Seeing rivers as living entities - Andrew Kelly's advocacy S25 Ep46

On this week's EarthChat, Jill and Tim talk with Andrew Kelly, a writer and waterways' advocate. As a writer, his focus is on children’s picture books, authoring and co-authoring many award-winning books, mainly with environmental themes. His most recent book is ‘Prayer for a River’ written with Uncle Glenn Loughrey.       He was the Yarra Riverkeeper for seven years, responsible for seeing the government follow through on its election commitment to treating the Yarra as a living entity. The living entity thinking has spread into our planning schemes for the Yarra Birrarung and into planning for Andrew, the waterways of the west of Melbourne, and the Barwon. Andrew has continued advocating for waterways as living entities as the convenor of The Waterways Network and as a founding member of the Concerned Waterways Alliance.       The focus of his work has extended beyond the Yarra to all southern Victorian waterways with an extended consideration of key policy issues involving water and waterways across Australia. He argues for a federal Water Act that encompasses all Australian waterways.Show NotesAccording to the Australian Water Association (AWA), Water use is about 340 litres/person/day although household water use did decline in 2022-23, possibly in response to increased water prices but also due to increased awareness of water efficiency measures.Household water use is comprised of: 30% showers 20% outdoors 1 % dishwasher 14% toilet 16% washing machine 19% tap, bath and other uses Water is a precious, life changing resource, essential for health, dignity and life quality.  It has a range of uses including: Human – household, agriculture, industry and amenity; Ecological - habitat, river systems and floodplains; and Earth Systems such as the water cycle and the carbon cycle which are intrinsic to survival Given the value of water in our lives and healthy natural systems, the fact that Australia is the driest inhabited continent should encourage everyone to work together on sustainable solutions to water challenges. Fair access to clean, fresh water is a shared responsibility and this is often more apparent in regional and remote areas  where cost, availability and quality are limiting factors.  Saving water leads to a healthy environment but urban expansion impacts on water availability and catchment health including damage to acquifers and public safety dangers from flooding. Capturing runoff and better storm water management are areas that need better planning and management. Water has significant cultural values so improved water security and reliability of flow is strongly linked to Indigenous water interests. Goulburn Valley Water www.gvwater.vic.gov.au Annual Water Outlook https://www.water.vic.gov.au Drought Preparedness Response Framework https://www.agriculture.vic.gov.au Australian Water Association (AWA) https://www.awa.asn.au Water Education Toolkit Wanda the Water Warrior Bureau of Meteorology www.bom.gov.au Water in Australia CSIRO Water Book https://www.csiro.au Concerned Waterways Alliance https://concernedwaterwaysalliance.org Taungurung Land and Waters Council https://taungurung.com.au Protects the cultural heritage of the Taungurung people and develops projects for the economic, social and cultural well-being as well as providing services for land and water management to ensure environmental and cultural heritage preservation. River Connect www.riverconnect.com.au An initiative of the Shepparton-Muroopna community to acknowledge the Goulburn and Broken Rivers as the heart and soul of the community. Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists https://wentworthgroup.org Prayer for a River (Uncle Glenn Loughrey and Andrew Kelly), 2025, published by Wild Dog, distributed by Simon and Schuster, www.simonandschuster.com.au Water Cycle Adaptation Plan https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au Waterways Network www.waterwaysnetwork.com.au Victorian Water Accounts/Water Register  Https://wate