We are diverse, and experienced, and most importantly we have a strong heritage of supporting sustainable water management.
We are incredibly lucky to have an organisation with people like Daxa Bhudia, our Software Developer, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to eWater Group.
Daxa has worked in the IT industry in both Australia and internationally for over eight years, and at eWater she is responsible for working on Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source.
Daxa’s love for software development and IT began early in the halls of her high school in Bhuj, India, and led her to complete her bachelor’s degree in IT. From there, Daxa worked across various domains including accounting, ERP systems, supply chain management, healthcare, logistics, petroleum, and manufacturing, before she entered the world of hydrology and science and joined eWater in 2022.
“I was amazed with the products developed at eWater that how it helps so much across the world for managing water resources and water quality.”
“The region from where I come is very dry with low rainfall near to a salt desert in Kutch, [a district of Gujarat state in western India]. I have seen water crises in my childhood and heard stories from my parents about having to walk for so long in the morning just to get drinkable water. Even this is still the case in some of the regions in India.”
eWater Group is owned by Australian Federal, State and Territory governments to maintain and further develop Australia’s world-class modelling tools, and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally. The Group manages three divisions – eWater Solutions, Australian Water Partnership and Mekong Water Solutions – to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.
Daxa is a critical member of our eWater Solutions team which deliver eWater Source (Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform), together with other water management tools and support, for our Australian government partners, water managers in the public, private and research sectors, and various other clients.
Daxa’s role includes working closely with our developers and hydrology teams to provide software development and hydrological modelling services that advance Australia’s world-class water resource modelling tools, and our expertise, for our partners in Australia and around the world.
Daxa enjoys the problem-solving aspect of her role at eWater and finding innovative solutions to persistent and new challenges.
“I enjoy working on complex software, learning about hydrology, and incorporating it into the software. I always look forward to coming to work as it challenges my ability and enables me to give 100 percent and do my best.”
eWater Group and its partnership with Mekong River Commission
Australia has a long and proud history of supporting water resource management in the Mekong region.
eWater Group’s three divisions – eWater Solutions, Australian Water Partnership, and Mekong Water Solutions – play a critical role in sharing Australia’s technology and helping to build capabilities in the region.
Australia has been a partner of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) since its inception in 1995. The MRC is an intergovernmental organisation, established “to help the lower Mekong countries build consensus around solutions that ensure a sustainable future for the Mekong and its people through basin monitoring, assessment, data and information sharing, and dialogue and cooperation.”
Since 2013, eWater Group has supported the Vientiane-based MRC and its four member countries (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam) to enhance the management of the Mekong River’s water for the benefit of all who depend on it.
So how do we support the MRC?
Through the Australian Water Partnership, Australia has mobilised assistance on a range of strategically important issues including sustainable hydropower, regional flood and drought management, and management of fisheries in the rapidly developing river. Several Australian organisations are involved in delivering technical and capacity development support as part of Australia’s long-standing partnership.
Through eWater Solutions, we have helped the MRC to increase their understanding of inflows into the river and the impacts of dams in the river basin on flow levels and sediment transportation through our flagship software product, eWater Source. This world-class science and technology platform is playing a key role in delivering several elements of the MRC 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, including the report on low flow and drought conditions in 2019-2021, the Joint Study between MRC and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Water Centre on Changing Pattern of Hydrological Conditions in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin and enhancements to the MRC’s Flood/Drought webpage to better integrate data and communicate vital information on river flows.
For our Solutions team, recent activities have included:
advice on quality control procedures for incorporating hydromet (water and meteorology) data into MRC systems, to better inform day-to-day operations and provide faster response times;
advice on the implementation of the MRC Procedures for data, water use and flow monitoring;
supporting the initiative of the MRC Document Management System to ensure experience and knowledge from the past informs future planning;
contributing to the report on low flow and drought conditions in 2019-2021, which was well received by international stakeholders;
upgrading the Mekong Source model to incorporate new information, such as the storage strategies of reservoirs, in preparation for the Joint Study between MRC and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Water Centre on Changing Pattern of Hydrological Conditions in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin;
coordinating and consolidating technical inputs from both the MRC and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Water Centre team members into the report of the Joint study;
enhancing the MRC’s Flood/Drought webpage to better integrate data and communicate vital information on river flows.
According to eWater Group’s Principal Hydrologist and Mekong Team Leader, Dr Paradis Someth, “the success of eWater’s involvement with the MRC has been due to visionary leadership and trust of both parties and our work being clearly and directly aligned with the MRC Strategic Plan, which has ensured support from across the MRC Secretariat and relevant stakeholders.”
“Our collaborative partnership, with its strong focus on advice and coaching for staff in MRCS and member countries, has helped to develop the necessary skills and expertise to improve management of the Mekong River,” Dr Someth said.
