Evaluation of the Environmental Water Management Program

Over the last 100 years, the river systems in NSW have been fundamentally changed through extensive regulation, such as dams, weirs, locks and channels. These changes have disrupted the natural patterns and volumes of flows in rivers, negatively affecting the environment. In NSW, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Environment, Energy and Science manages water allocated to the environmental through the Environmental Water Management Program (EWMP).

The EWMP is a complex program operating in a contested policy arena that makes interventions into complex ecological systems. The objective is to ensure an allocation of water to support environmental outcomes. These policy, governance and ecological systems are made up of many interdependent elements that interact and change, often in nonlinear ways (including ‘tipping points’ and exponential growth, which is often irreversible). This is not the kind of problem that is solvable simply through research or experimentation—it is dynamic and must be managed adaptively.

Enabling the EWMP to be an innovative and adaptive ‘learning program’ depends on ensuring that there is strategic Monitoring and Evaluation, and coherent research and development that is integrated and applied.

ARTD was commissioned to undertake an evaluation to assess whether the EWMP had made a difference to the health of rivers and wetlands in NSW. The focus was on the implementation of the recommendations from the 2006-13 evaluation, using a systems theory approach in order to evaluate the health of the system which supports the underlying environmental system which the program aims to maintain and improve.

This evaluation was designed and implemented using a systems evaluation approach. This process commenced with a workshop with program staff to define the system and its component parts.

Elements important to this approach include:

• defining the EWMP as a system, with several subsystems
• determining how the EWMP’s subsystems are functioning
• evaluating systems that support the management of environmental water in NSW
• identifying opportunities for improving the EWMP.

Data sources included a document review (145 program documents), field visit to the Macquarie River region, a survey of stakeholders (n=125 respondents) and interviews with staff and stakeholders (n=43 interviews).

An iterative and interactive process using a combination of methods and data sources was used to determine and answer the key evaluation questions.

This evaluation provides guidance for the EWMP in conducting future improvements to the program. It may be used as a tool for program staff and stakeholders to disseminate learnings throughout the program and support evidence-based decision making that can adapt to changing environments.

Recommendations focussed around disseminating information and enhancing local community engagement; strengthening program capacity and systematising EWAG processes; and developing and implementing robust systems of gathering evidence.