Rivers

Rivers are dynamic systems and forever changing. Much landcare activity and interest focuses on rivers and streams. There are many reasons for that and they include water quality and quantity, dynamics of rivers and destructive floods, wildlife values of riparian zones, recreational values as well as simply the fact that humans need water and water belongs to all of us.

River restoration, rehabilitation and remediation – what is the difference?

Restoration

Ideally, a restoration project will restore an environment to its original condition. This is an admirable goal, to be aspired to, but rarely, if at all achievable. The original condition is usually not known, and one can speculate what the condition would have been prior to white settlement, or even prior to human occupation at all.

Rivers and streams are connected, flow into one another and the condition of one part of the system influences that of another. The entire network with all its components (surrounding land, sediments, flows, aquatic plants and animals) cannot be treated, and it is therefore more realistic to choose rehabilitation instead of restoration as a goal.

Rehabilitation

Improving the condition of a stream environment, even if not to its original condition, is a valuable exercise. Ecological rehabilitation is the re-establishment of a functional community with stable indigenous vegetation cover. It includes stabilisation and revegetation.

Remediation

In some cases, rehabilitation is not possible either because the changes to the stream are too severe. However, these conditions can still be improved, even when it can not be predicted what the endpoint of that process may be.

Water Watch Documents

Bug Survey Sheet 162kb
Detective Guide 556kb
Water Bugs For Measuring Water Quality 22kb
Record Sheet 36kb

Information for river rehabilitation will be added to this page as it becomes available.