On Tuesday the 13th of August, 2024 amidst the excitement of the 11th Australian Stream Management Conference in beautiful Victor Harbor, South Australia, we celebrated the 2024 RBMS Awards Gala Dinner.

We acknowledge and recognise the deep and ongoing connection of the Ramindjeri and Ngarrindjeri people, where the awards were held and their ongoing custodianship of it. The River Basin Management Society would like to reaffirm and pay our respects to the elders past and present and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. We thank Cedric Varcoe for his Welcome to Country provided at the opening of the 11ASM Conference.

The 2024 Awards Gala was different to any other year, this year was the first time the RBMS has held the Awards with the ASM Conference. The purpose of which was to truly elevate it and make it a national event. And by all accounts it was a success and wonderful evening of celebration.

The Awards Gala was held at the McCracken Convention Centre and brought together over 150 people to recognise and celebrate the incredible work that is undertaken in the field of integrated catchment management. The evening commenced with the incredibly talented and hilarious Master of Ceremonies and Comedian, Kevin Kropinyeri who filled the room with laughter throughout the evening.

Janice Taylor now Immediate Past President, provided the President’s address and reflected on the essence of the RBMS, the hard work and dedication of the volunteers both within the RBMS committee and the ASM and Gala organising committee’s, stating “volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart”. She also touched upon the purpose of the Awards Gala, which is to recognise and show appreciation toward our peers and colleagues, communities and traditional owners for their enduring commitment, passion and drive to improve our catchments, noting that the work within our field is meaningful and we all deserve to feel valued and celebrated.

This was followed by an insightful presentation by Dr Sue Pillans a visual communicator / artist and scientist invited to attend the 11ASM Conference to capture through her graphic recording skills the big picture of our overall theme ” Interweaving Water Knowledge”.

 

It was a fantastic evening that brought together people from all over Australia and from all types of work within integrated catchment management.  Congratulations to all award recipients!

Photos from the night are available HERE.

 

The Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) award for:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge and Practice in Waterway Management

Winner – Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation – Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Management Program 

Runner-up – Water Technology – First Nations Knowledge in Water Modelling: An implementation Case Study

Highly Commended -Department for Environment and Water – SA Constraints Measures project- Pomberuk co-design working group 

 

The La Trobe Centre for Freshwater Ecosystem Research award for:

Advancing Waterway Management through Graduate Research

Winner – Deakin University – Blending cultural science with genetic techniques for Kooyang (Anguilla australis) conservation 

 

The Streamology award for:

Building Knowledge in Waterway Management

Winner – Macquarie University – The River Styles Initiative: Advancing river management across NSW 

Runner-up – Melbourne Water – The Healthy Waterways Strategy MERI creates better waterway health outcomes 

Highly Commended – Seqwater – South East Queensland Source Protection Community of Practice 

 

The Department for Environment and Water (South Australia) award for:

Innovation in Waterway Management

Winner – Streamology – How MrsP will protect our future urban waterways: Method for Regional Stormwater Priorities 

Runner-up – Streamology – Revolutionising riverbank vegetation monitoring with drones 

Highly Commended – Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA Victoria) – EPA Victoria’s Flood Recovery Vehicles Project 

 

 

The GHD award for:

Involving community in Waterway Management

Winner – Department for Environment and Water – Flows for the Future

Runner-up – Australian River Restoration Centre (ARRC) – The Forgotten River – Saving the Upper Murrumbidgee

Highly Commended – Alluvium – Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative

 

The City of Victor Harbor award for:

Outstanding Waterway Management Project

Winner – Department for Environment and Water – South Australian Riverland Floodplains Integrated Infrastructure Program 

Runner-up – Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, ACT Government – ACT Healthy Waterways Program 

Highly Commended – Bligh Tanner – Hanlon Park Bur’uda 

 

 

Conference Awards

As part of this joint initiative of hosting the Awards Gala with the ASM Conference, the RBMS included the following Conference Awards and extend our congratulations to the following Conference Award recipients: 

 

RBMS Best 11ASM Conference Paper

  • Winner – Kirstie Fryirs – Delivering Natural Flood Management (NFM): Working with geomorphic, vegetative and hydrological recovery in nature-based river management 
  • Runner-up – Belinda Hatt – Understanding and saving headwater streams in urbanizing areas 
  • Highly Commended – Sharyn Rossrakesh – Healthy Waterways Strategy mid-term review – Learning by Doing

 

RBMS Best 11ASM Conference Poster

  • Winner – Qifeng Li – Monitoring ecological responses to Commonwealth environmental water in the lower Murray river 
  • Runner-up – Andrew Morris- The Branch Catchment Management Project: Leveraging, Partnerships and Patience? 
  • Highly Commended – Carter Lybeck- Geomorphic differences in gravel-bed rivers three years after high-intensity bushfire?

 

RBMS Best 11ASM Conference Presentation

  • Winner – Ross Hardie – The use of long-term monitoring data to inform the analysis of, and prognosis for, an incised stream system: The Cann River in Far East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
  • Runner-up – Priya van Ryn – Environmental flows in the city: delivering benefits with excess water? 
  • Highly Commended – Katherine G Warwick – Full metal jacket: The accumulation of metal pollutants in the fur of platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). How does water pollution impact a high trophic order predator?? 

 

2024 Awards Gala Judging Panel 

The RBMS would like to thank the Judging Panel for their time, effort and expertise to carefully review the project nominations against the selection criteria. 

Please note where a conflict of interest was declared, the judges were asked not to review or provide input into the scoring or comments.  

 

A special thank you to:

  • Everyone who nominated and their supporting organisations and partners
  • The Awards Gala committee – Janice Taylor, Claire Fitzpatrick, Josie McGushin, Apanie Woods and Adelina Lawrence.
  • The judging panel – as mentioned above.
  • Event sponsors  – Water Technology, Government of South Australia – Department for Environment and Water, Streamology, La Trobe University, Australian River Restoration Centre, GHD, and City of Victor Harbor, as well as media support from NRM jobs and the Australian River Restoration Centre
  • Event partners – ASN Event Management and Principal Partner support from Business Events Adelaide, South Australia Tourism and Government of South Australia.

 

 

We want to recognise all the nominations we received, which you can view HERE.

Photos from the night are available HERE.

 

We look forward to celebrating with you again at the 12ASM Conference and 2026 RBMS Awards Gala in a couple of years!