Adaptive Management of Environmental Flows.

Area of Science:

• Ecohydraulics
• Environmental Management
• Adaptive Management

Background:

• Governments increasingly use adaptive management to navigate uncertainty in environmental flow decisions.
• This special issue examines adaptive management of environmental flows, challenging claims of limited successful implementation.
• Papers predominantly from Australia, stemming from the 11th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics.

Discussion:

• Case studies involving only researchers or community programs show limited impact on decision-making.
• Collaborative approaches involving water managers and researchers are more common.
• No studies feature equal contribution from researchers, managers, and local communities.

Key Insights:

• Successful adaptive management of environmental flows is more prevalent than commonly reported.
• Lack of reflection on management practices hinders the reporting of successes.
• Documenting successful adaptive management is crucial for broader learning and application.

Outlook:

• Enhancing the documentation of successful adaptive management is essential for disseminating lessons learned.
• Greater involvement of all stakeholders, including researchers, managers, and local communities, is critical.
• Increased stakeholder collaboration is vital for improving environmental flow outcomes through adaptive management.