 

Do not hide from controversy

Community awareness and attention is heightened when issues are controversial. Encouraging informed debate, forums, and providing accurate information (on all sides) is a way of increasing community awareness and developing participation.

The Bulimba Creek catchment for several decades experienced above-average urban growth, with residential and major infrastructure development encroaching on key waterways, wetlands and floodplains.  Urban growth pressures brought inappropriate land use, tree clearing and invasive species contributing to loss of greenspace, loss of floodplain and wetland function and water quality, and deterioration in natural aesthetic, recreational and biodiversity assets across the catchment.

Establishment of the Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordination Committee (B4C) in 1997 was almost entirely community driven.  As a cleverly engaged group, its novel secret to achieving exceptional growth and survival was to implement several self-managed income sources, including a registered charity (Bulimba Creek Environment Fund), a self propagating nursery, and a professional environmental contracting arm ( Ecosystems Services Unit) which conducts works on waterways, wetlands and bushlands for government, industry and community.  

Lessons Learnt

Budget

Always establish a complete budget before undertaking an on-ground project. This is especially important where employed personnel and other overheads are concerned. Linking government grants to corporate sponsorship is necessary to achieve an adequate budget for catchment management initiatives. Volunteering can assist with budgetary constraints, but must not be taken for granted in budgeting.

'Volunteers still hold a vital role. They can fill the gaps and add value to such an organisation. It is them we must nurture and appreciate, because without them we lose the reason we started all this'.

Wayne Cameron, President of the B4C 

A scientific basis brings credibility to community projects

Research and verify your work scientifically, compare planned work with case studies that have undertaken similar work and note the outcomes.

Monitor watershed health

Proper monitoring and evaluation, with professional help is essential to provide evidence of progress as well as to review directions for the river management program.  Bird surveys, for instance, are good indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem health. 

Blackwood Basin in Western Australia faced several serious health issues prior to the 1990s. Cattle damage to river banks, increasing sediment deposits, salinity and decreasing biodiversity of marine species were of wide spread concern to the local community. As well as damaging the river, these issues, and dryland salinity in particular, represented serious threats to the future of agricultural farming in the region. 

The Blackwood Basin Group (BBG) was established by concerned community members, conservationists, farmers and industry representatives in an attempt to reverse the degradation of the river and watershed. As the targets set for improving ground and surface water resources and addressing rising salinity and failing water quality were ambitious, wide spread action was needed by a majority of landholders across the catchment. 

Lessons Learnt

Dedicated staff

Staff live in the region and have a local connection to the BBG and existing social structures. 

‘We employ people suited to the job not a “bum on a seat”… These people are well known already to the communities they represent, and become known as the natural resource management representative in sporting clubs, local pubs and youth and other community groups.’  

Greg Hales, Program Manager, BBG

Relationships

Those involved in river system restoration and management initiatives coordinated by the BBG enjoy working together. A strong culture of friendliness, ethical motivations and absence of internal conflict allow networks to flow.

Identity

The community in the Blackwood basin strongly identifies with the river and basin. Because these is no regional town located on the river, and no government officer located in the region, community involvement through the BBG’s Zone Action Planning is imperative to the success of river management initiatives.

Lake Macquarie on the eastern coast of Australia experienced rapid urban expansion, population growth and development in the 1960s and 1970s, contributing to a very unhealthy lake with poor water quality, crashes in fisheries production and health risks to swimmers. Wide spread community concerns began in the 1980s and eventually led to a State Task Force response, resulting in an improvement plan involving the establishment of the Office of the Lake Macquarie and Catchment Coordinator.

The priority plan for restoration and sustainable management of Lake Macquarie was to include a whole-of-government approach, strong community involvement, an emphasis on restoring natural systems and recognition of the inter-relationship between the economy, environment, and society. This integrated plan was to involve ‘almost everyone’.

'We are impressed at what the office is achieving and we hope the project will continue into the future. If the lake is clean and healthy it attracts people and this is good for business'.

Paul Kolatchew, Lake Macquarie Combined Chambers Chairman

Lessons Learnt

Ensure the target audience is given recognition, a voice and a valid role

Support from the community and business sector was much easier to attract when waterway issues and restoration targets were presented and discussed around the integration of environmental, social and economic perspectives, and involved clear acknowledgement of the needs of business and community. 

Persevere to get results

Persisting with on-ground restoration works, despite initial community scepticism about repair of natural systems (particularly with constructed wetlands), resulted in improved water clarity, which prompted the community to eventually give full support to the ongoing program.

Inclusion of respected citizenry

Respected community representatives and individuals who support and assist when needed, brings healthy credibility and wide acceptance from stakeholders, making some potentially difficult watershed issues easier to progress on. 

