Rivers on Fire & Flood Forum – The Journey to Resilience

Charles Sturt at Port Macquarie hosted the International River Foundation’s Rivers on Fire & Flood Forum in 2021. The Rivers on Fire event series aimed to understand the impacts raise awareness, and create a call for action to address the effects on waterways and surrounding communities.

Two of our environmental scientists, Dr Alexandra Knight and Dr Jessica Tout-Lyon, drew on their research and personal experience of bushfires and floods when they delivered the keynote address, “From the Mountains to the Sea – through drought, fire and flood on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia.”

The scientists described how in the previous 18 months, the most widespread, driest, and warmest drought on record in the region culminated in a five-month-long bushfire that spread on an unprecedented scale, engulfing south-eastern Australia, including its rivers.

“Relief arrived in the form of rain, resulting in two smaller floods which transported ash, sediment and debris into rivers, some of which flowed for the first time in years,” they said.

“The flood events were quickly followed by large-scale fish kills and closure of oyster farms.”