Benefiting from Overseas Knowledge and Experience

Contents

• Theme: Benefiting from overseas knowledge and experience
• Case study 1: Australian research
• Case study 2: New Zealand research
• Local government focus
• Case study 3: Canadian research
• Summary:
  • Learning from overseas experience
  • It's a Wrap: News from around Australia

Benefiting from Overseas Knowledge and Experience

The theme of this edition of RipRap is looking at overseas research, knowledge and experience to see what help we can get for river and riparian management in Australia. In many ways, waterway management is a relatively recent development in Australia because initially our focus, following European settlement, was on impounding surface flows and accessing groundwater to support agricultural and urban development. It is really only since the Second World War that issues of water quality, as well as quantity, came to prominence. The current emphasis on managing our rivers and riparian lands as dynamic ecosystems and crucial parts of our landscapes is even more recent. Hence, there is clearly a potential for us to learn much from overseas, where river management has been an important activity, in some cases, for hundreds of years.

From the Editor

At the 2nd Australian Stream Management Conference there was a lot of interest shown in work being conducted in river and riparian management overseas. In response to this interest, this edition of RipRap features articles from John Quinn and the team from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand; Scott Babakaiff from British Columbia, and Peter Downs, who is based in the United Kingdom. Gary Brierley and Peter Downs also provide some comments on how those of us involved in river and riparian management can benefit and learn from international experience.

The other set of case studies presented in this edition showcase the work that has been accomplished in LWRRDC's Riparian Lands Program. Ian Prosser, Stuart Bunn and their teams of researchers, have been managing a suite of projects investigating different ecological, physical and chemical processes in the riparian zone. The results of this research are exciting, and we are now reaching a stage where the information can be practically applied to day-to-day riparian zone management.

The other exciting development is the launch of the new rivers website for the River Restoration and Management Program.This site will be 'live' by the 26th of July, so please check it out and send us any comments and feedback you might have. The site has all of our publications, as well as information about each of the research and demonstration projects and, a whole lot more!

I hope you enjoy this 'bumper' edition of RipRap, and encourage you to follow-up the articles in this edition by a visit to our new website.

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