In 1999 the founding Wise Water Ways Committee believed there was a need for a training program that covered both practical and theoretical waterways management.
Today, the Wise Water Ways Workshop, North East Victoria, covers a broad range of rural and urban stream issues and provides participants with the skills to better understand aquatic environments and to make informed on-ground management decisions.
The format of the program offers participants an opportunity to work in teams, as they would in their work role. Each team develops a management plan for a stream and then presents a report to their group of peers for critical assessment.
Water yield and quality – effects of a changing climate on the aquatic landscape
Policy context, science in policy and policy development and evolution
Dr Maxwell has over 15 years’ experience working on the ecology, water quality and hydrology of Australian rivers and has worked on the response of a variety of biota to altered flow regimes and restoration including environmental flows. Dr Maxwell has worked across research, management and policy spheres throughout her career, enhancing her ability to collaborate across these sectors. Dr Maxwell holds a PhD from the University of New England and Honors from the University of Adelaide and is currently the treasurer of the Australian Freshwater Sciences Society.
Brooke has over 20 years strategic planning, management and stakeholder engagement experience in the public and private sectors. Her experience in natural resource and waste management sectors, where she has used her communication, leadership, facilitation, governance, and project development skills, has led her to support governing boards and community-based organisations to set strategy and attract significant investment. Since 2021, Brooke has been working in the private sector supporting community and stakeholder engagement, strategic planning and operational reviews for local and state government and other not-for-profits. Her recent work has provided experience in social and community planning, including work with CALD communities, people living with disability, landcare and on place-based community planning. With her roots firmly planted in the small north east Victorian town of Eldorado, Brooke values the natural beauty of regional areas and is passionate about empowering people to share their views and values to influence public decision making.
B.App.Sci, NRM (Hons)
Sonia Cooper, a proud Yorta Yorta woman, was raised by her grandmother on Cummeragunja, NSW. Deeply connected to her culture, Sonia lives and works on Country, dedicating her career to a rights-based approach and the intersection of various protections but extends that knowledge to bring others on the journey. Her focus includes cultural law, water law, chemical science, and assessing cultural impacts. Sonia is committed to challenging conventional thinking and invite all those who wish to yarn.
Mitch belongs to Dharug Ngurra in Western Sydney and currently lives in North East Victoria Dhuduroa Country. He has spent many years in the central deserts of Australia, working with Aboriginal people and ranger groups looking after Culture and Country. Mitch is passionate about Cultural revival, furthering the rights of Aboriginal people, and supporting ethical and Culturally Safe interactions that bring together diverse First Nations and Western knowledge systems.
Andrew is the River Health Project Manager with the North East Catchment Management Authority. He has extensive experience in river health restoration, with a strong focus on native fish and the reintroduction of fish habitat into waterways. Over the last decade he has played a major role in project managing and implementing fire and flood recovery works across the catchment. Andrew applies his expertise and innovation to address challenges such as Biochar and Virtual Fencing.
Tying it All Together
Andrew has researched river and groundwater ecology for over 25 years, with particular interests in invertebrate ecology, river/groundwater health assessment, temporary streams and effects of drought and environmental flow allocations. He has lectured in several universities in Australia and the US and carried out ecological research on diverse rivers in France, New Zealand, the US and Australia. He has co-written some 120 peer-reviewed journal papers on stream ecology and three books, including the second edition of “Australian Freshwater Ecology: Processes and Management” published in 2014. Currently, he serves on the Independent Expert Scientific Committee that provides scientific guidance to the Australian Government on assessments of water-related ecological responses to coal seam gas extraction and coal mining, and is on the editorial board of the international journal ‘Aquatic Conservation’.
Skills in Action and Applying our new skills to the Ovens River (Field Trip)
Chris is a Waterway Management Practice and Director/Engineer of Confluence Pty Ltd . He has been working in the industry for the past two decades and has extensive experience across New South Wales and Victoria, as well as numerous other projects spread around Australia. Chris’ key focus is the investigation, design and implementation of major river health programs.
Skills in Action and Making Spatial Data Work for You
James is a geomorphologist who uses GIS and field research to undertake research on riverbank erosion, arctic fluvial geomorphology, river condition assessment.
Onground Works : When to, when not to
Ross is a founder and director of Alluvium Consulting, a past president of the River Basin Management Society and an inaugural fellow of the Peter Cullen Trust. Ross has worked in both local and state government, but has spent most of his career in private consulting, working on Australian and international stream management projects and programs.
What Fish Want
Jarod leads a team of researchers examining restoration ecology, ecological management plans and intervention based research that helps inform management and policy decisions. He has many years experience as a freshwater scientist, including restoration of woody habitat into rivers and streams, understanding the impact of bushfires on aquatic systems, threatened species management, angler liaison and developing ecological management plans.
Wise Waterway Concepts
Ian Rutherfurd has 20 years experience in the water sector. At present he is an Associate Professor in the School of Natural Resource Management and Geography in the University of Melbourne. He has also worked at a senior level in the Victorian State Govement in the water and river management area. Ian’s area’s of interest include river channel change, stream rehabilitation and fluvial geomorphology.
Dr Ewen Silvester: Associate Professor in the Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems (CFE) based at the Albury-Wodonga Campus of La Trobe University. Ewen’s research interests are in understanding biogeochemical processes in rivers and wetlands, particularly the patterns and responses of these systems to seasonal changes and climatic events. He has broad interests in the development and application of new techniques and approaches to the investigation of aquatic ecosystems and how ecological processes influence (and are influenced by) water quality parameters. Ewen has a PhD in Physical Chemistry (University of Melbourne) and prior to his current position at La Trobe University worked at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS; France; 3 years) and CSIRO (10 years). He has published broadly in the fields of geochemistry, mineralogy, spectroscopy and aquatic ecology and has recently completed an 8-year term as Associate Editor with the Journal of Hydrology. Contact: e.silvester@latrobe.edu.au or 02 6024 9878.
Johanna is a scientist with over fifteen years’ experience in waterway management, monitoring and policy. She has completed field-based assessments of riparian areas around rivers and wetlands, monitoring design and management planning. She has provided flora and fauna input to projects; and designed and coordinated waterway condition monitoring programs which identify condition, trajectory and adaptive management approaches. She understands waterway processes and management methods, developed through working with a range of waterway engineers, geomorphologists, aquatic scientists and agency staff in Victoria and Tasmania.
Johanna also worked in DELWP’s water policy division for seven years and has a strong understanding of the policy and legislation framework and development process in Victoria.
Understanding a River’s Character and How To Work With It
(Geomorphology, Hydrology and Hydraulics)
Dr Geoff Vietz is a geomorphologist and water management specialist with 18 years experience in catchment, river and wetland management. Geoff is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne where his research is focused on the geomorphology, ecohydraulics and sustainable management of streams and wetlands. He is also the principal of Streamology (Streamology.com.au), a consulting company focused on narrowing the research-consulting divide and ensuring novel and appropriate solutions are applied to waterway, wetland and water resources management.
Participation in the Wise Water Ways Workshop program offers delegates the opportunity to receive a subject credit towards a Charles Sturt University Master of Environmental Management (with specialisations):
https://study.csu.edu.au/environmental-outdoor/master-environmental-management
