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Healthy Waterways Ltd

Healthy Land and Water is an independent organisation working to improve the sustainable use of land and waterways in South-East Queensland.

Our evidence-based knowledge, innovative tools and extensive networks mean we are well-placed to reduce the leading pressures on our natural environment and provide best-practice scientific advice to inform waterway and landscape investment.

We monitor and report on the condition of South East Queensland’s waterways and provide capacity building for professionals and community groups. We support policy and planning decisions that benefit our natural assets, and our education programs inspire and motivate the community to value and protect our local environment.

With a head office in Brisbane and several other offices in regional areas, we work across all of South East Queensland. We have a long track record of successful initiatives that have improved the condition of the region’s natural resources, providing economic value and supporting community engagement with healthy land and water assets.

Our team reflects our knowledge and passion and our partners include prominent local leaders, government and community members.

1. Monitoring and understanding waterway condition, pressures and socio-economic benefits
2. Tracking the effectiveness of management actions
3. Communicating scientific information for easy use and adoption
4. Underpinning policy, planning and investment with evidenced-based approaches
5. Providing decision support tools to inform investment and targets
6. Building capacity through facilitation, advice, guidelines, tools and training
7. Developing incentive frameworks to improve urban landscapes
8. Identifying solutions that maximise waterway benefits
9. Education programs to improve willingness, ability and behaviour
10. Developing and delivering behaviour change initiatives.

  • Monitoring Program
    The Healthy Waterways Monitoring Program is one of the most comprehensive waterway monitoring programs in Australia. The framework has been nationally and internationally recognised, studied and adapted. The introduction of a ‘waterways benefit’ assessment in 2015 provides the methodology to quantify the benefits and services that waterways provide to local communities, and how these are impacted or enhanced by environmental condition. This is the first program to combine these elements and demonstrate their intrinsic link, providing the insight and information required to drive the development of targeted, best-practice waterway management that achieves significant environmental, economic and social outcomes.
  • Water by Design Program
    Through our Water by Design Program, Healthy Waterways works closely with government, natural resource management groups, water utilities, consultancies, property developers and other industry and community groups to increase both the willingness and ability to manage urban water sustainably. We actively manage Australia’s most comprehensive suite of guidelines and training to support good urban water management, and constantly adapt this portfolio to suit a dynamic environment of policy and practice. We also work to improve institutional capacity to deliver on-ground outcomes by engaging with and supporting a network of scientists, professionals and policymakers nationally and internationally through advice and training.
  • Living Waterways
    Healthy Waterways, in partnership with stakeholders from across coastal Queensland, developed Living Waterways to align traditional stormwater principles with place-making benefits. This inspirational tool delivers on-ground outcomes through an innovative scoring framework. The framework provides flexibility and the confidence that a proposed stormwater management approach will deliver outcomes that communities will find desirable. When managed locally, urban stormwater is a key resource for communities. By bringing it back to the surface, urban areas become greener and cooler, physical and mental wellbeing is increased along with climate change resilience, while reducing stormwater impacts on natural systems.
  • Erosion and Sediment Control
    Sediment runoff from construction sites is a major impact to the health of our waterways, bays and the Great Barrier Reef. Strong policy exists in Queensland, however there is currently a very poor standard of erosion and sediment control. Healthy Waterways is delivering a three year project in collaboration with the Queensland Government to build the institutional capacity of local government, industry and community to improve this practice by raising awareness and influencing key decision makers to support on-ground action
  • Behaviour Change Campaigns
    Healthy Waterways has developed an innovative campaign framework that aims to deliver measurable community behaviour change for the protection of our waterways. The campaign is underpinned by a Community Behaviour Social Marketing methodology and has been successfully implemented as a pilot project to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles entering South East Queensland’s waterways. The campaign methodology is now being adapted to focus on reducing sediment runoff leaving construction sites.
  • Network – stakeholder engagement
    Through the Healthy Waterways Network and governance structure, we actively engage and develop strategic relationships with government, industry, research, community and other key stakeholders across the region. We act as the core organisation, facilitating the building and sharing of knowledge, and providing access to expertise and capability in all aspects of waterway management.
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