For Australian Water Partnership General Manager, Sarah Ransom, “the long-term partnership with the Mekong River Commission represents shared trust with one another, and a shared interest in sustainable management and development of water resources in the Mekong basin. We look forward to continuing our support in the region.”
Over this period, eWater has enjoyed close working relations with the MRC Secretariat Leadership team and DFAT’s Mekong regional water team.
Meet Lucy Chilver, Australian Water Partnership
Lucy Chilver, Program Officer, Australian Water Partnership
eWater Group’s mission has always been to deliver sustainable water management solutions while sharing knowledge and experts in both Australia and internationally, and our people are central to achieving our mission.
Our organisation is made up of three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership, and Mekong Water Solutions – we are diverse and experienced, but most importantly we have a shared interest in supporting sustainable water management.
Lucy Chilver, Program Officer, AWP
Lucy Chilver is our Program Officer, within the Australian Water Partnership (AWP), where she supports the delivery of several activities in the Mekong region.
Lucy has an interesting role within the AWP where no two days are the same; she engages and supports our partners, prepares for existing and future projects, and helps promote our work to our many stakeholders.
For Lucy, her role at the AWP marks the beginning of her industry experience after completing a Bachelor of Development Studies at the Australian National University. After almost a year in our organisation we are excited about the positive impact Lucy has had in her nine months and counting.
“I enjoy working as part of a team, I learn a lot from my colleagues and always feel supported. It is very rewarding to work for an organisation that is supporting countries to work towards sustainable water resource management.”
“I am excited to see where this role takes me, and very grateful for the opportunity to work for AWP early in my career.”
Working within the AWP enables Lucy the opportunity to connect and engage with our international partners, particularly in the Mekong where she was able to see first-hand the impact our activities are having in-country and offer new insights into how we can better support the region.
The Mekong region is particularly vulnerable to climate change, which poses a threat to water sustainability and exacerbates water scarcity. For Lucy, continuing to invest in the water sector is critical to addressing this threat.
“We need to evaluate options for climate adaptation and resilience, improve management practices, and develop new water-saving tools and methodologies.”
“It is also important to encourage cooperation and knowledge exchange so people can share experiences and lessons learned.”
Sharing diverse experiences and lessons is critical to making a real difference on climate change and water sustainability in the Mekong region, and of course, in Australia too.
At eWater Group we are committed to supporting our people to bring new insights, experiences, critical thinking, and knowledge to everything we do. As we say, our people are central to our organisation and help us deliver sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally.
Supporting more diversity in our workplace, and in the water sector as a whole, is key to encouraging more diverse thinking and approaches to protect our most precious resource, water.
For Lucy, creating more leadership roles for women and girls needs to be further encouraged as, “women can bring new and different perspectives to all kinds of problem-solving. From their particular experiences in accessing and using water at a community level, women and girls often have a profound understanding of the challenges posed by insecure access to quality water, and so their involvement can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water project outcomes.”
We couldn’t agree more!
Food security depends on better water management
Food security depends on better water management
Damien Pearson, General Manager, eWater Solutions
World Water Day (March 22) this year provided an opportunity to reflect on the importance of best practice water management solutions to support our global food security. In 2022 the world’s population reached eight billion people.[i] With 8 billion mouths to feed, we need to ask a lot from the world’s food producing regions and we need to do a lot to support the ask.
We can feel proud of the role Australian technologies are playing to improve the management of the world’s precious water resources. One of the key benefits of these efforts is significant improvement in the sustainability and productivity of many of the world’s irrigated agricultural regions, a vital endeavour to sustainably improve global diet, nutrition and health outcomes.
Irrigated agriculture today represents 20 percent of the total cultivated land and contributes 40 percent of global agricultural output. Irrigated agriculture is, on average, at least twice as productive per unit of land as rainfed agriculture, thereby allowing for more production intensification and crop diversification. The World Bank estimates that agricultural production will need to expand by up to 70 percent by 2050 to feed humanity[ii], just as climate change is making rainfall less predictable. Better management of water resources and improved efficiency in the use of water in agriculture will be essential to meet the additional demand upon water resources.
This need is being responded to with significant global investment. Many of the world’s food producing regions are presently within a golden age with significant investments enhancing crop-per-drop by adopting precision irrigation scheduling technologies, modern high efficiency water application systems, and highly efficient surface water conveyance networks.
