Public acceptance and involvement is being increasingly recognised as critical to the overall success of natural resource management. Environmental water delivery is a management tool that is becoming more frequently used to restore riverine ecosystems, however it has the potential to be viewed both positively and negatively by the community.

Commonwealth environmental watering actions have been undertaken in the Edward-Wakool system in southern New South Wales since 2010. The Edward-Wakool system is a significant natural resource asset and there is a diverse and active community in the region that is concerned about the future of this system. There is broad support for environmental watering in this system, and the community has expressed the desire to be more involved and have the opportunity to contribute to adaptive management.

The community have been engaged in a range of activities associated with environmental watering in the Edward-Wakool system. Stakeholder engagement has been classified according to IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation (Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate and Empower). Examples of community engagement include i) membership on steering committees (empower), ii) participation in strategic adaptive management workshops and a fish restocking program (collaborate), iii) involvement in water quality monitoring and fish tagging programs (involve), iv) individual contact with landholders that may be potentially impacted by environmental watering actions (consult), and v) attendance at a range of events such as ‘Native Fish Awareness Week’ (inform).

Engagement activities reached a broad range of stakeholder groups and a large number of individuals within each group, resulting in high levels of awareness and public interest in the Edward-Wakool system, its management in general and watering activities specifically. While there have been clear benefits of engaging with the community in adaptively managing environmental water, some notable gaps and areas for improvement were also identified.