The fresh water in the Alexander River was severely polluted by sewage, effluent, industrial waste and waste products from olive oil manufacturing, mostly from the Nablus Stream flowing from the Palestinian city of Nablus into the Alexander River.  The high concentrations of organic matter in the river, especially during the olive harvest, led to severe fish mortality and coloured the water black. Further, stone grindings caused sediments to sink along the entire river and color the water gray-white almost year-round.  

The Alexander River Restoration Administration was founded in 1995 and now consists of local, regional and national level public agencies, including a unique and effective partnership with Palestinian neighbours from the district and town of Tul Karem. 

Lessons Learnt

River restoration projects

Benefits can be several-fold if it is ensured that project planning and implementation consider carefully every aspect of the river and its surroundings, especially the interconnected social and economic issues.

Cooperation

A river restoration project provides an opportunity to bring together stakeholders and people from different regions and backgrounds.  Collaboration between these groups to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes can be a bridge to overcome conflicts.

Think long term

When planning for restoration projects a long term approach, with agreement among partners, helped to create long-lasting outcomes and continuity of resources beyond the completion of individual projects. 

The Sha River has experienced many modifications and uses of its watercourse in accordance with the needs and environmental philosophies of various eras. Years of rapid population growth and industrial development have seen the river suffer from the combined impacts of city waste, raw sewage, deforestation, coal silt and rural garbage, with waste loadings well above the capacity of sewage treatment systems. By 1999, scientists rated the river as virtually ‘dead’. Most species of fish, shrimp and wildlife had almost entirely vanished from the river, and it became a severe public health hazard, seriously affecting everyday life for people in Chengdu and for communities downstream. 

The Chengdu Sha River Restoration Project Incorporation was co-founded by a large number of government organisations and investment agencies in the Sha River watershed, with a determination to improve water quality, flood control, riparian management, waste disposal, and public use of the Sha River and its surrounds. The scope of the project necessitated the involvement of the community and a large number of different stakeholder groups. Multilateral cooperation of stakeholder groups including government committees, banks, various international design institutes, engineering firms, environmental organisations and local community representatives was considered essential to the success of the project, and was designed into the restoration process. 

Lessons Learnt

Multilateral cooperation

Cooperation and collaboration from many sectors of the community, combined with highly efficient coordination and project management, had a strong and lasting impact on working relationships and benefits across several government, business and community sectors.

Advanced technology

Technology used in restoration efforts was absolutely necessary and indispensable for this program to be successful, and the technology was found only because of the wider networks that were used. 

The Goulburn Broken Catchment in northern Victoria contributes 11% of the water resource of the Murray Darling Basin (Australia’s largest river basin) and generates 18% of the water supply for the State of Victoria. In 1997 there was serious degradation of its rivers, water quality, native vegetation and biodiversity, as well as dry-land and irrigated salinity issues. 

The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA) was established by the Victorian State Government as a community-based, not-for-profit statutory authority, and the peak natural resource management body in the watershed. 

Lessons Learnt 

Community participation

Community engagement and participation in restoration and management activities leads to community ownership and therefore sustained support for the planning processes.

‘The community needs to be involved otherwise nothing will change. Management of our rivers is still reliant on private land managers’ stewardship of land and involvement in the decision-making process. That’s still fundamental to the success of our program’

Bill O’Kane, CEO, GBCMA.

Watershed strategy

Have a regional strategy for the watershed and establish a vision of where you are going. Articulate the vision and strategy to the community, partners and stakeholders, and involve the community in commenting on the long-term direction of the watershed restoration and management.

Continuous learning

Learn from science and monitoring data collected throughout the project. Focus on understanding the river system as a whole and develop ecological models/predictive theory to assist with understanding, planning and evaluation phases - an adaptive management approach may assist with this. Understanding the complexities within the environment is necessary to making good decisions. Link outputs (what action is taken) with outcomes (what is achieved).

Planning and management in the Mekong River system is extremely complex. The Mekong River runs through six nation states: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam, and supports 70 different ethnic minorities whose food, water, incomes and livelihoods are dependent upon it. Within the river basin there are a very diverse range of languages and cultures, government systems, economies and industries. 

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established in 1995 to provide an avenue for member states (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam) to cooperate in the management and development of the water and related resources of the basin.  This includes cooperation in all fields of sustainable development, utilisation and management of water and related resources within the Lower Mekong Basin and involves areas including  navigation, flood management, fisheries, agriculture, hydropower and environmental monitoring.  China and Myanmar are not members of the MRC but are dialogue partners.

Lessons Learnt

The importance of dialogue

Dialogue with national agencies, private project developers, and development banks is required to improve the relevance and quality of the regional basinplans, to address any overlaps of planned water resources management activities, and to ensure a level of equitability is included in the future development of resources within the river system.

Trans-boundary needs

All states must be engaged in and experience the benefits of effective management of the river system.  Capacity building for integrated water resource management needs to consider the needs and aspirations of each of the countries, cultures and economies. This extends to their needs in improving national policy, legal and institutional arrangements.

