National Committee on Water EngineeringPlease note that this paper is held here for archival purposes, the most up to date papers are currently held on the Engineers Australia website.
Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) is an initiative undertaken by State Governments in Australia. Its objective is to improve and integrate management of land, water and related biological resources in order to achieve the sustainable and balanced use of these resources.
The principle of ICM is that the process should involve the whole community in developing the strategic approach to integrated resource use. As water is the common link among resource users in a catchment, it is appropriate that the catchment is used as a planning unit for resource management.
ICM should be considered as an "umbrella" concept encompassing interests only to the extent the community representatives want to deal with. It is hoped that this concept will lead to more effective use of resources and they will be better conserved when individuals and whole communities feel responsible for their use.
Sustainable management of natural resources is vital for the high quality of life to be enjoyed by future generation of Australians. The concept of ICM offers a unique chance to confront this issue in a participative manner by all stakeholders. The Institution fully supports this concept and is prepared to contribute to the development of ICM by:
Integrated Catchment Management is based on the following principles:
While the ICM strategy emphasises community responsibility for management of natural resources, there are a number of activities which can be fostered by government agencies, research organisations and universities as well as professional societies. These include regulation, resource assessment and monitoring, research and development, planning, extension, education and awareness. All these activities should be an essential part of ICM.
While different problems may have different priorities in an individual catchment, the issues listed below appear to be common throughout Australia:
The above issues (list of which is by no means exhaustive) are best dealt with by representatives of landholders, industry and general community ensuring sustainable use of natural resources in the catchment.
The purpose of ICM is to integrate the management of land, water and related biological resources to achieve sustainable and balanced use of these resources.
The main goals of ICM should be :
These goals provide a framework for fostering the adoption of sound natural resource management practices and the coordination of both government and non-government planning and action in rural and urban areas.
The above goals are best achieved through participation in existing community groups. These may include: Landcare groups, advisory committees, conservation groups or river improvement trusts. Already-established groups have a better chance to gain enough community support to address interrelated land and water issues and to develop appropriate catchment management strategies.
Where the issues are more serious and require coordinated action involving many individuals, groups and agencies, the formation of more formal catchment coordinating committees (CCC) is appropriate.
Catchment Management Strategies (CMS) should provide the basis for addressing significant issues in catchments and provide important guidance on the use and management of natural resources.
In particular, the issues that this process should address include inter alia:
As these issues are complex, CMS should be developed with the assistance of professional government and non-government organisations and/or professional associations to ensure scientific soundness of the managerial approach.
Implementation of CMS is encouraged through the action of individuals, community based groups, and/or organisations and agencies. The strategies should also be linked to other local, catchment and regional planning initiatives. This enables key recommendations to be selected and implemented, eg through local government strategic plans, or by statutory bodies such as river improvement trusts.
It is considered that the most effective way of addressing catchment strategic issues in an integrated fashion is through a community and government partnership approach. The broad ICM strategy for the whole State should be prepared by the Government. Such a strategy should provide input for the strategic planning process by catchment coordinating committees, which in turn should prepare management strategies for their respective catchments. To coordinate activities of many CCCs, a Catchment Management Coordinating Committee (CMCC) should be established which reports to the Minister and provides overall guidance to ICM.
The major roles of the CMCC should be to:
The government should develop Natural Resource Legislation and its statutory bodies should be required to implement, manage and monitor catchment management works and practices (also initiated by the ICM committees).
Funding for these activities should be provided by the all levels of government and by industries active in the catchment. Such a mechanism reinforces the voluntary approach to ICM. It emphasises community responsibility, ownership by involving and empowering the community.
Catchment coordinating committees should:
Such an approach will create a participative action team by organising key industry, community and government stakeholders into a focused and energised group. Such a group is well placed to develop and implement appropriate strategy.
For further information please contact
National Committee on Water Engineering,
The Institution of Engineers, Australia
11 National Circuit Telephone. (02) 6270 6555
BARTON ACT 2600 Facsimile: (02) 6273 1488
Prepared on behalf of the National Committee on Water Engineering
Nov 1996
Last Modified:
Thursday, October 7, 2010 20:44
Comments to: peter.brady@eng.uts.edu.au