Finalists from five countries vie for prize

Eight river management projects have been announced as finalists in the National and International Thiess Riverprize, worth a total of $400,000.

Government and community groups from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, China and Austria have received recognition for their work in tackling pollution, water quality, erosion and flooding.

"The four Australian projects in the running for the $100,000 National Thiess Riverprize are; a restoration scheme to improve Lake Macquarie, a wetlands recovery project managing water delivery in the Murray-Darling Basin, a three-year initiative to restore south-east Queensland's Maroochy River and a national River Recovery Programme run by Greening Australia to re-establish 10,000 km of Australia's iconic rivers," Riversymposium chair Professor Paul Greenfield said.

"The four international finalists competing for the $300,000 International Thiess Riverprize are; a collaborative approach by 13 European Union countries to improve the Danube River in Austria, a community development project managing stormwater and beautification projects in Waitakere in New Zealand, a project tackling flood control and water resource management for The Yellow River in China and a cooperative effort to improve water quality and restore coldwater fish stocks in Lake Simcoe in Canada."

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 4 September 2007 during the 10th International Riversymposium and Environmental Flows Conference in Brisbane, 3-6 September.

The National and International Thiess Riverprizes are a partnership between the International Riverfoundation (IRF) and Riverfestival, an annual 10-day celebration of Brisbane's river, people, culture and environment. The prize money is funded by IRF and the awards are managed by Riverfestival.

For further information, visit www.riversymposium.com.