The development of catchment-scale stream rehabilitation programmes in many parts of the world marks a shift from the application of reach-based engineering principles towards an adoption of ecosystem-centred, adaptive and participatory approaches to river management. From a biophysical viewpoint, this represents recognition of the importance of the inherent geodiversity of aquatic ecosystems and the benefits that are gained through enhancing natural recovery mechanisms. As this approach to river management matures, it is important that its key elements and assumptions are subjected to critical appraisal. In this paper, the main features of contemporary catchment-wide programmes are examined through a review of pertinent literature and through examination of various case studies from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Emerging challenges and tensions include those of generating an authentic and functional biophysical vision at the catchment scale, of developing a proactive adaptive management approach, of achieving genuine community participation and of integrating biophysical and social factors in a transdisciplinary framework. Issues of scale, natural variability and complexity must be addressed in meeting these challenges.
Claims for the arrival of a new paradigm in river management argue that substantial progress has been made away from top‐down, reach‐scale engineering towards catchment‐scale planning, community participation, ecosystem science and adaptive management. Implementing these new principles is widely seen as essential in reversing damage to river systems and in promoting sustainable management. However, the appraisal of a shift in river management is far from straightforward across the range of biophysical and social contexts involved. Literature from the philosophy and sociology of science suggests that such transitions are usually patchy and uneven. In particular, a paradigm shift requires recognition and integration of three levels of knowledge: technical, scientific and what Aristotle referred to as ‘phronesis’– contextualised and place‐based wisdom built on experience and incorporation of cultural values. The application of these forms of knowledge to river management is considered by reference to recent reviews and case studies from Europe, North America and Australasia. The conclusion is that integration is still proving elusive. Claims for a wholesale paradigm shift in river management must therefore be treated with considerable caution.
There is growing recognition at the global scale of the need to reverse, or at least mitigate, the damaging impacts of river regulation and overextraction of water. In New South Wales, the introduction of environmental flows, consolidated in the Water Management Act 2000, is taking place in the context of changing institutional structures, in particular the growth of adaptive management, integrated ecosystem-based perspectives, and increased community participation in the decision-making process. These developments presuppose that the information needs of river managers are understood. This article provides a classification of information needs for decision-making on environmental-flow allocations in New South Wales and then applies this classification to a case study of information use by a river-management committee on the Lachlan River. The discussion argues for the development of "adaptive information" to meet the challenge of integrating differing forms of information in striving to address the new demands of adaptive management.
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