Over 150 community members and waterway advocates from across Sydney gathered at Customs House on Saturday 23 May for the Sydney Rivers Community Forum, to discuss the shared challenges and opportunities for Sydney’s waterways. The event was hosted by the Nature Conservation Council.
Jason L’Ecuyer (Cooks River Alliance) and Alexi Gilchrist (Parramatta River Catchment Group) kicked off the event by illustrating the lack of coordination by local and state governments to manage waterways. They referred to the Water Quality Governance Roadmap, which identifies thirty distinct organisations with some degree of responsibility for water management in NSW.
Gareth Wreford (Cooks River Valley Association) and Brian Keogh highlighted one of the primary threats to the Cooks River Catchment’s health, stormwater. They pointed out that despite stormwater regulations in some local development control plans (DCP’s), water sensitive design is still a ‘nice to have.’ Consequently, stormwater continues to be diverted from hard surfaces directly into the waterways.
Other presentations covered mining pollution impacts on drinking water catchments, the effort to save Calabash Bay and Riverstone Wetlands and the case for a constructed wetland at Wolli Creek.
After presentations, attendees joined a series of workshops organised by twelve themes, ranging from legacy contamination and plastic pollution to governance and culture. Participants then voted on the top priorities for waterways to take to the 2027 NSW election. These priorities were developed into clear asks, actions that will be presented to decision makers in the Sydney Rivers Roundtable, presented by the Nature Conservation Council.
By discussing the challenges facing waterways across the Sydney Basin, themes started to emerge that are not immediately identifiable on the catchment scale. Namely, a lack of government coordination between state and local governments, resulting in waterway mismanagement.
So what happens now? Stay tuned for more updates.
Photos: Jason L’Ecuyer
Illustrations: Vivien Sung