Life flowing back into wetlands

Murray Darling Wetlands Ltd have produced a great video featuring interviews with landholders in the lower Murray region, and their experiences in seeing how environmental watering has had such a massive impact on

the wetlands in that area.   The video can be viewed on YouTube here and I encourage you to check it out,

Siwan

Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery Program (HNRRP) final e-news September 2011

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.

Community of Practice for Environmental Water Managers

A message to all members of Community of Practice for Environmental Water Managers

Visit Community of Practice for Environmental Water Managers at: http://www.cop4ewm.com.au/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Managing wetlands workshop : Canberra 6 September 2011

Invitation : The National Water Commission would be delighted if you are able to attend the managing wetlands workshop they are organising to assist wetland and environmental water management practitioners.  To find out more, register and view the invitation, program and other relevant information visit:

Wetlands Workshop

If you know others who may be interested in this workshop, please circulate this invitation across your networks. Please register by 23 August 2011.

 This workshop is a unique opportunity to learn about the new products and tools for wetland managers and the science underpinning them. The event is a chance for environmental water and wetland managers to engage with experts and scientists in the fields of wetland and environmental water management, explore topics of interest and gain hands-on experience of the tools. The opportunity to meet with peers and develop professional networks is also a primary goal for the workshop. This is an event not to be missed.

The new knowledge being shared at the workshop relates directly to the five priority knowledge issues identified by members of the Environmental Water Managers Community of Practice.

1.     Managing environmental water allocations (Sulfidic Sediments in Inland Waterways – Baldwin and Nias)

2.     Understanding and identifying flow/ecology relationships (Water regime of wetland and floodplain plants: a new source book – Roberts and Marston and Watering Floodplain Wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin for Native Fish – Gawne and Beesley)

3.     Using monitoring to improve flow/allocation regimes (Adaptive management of wetlands and rivers – the role of waterbirds as indicators – Kingsford and Framework and Assessment of Wetland and Riverine Health – An Australian Perspective – Taylor)

4.     Managing water on a whole-of-catchment basis (Australian Environmental Water Management – highlights from the 2010 report)

5.     Explaining outcomes and benefits of environmental water to the community (Cultural Flows: a Practitioners Perspective, Aboriginal Engagement in Water Planning and Recognising Ecosystem Service Benefits and Values in Water Planning)

This workshop is a free event, and numbers are limited so register early.  If you would like more information email wetlands@nwc.gov.au.

Australian Stream Management Conference – ‘Managing for Extremes’ Feb 6-8 2012!

We are so pleased that the Australian Stream Management Conference is making a comeback in 2012 – there has been a big gap in the calendars of natural resources management professionals without this event, so we are very happy to announce that the ARRC is going to be a part of this revamped occasion in February 2012.

The conference will be held in our home town of Canberra, with the River Basin Management Society and  the Catchments Australia Foundation hosting the event.  The ARRC will be running workshops that link to the conference theme of ‘Managing for Extremes’ with some of the questions being asked over the two days including:

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?

The ARRC will be exploring  this topic in terms of what skills do we, as natural resources management professionals, need to ‘manage for extremes’.  How can we best support and facilitate positive environmental and social outcomes in the face of these future challenges?

Place the dates 6-8th of Feb 2012 in your diary and we look forward to welcoming you to lovely Canberra!

Siwan & Nerida