Urban waterways are under increasing pressure from a range of anthropogenic threats, including urbanization and climate change, resulting in rapid loss of freshwater biodiversity in comparison to other habitats. In response, there has been an increasing investment globally to protect and improve the health of urban waterways. Historically waterway management has had a narrow focus, most typically on drinking water supply, flood protection, or water extraction to support agricultural activities. In recent decades, in many parts of the world, this scope has expanded to the management of waterway health more holistically, including pollution reduction, riparian and instream habitat improvement, and the provisioning of instream connectivity for animal migration. Management considerations also incorporate social values, such as amenity, recreation, community connection, and cultural values. In the face of the expanding scope of waterway managers, urgency to act, and the need to understand the complexity of social-ecological context in which to waterway managers typically operate, it is more important than ever for waterway managers to be able to understand drivers, opportunities, and priorities.
Inspired by discussions prior and during the SUSE6 in Brisbane, Australia, this presentation will describe approaches and lessons from practitioners and researchers from the USA, Australia, and France that each have had decades of experience in waterway management, and research. These lessons are captured through the use of case studies. Covering core themes across a waterway management cycle, this presentation will also outline a strategic waterway management planning framework that incorporates input from community and researchers, insights from long-term collaborative research in waterway management, and spatially-explicit data and models for improved decision-making, engagement, and monitoring.