What is the basis of management?

Throughout the world, and especially in Australia with its dry climate, rivers and estuaries have always been a focus for human settlement. In the past, many waterways have been the main transport link between and within settlements, and others have been a source of water and food for people as well as important places for recreation and relaxation.

Rivers and estuaries are highly complex and diverse systems. Management must therefore involve a wide range of disciplines. The following beneficial uses generally form the basis for waterways management:

• Waterways are habitats for a variety of terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna which need to be preserved
• Waterways are an important scenic feature and focus for leisure activities for residents and visitors which need to be accessible to the public
• Waterways serve as an important outlet for drainage waters for their catchments

Waterways in other parts of the world, and even Australia with its comparatively recent modern history, have been used as dumping grounds for human sewage and industrial wastes. Added to this are the often harmful materials leached and transported from the land by water seeping through the soil and running off its surface.

Two important factors must be considered in waterway management. Firstly, the various parts of a waterway are interdependent and, secondly, the water provides the essential link between the terrestrial and aquatic elements in these ecosystems. So, in planning the management of estuaries it's important to recognise that some activities in the catchment can have wide-ranging influences on them and their foreshores, through their effects on the quality of the water in the catchment.

A management vision

Waterways management needs to focus on the conservation and enhancement of waterways for present and future generations to enjoy. Waterways need to be healthy, functional systems, each with a unique character.

Waterways management wants the waterways to be clean and unpolluted. Fish, waterbirds and other animals and plants native to the waterways need to exist in viable populations, for the well-being not only of the creatures and plants themselves but for the human population as well. The environment, which is a mix of different landscapes, needs to be managed to create opportunities for recreation, tourism, commercial development and conservation. Each waterway should have a database of information about it so that any changes caused by urban developments or other changes to land use in the catchment can be identified and their harmful effects assessed.

In this vision, residents and visitors have access to most waterways foreshore areas for passive recreation and tourism. Activities with a low impact on the environment, such as swimming, wading and yachting, should be encouraged rather than activities such as speedboats and jet skis which have a significant impact on the environment. Where residential and industrial development abuts a waterway's environment it needs to be well-planned and well-managed.

Commercial and transportation use (such as shops, roads and ferries) of the waterways is to be encouraged in specified areas as long as it's sustainable and doesn't harm either the waterway's visual attractiveness, water quality or habitats and ecosystems that are important to protect.

The local community takes great pride in its waterways, and this vision acknowledges that pride by encouraging everyone to be involved in protecting and managing their waterways through community groups or local government.

The tenets of waterways management

Waterways management authorities have developed several basic tenets on which they base their decisions:

The waterways need to be managed, with and on behalf of the community, to balance conservation of the natural environment with the competing demands of people for tourism and recreational, commercial and residential access.

The natural environment needs to be retained wherever possible and rehabilitated where necessary.

Any use of the waterways should be sustainable and have little or no harmful impact on the environment or on people who use the waterway.

Using waterways should be encouraged as long as that use is sustainable and has little impact on the environment. Access and use which have little or no impact and maximise public enjoyment should be encouraged over other uses.

The community `owns' the waterways and the well-being of the entire community rests on the health of the waterways ecosystems. Community involvement is to be encouraged through informing and educating. Community members need to be on the Commission and on management authorities.

Because waterways are very complex, and changes to one part of a catchment can affect the whole waterway system and the people, animals and plants which rely on it, the Commission needs to be aware of, and learn from, experiences elsewhere. The Commission can avoid repeating the mistakes made in other places where waterways problems have been neglected. It's important to act now to educate, repair and rehabilitate rather than hope that things will get better by themselves or at least not get any worse.

Each part of a waterway ecosystem is important to every other part. Altering one affects them all. The land surrounding a waterway is a vital part of the ecosystem and it needs to be treated with care and understanding or the whole waterway can be harmed. An integrated approach to catchment management is vital to successful waterways conservation and management.

Government at all levels, industry and the community at large must work together to prevent or lessen further degradation and to rehabilitate waterways.