River Contaminants

Contents

• Theme: River Contaminants
• Salinity processes in Australian rivers
• Getting a Grip
• Muddy waters and sand slugs: sediment transport
• Nutrient sources, transport and cycling in large river systems
• NEMP highlights 1995 - 2000
• It's a Wrap: News from around Australia

River Contaminants

Australians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of water resources and riverine environments to the future sustainability of agriculture and the environment. River restoration has become a priority for many catchment and resource agencies, with the management of river contaminants a key part of the restoration equation. This is because river contaminants determine both the quality of drinking and irrigation water, and the condition of instream habitats for river plants and animals.

From the Editor

Welcome to another edition of RipRap, this is my eleventh edition as editor and we never seem to run out of river and riparian topics to cover! This edition of RipRap is on River Contaminants, and Brendan Edgar and Jacky Croke deserve special mention for helping me pull these articles together. We have covered three key contaminants in this edition - salt, sediment and nutrient - and worked with scientists to present current thinking about the impact of these contaminants on rivers, the knowledge gaps that exist, and the different management approaches that can be taken to address these impacts. The 'It's a Wrap' section provides perspectives from catchment communities around Australia on how to deal with contaminants, and we also have an article on measures being taken by the cotton industry over the past ten years to reduce pesticide contamination. You will also find adverts for new CDs, the National Land & Water Resources Audit Atlas and information about Land & Water Australia's upcoming Rivers Forum. The Rivers Forum will be held next year on 20-21 of March 2002 in Canberra and Yass, it promises to be a terrific event and we are making every effort to ensure that speakers and activities are challenging, thought provoking and a little out of the ordinary. The next edition of RipRap will have registration forms and full Rivers Forum Program details - so look out for it!

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