Modelling

Accurate and reliable river system simulation models and impact assessment tools and experts knowledgeable in the use of such models and tools are extremely important tools to inform water policies and projects.

Wallis Lake in northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia, suffered a serious Hepatitis A contamination event during late 1996/1997, threatening the AU $125 million per year tourism and AU $10 million per year oyster farming industries and the second most productive estuarine fishery in NSW. This event illustrated the real value of a healthy lake and watershed to the regional community and economy, and provided the motivation to establish an outcome-driven, integrated watershed management and restoration program for the Wallis Lake system.

The Wallis Lake Catchment Management Plan established a set of major restoration programs, all within a comprehensive plan and management framework that achieved integration across environmental, health, economic and social planning agencies. Gerard Tuckerman, Manager Natural Systems for the Great Lakes Council, said that ‘comprehensive planning has allowed us to move forward with the implementation phase … and to achieve substantial on-ground results earlier than if we had used a traditional approach’. The Wallis Lake experience in planning was outstanding because it comprised a very carefully identified set of initiatives which were made to work in synergy.

Lessons Learnt

Community engagement

Commitment to associated education and awareness throughout the process helps to enhance results and capitalise on successes. Community involvement was crucial to the Wallis Lake Catchment and Estuary Management Plans, from their inception to public launch, promotion and implementation. 

Interdisciplinary collaboration

It is important to recognise the need for different skills in restoration and management of river systems, and to involve stakeholders and professionals from different disciplines where necessary. The development of effective partnerships with the neighbouring Council, the water authority, catchment authority and State and Commonwealth agencies has been critical to achieving on-ground results. 

Planning and implementation overlap

Planning processes allow the community and stakeholders to contribute to the restoration and management of river systems, and ensure that they support the goals and actions planned. The planning phase overlaps with the implementation phase, and at Wallis Lake, the strong community motivation and momentum for action could not be held back until the completion of planning.

In 1992 the Tweed River in sub-tropical eastern Australia faced poor agricultural and urban land use practices, reduced water quality for potable and recreational use, acid sulphate soils runoff, stream bank erosion and weed infestation. The Tweed Shire Council (TSC) responded and established a Tweed River Committee (TRC) to advise on river management issues, implement the Tweed River Management Plan and act as a coordinating and liaison body for all river-related issues. 

As the Tweed Shire Council has responsibility for the entire Tweed Catchment, it needed to work with the community to achieve local action and wise decision making in the community catchment-wide. A specific intention was to reach a synergy between local government and the community so that both groups would work with the same planning objectives. This took much effort and persistence in education and awareness, but resulted in greater community resources being mobilised and quick progress in reaching their planned targets across the catchment.

Lessons Learnt

Strategic Planning

Good strategic planning and a list of prioritised projects will ensure that rehabilitation works are focussed and undertaken with the purpose of creating powerful outcomes. This is worth particular attention because local government projects can often be reactive rather than proactive. It is important to get good people engaged in the strategic planning to ensure that work is focussed where it will provide the best value for limited resources.

Spend the time to locate resources

A great deal of time and financial resources are required to establish projects (particularly on private land). However, when this investment is made, the projects create healthy negotiation, leveraging of information and skills base, strong links to expertise, and result in landholders being more enthusiastic and committed to ongoing restoration work.

Have a component of self-generated funds if possible

Funding must be long-term and reliable to enable proper planning and consistency of river system management. A reliable funding source across the catchment and shire provides some continuity for lean times, but more importantly enables the TRC to pursue additional funding using their guaranteed co-contribution.

‘It is very useful to plan some “off the shelf” projects. The ability to undertake a project at short notice that has been identified as part of an adopted plan or strategy enables you to take advantage of all funding opportunities that may arise.’ 

Jane Lofthouse, Coordinator, Tweed River Committee

Prior to World War II, exploitation of natural resources across the landscape through increased rural and urban growth left the Grand River subject to both devastating floods and low flows. 

The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) was formed in 1966 as an amalgamation of several preceding river conservation organisations, and presently consists of representatives of each of the 36 municipalities, regions and counties within the watershed. The GRCA has established strong and enduring partnerships not only among its member municipalities, the Province of Ontario, and non-government organisations, but also with industry, agriculture, community groups, First Nations (indigenous Canadians), angling groups and universities.

'The GRCA has guided the restoration of the river from severe degradation and industrialisation and is keeping it healthy for future generations'

Martin Neumann, Supervisor Terrestrial Resources, GRCA

Lessons Learnt

Involve government

Involving government (municipality) representatives is important to maintaining government support.  In the Grand river system, municipality representatives comprise the board of the GRCA, and municipalities are levied in order to provide the GRCA with a sustainable funding source.

Educate Community

Continuous engagement and education of the community and government is very important to securing the support of these groups over the long term. GRCA place an emphasis on visiting communities in member municipalities, providing an opportunity to answer questions and explain GRCA programs, and how the budget and levy requests relate to these.