River Management: The Australasian Experience

Only in Australasia can the effect of technological societies on river systems be truly analysed and this unique, accessible book covers key issues in river management from a geomorphological perspective. Australia and New Zealand were colonised only 200 years ago by central bureaucratic administrations. For the whole period of European settlement most river management activities have been carried out by government agencies and the record of their activities is relatively complete. These countries therefore provide good case studies for the impact of technological societies on river systems, having transformed their rivers in a short time from their ‘natural’ into a heavily managed condition. Geomorphology provides the scientific basis for much of our understanding of river behaviour and geomorphologists are now actively involved in the management process. This book provides a collection of case studies, the first to be produced to date, which describe the management of rivers covering issues of environmental flow, stream condition, mining and extractive activities, river channel change, river stabilisation, river regulation and urban streams. The book will prove invaluable to geomorphologists, river engineers, stream ecologists, river managers, and environmental impact assessors involved in river management and restoration.