One of the key investment questions to be asked is whether we truly understand the future capacity of rivers and catchments to supply the water that irrigation systems rely on. As we focus on improvements in the management of water from the catchment to the root zone of the crop, are our decisions informed by an understanding of the future possible water availability in the irrigation area? Hydrological modelling systems such as eWater’s Source address these very questions by enabling water resource managers to assess future inflow scenarios and the agricultural production that can be sustained. This is vital to making well-informed food security investment decisions.
eWater is proud to be a part of the story of managing the waters of Australia’s Murray Darling Basin. Australia’s national water modelling platform, eWater Source, is being used for planning the sustainable use of the Basin’s water resources and increasingly for operating the Murray River system to efficiently deliver water to users.
eWater Source provides a reliable and repeatable means for managing surface water, entitlements and allocations, climate change impacts on the water cycle such as increased rates of evapotranspiration and managing the inevitable trade-offs in water demand and use.
eWater Source map
As Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling System, eWater Source is used in many developing countries where food security is a immediately pressing development challenge, and where, sadly, large populations are on the edge of poverty.
Our integrated modelling platform is highly valued by international governments wanting to access Australia’s water expertise and tools. We are increasingly working with international clients to develop Source models and build their water management capacity.
Global food security will depend on improved water management in agriculture and eWater Source has become an important tool for delivering water when and where it is needed by farmers.
Damien Pearson is the General Manager for eWater Solutions. His career has focused on technologies to improve water use efficiencies within irrigation areas in the Murray-Darling Basin, the Americas, Central Asia, Northern Africa and Europe. Damien is a systems engineer by training with extensive career experience in hydraulic modelling, software development, embedded systems development, and network distributed measurement and control technologies.
Prior to joining eWater, Damien served for 23-years in a range of roles within Australian water technology company Rubicon Water. Damien’s roles spanned R&D, product development, management of Rubicon’s North American operations and subsequent management of global business development. Damien’s experience includes the implementation of some of the world’s largest integrated control and measurement solutions to precisely manage agricultural water supply networks. This career history has provided Damien with extensive experience in the challenges faced by water users and management authorities, and the provision of tools to facilitate the improved management of water systems.
Our people are central to what we do here at eWater Group.
Supporting and empowering our people to deliver sustainable water management solutions is critical to our success, and that includes creating opportunities, and empowering our people to find solutions to increasingly changing environments both in Australia and overseas.
This year, we are marking International Women’s Day by supporting UN Women Australia’s theme: Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future.
Michael Wilson, eWater Group CEO
eWater Group CEO, Michael Wilson says, “eWater Group is a passionate advocate and agent for gender equality and the empowerment of women. International Women’s Day gives our organisation and our employees the chance to celebrate achievements on gender equity and diversity more generally. We are an employer of choice and embrace and celebrate diversity in how we work as an organisation, and how we work with our partners, both in Australia and overseas.
“I am really proud of our people, who all support and empower each other to contest conventional ways of thinking and to innovate to strengthen our impact, including through the extraordinary work we are able to do to help communities in Australia – and in developing countries across the globe – manage their water more sustainably.”
eWater Group is owned by Australian federal, state, and territory governments to maintain and further develop Australia’s world-class water modelling tools, and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally. The Group manages three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership and Mekong Water Solutions – to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.
We asked our people to share their thoughts on what we, as a global community, can do to support innovation and technology for gender equality for women and girls in the water sustainability and management sector.
Dr Laura Beckwith, Mekong Coordinator, Australian Water Partnership
Innovations in technology are creating new opportunities for communication and connection but these opportunities are not equally available, according to Dr Beckwith.
“Worldwide, women and girls – as well as older people, people in rural areas and other marginalised groups– face additional barriers to access and engagement with technology, particular through internet connectivity – the so-called ‘digital divide’.”
“In the water sector, innovation and technology can provide many benefits to how we monitor, measure, manage and communicate about water, but there is a need to ensure that women and girls – and other marginalised groups– have a voice in shaping how water is used and managed. Participatory approaches to planning and decision-making can help to ensure that innovation in the water sector will foster sustainable and inclusive solutions.”
Lucy Chilver, Program Manager, Australian Water Partnership
For Lucy, creating more leadership roles for women and girls needs to be further encouraged as, “women can bring new and different perspectives to all kinds of problem-solving. From their experiences in accessing and using water at a community level, women and girls often have a profound understanding of the challenges posed by insecure access to quality water, and so their involvement can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water project outcomes.”
As one of our most respected and senior hydrologists, Juanita Moolman, has been at eWater since 2012 where she has been instrumental in helping to build the capacity of future generations to meet the challenges that will be facing global water availability.
“As part of my role I have had the opportunity to train and mentor hydrologists from across the region as well as our own team and sharing my knowledge and experience with them is very rewarding for me.”
Praveeni Prematilleke, Senior Test Analyst, eWater Solutions
“I believe we can empower women in information technology by providing equal opportunities for both technical and leadership roles, including mentoring and providing support to booth their confidence.”
