1. A pathway to healthy rivers:
lessons for and from Asia
Robert Speed
International WaterCentre,
Australia

2. Background
• River health and environmental flow in China
project, WET project
• WWF-GIWP master basin planning project
• Regional workshops to share experiences

3. Context
• Rapid economic development
• Declining river health
• Unprecedented pressures on river systems
• Emerging policies and plans to improve river
health

4. • But, different:
– Rivers
– Demands and challenges
– Social and economic situations
– Political and legal systems
– Tools, methods, approaches

5. So, what have we learnt about improving
river health through better river basin
management?
And – how can we apply this knowledge in
different rivers and different countries?

6. Foundation principles
• To maintain and improve river health we need
to:
– Recognise the value of healthy rivers
– Be clear what it is that we want from our rivers
– Understand how our rivers function
– Put in place systems and institutions to protect
and restore

7. Strategic planning
Identify assets and values;
goals and objectives Institutions
Policy measures River science
• Water allocation/e-flows Understand river
• Pollution control condition and processes
• Catchment management

8. Strategic (basin) planning
1. Understand how the system operates: hydrological,
physical, ecological, social, economic and institutional
2. Plan and act, even without full knowledge
3. Establish vision, priorities, objectives
4. Focus on implementation throughout
5. Engage stakeholders to strengthen institutional
relationships
6. Enable adaption to changing circumstances
7. Address issues at the appropriate scale

9. Policy measures: water allocation and
environmental flows
1. Environmental water needs should provide the
foundation for water allocation decisions
2. Align water allocation, social and economic planning
3. Level of complexity of the plan/approach should reflect
the complexity in the basin
4. Allow flexibility to deal with changing circumstances
5. Ensure a clear mechanism for dealing with climatic
variability
6. Exercise caution in granting water entitlements
7. Establish robust mechanisms for implementing e-flows

10. River science: assessing river health
+ environmental flows
1. Set clear goals and objectives
2. Select appropriate indicators
3. Classify rivers
4. Test the indicators
5. Set appropriate benchmarks and threshold values
6. Report on the results
7. Implement the monitoring program to inform
management

11. Institutions
1. Clear mandates, powers and responsibilities
2. Recognise capacity constraints

12. Thank-you