Community perspectives on managing health of peri-urban river system: evidence from the Hawkesbury-Nepean river catchment, Australia

Abstract

In this study, we examine aspects of community values and perspectives on goods and services received from the river along with issues related to sustainable management of the river. The study reveals that the contemporary values placed on rivers by communities are mostly associated with recreational and leisure activities. The distance from the river and age of the participants appeared as the most influential social demographic factors affecting participants' perspectives on river health. The study indicates that people tend to develop a strong bond with the natural resources around them and the amount of time spent at a location is directly related to the strength of this relationship. To assess the general river condition and health, a number of visual indicators (e.g., floating debris) were suggested. If properly standardised and calibrated, such indicators have the potential to develop cost-effective monitoring tools for detecting seasonal and spatial changes in river health.

Keywords:

• river health
• peri-urban
• Hawkesbury–Nepean river
• community survey

Acknowledgements

We thank all the key informants for taking part in this study. Special thanks to Professor Robert Hodge, A/Professor Surendra Shrestha and A/Professor Charles Morris from UWS and staff at the Office of the Hawkesbury–Nepean and Hawkesbury–Nepean Catchment Management Authority for their guidance in developing and reviewing the questionnaire. Also, thanks to Ms Joycelyn Applebee for her help in the preparation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by funding from the Australian Postgraduate Award.