A sustainable workforce requires diversity. Giving women and girls opportunities to consider hydrology, or other STEM roles, starts with education and creating opportunities to go into these fields as adults, as well as breaking down the barriers for current female hydrologists in the industry.
“I believe we need more women and girls in hydrology to maintain gender diversity for creating a healthy work environment at workplaces. We also need more women in higher management to foster gender equality and put forth women in leadership to ensure this principle is implemented.”
Samira Azadi, Hydrologist, eWater Solutions
“We need to make sure we take the mystery out of hydrology. We need to show women and girls that hydrology is a fantastic field to work in and that you can take the theory and work in many places throughout the world.”
“I also believe it is important that we mentor and support women in our industry. I believe that is key to supporting each other to ensure diversity of thinking in our field.”
Daxa Bhudia, Software Developer, eWater Solutions
For Daxa the key to support more diversity in a workplace is to see more “gender-balanced workplaces, and more women in leadership roles. This improves workplace culture and leads to creative changes in industries.”
Sopheara Prom, Finance and Procurement Manager, Mekong Water Solutions
For Sopheara it is important to encourage women and girls to feel more supported within the industry; giving them opportunities to raise their voice and have their opinion heard in the water sector.
Channpisey Nop, Irrigation Engineer, Mekong Water Solutions
Channpisey is a real champion of support more women and girls into the water sector in Cambodia and in the life of society.
“The woman performs the role of wife, partner, organizer, administrator, director, re-creator, disburser, economist, mother, disciplinarian, teacher, health officer, artist, and queen in the family at the same time. Apart from it, woman plays a key role in the socio-economic development of society.”
“Globally, women have become engines for economic growth. Achieving gender diversity in enterprises is of critical importance to improving business outcomes. Women are often under-represented in the academic and professional fields of engineering, and not enough women have contributed as much as they should be able to the diverse fields of engineering historically and now.”
“For example, at Mekong Water Solutions, I am the only female engineer, so more work needs to be done to support more women and girls in engineering, but we are committed to doing that.”
“We need to encourage women and girls to feel supported to be innovative in the water space, need more value from people around them for their skills by providing more benefits for their hard work, encouraging them to believe in themselves.”
We celebrate and support International Women’s Day
Encouraging and inspiring words from the incredible people who work across the full spectrum of roles we have at eWater Group in Australia and internationally.
International Women’s Day is about celebrating the diverse skills and experience women bring to our communities, and workplace.
eWater Group is proud to support International Women’s Day and acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of our people make to our mission to support sustainable water management solutions for people and communities right across Australia and overseas.
Meet Our People – Laura Beckwith
The health and wellbeing of urban environments and the people who inhabit them continues to be a challenge for government and decision makers, private sector, and experts, now and into the future.
How we meet increasing demands for better water management and resources, as well as protect the local environment, is a conversation that eWater Group and our extraordinary, experienced experts are excited to be a part of.
The Australian Water Partnership, managed on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as part of the eWater Group, plays a pivotal role in sharing and deploying Australian expertise in sustainable water management to improve water security in the Indo-Pacific region. AWP is one of the Australian Government’s flagship initiatives in natural resource management and climate resilience, helping to tackle poverty and realise the Sustainable Development Goals in our region and globally.
The importance of valuing different kinds of knowledge in water governance together with meeting our current and future needs is central to our resident Mekong Coordinator, Laura Beckwith, who represents our organisation in the region.
Laura Beckwith, Mekong Coordinator, AWP
Who is Laura Beckwith?
Laura isn’t new to the world of water governance and sustainable water management. She holds a PhD in International Development from the University of Ottawa in Canada, specialising in urban adaptation to climate change.
She has lived and worked in the Mekong Region since 2017, leading research on community responses to socio-ecological change in the Mekong Delta. In addition to this, she also brings more than 10 years’ experience in grant and relationship management in East Africa, Canada, and the UK.
With such a broad background, how did all roads lead to the Australian Water Partnership and the eWater Group?
After five years of living in East Africa and Canada, Laura wanted to take her PhD and apply it to Southeast Asia and how their communities were adapting to an ever-changing environment. This decision led her to Cambodia where she engaged with urban farmers in Phnom Penh to understand how they were impacted by urban expansion through wetland in-filling alongside environmental change, such as flooding, increase in temperature, and variability of storms as part of the regional Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia (UCRSEA) project. Laura’s research highlighted the importance of urban wetlands to food security, livelihoods, and wastewater management.
Water is such a significant part of Cambodia’s identity, and with Phnom Penh being built on three major rivers, the sustainable management of water and its resources is critical. “Water is such an important part of the history of the city, you can’t work or study here, or even live here, without your work or life touching water one way or another; it influences the city.”
Your work at the Australian Water Partnership
Laura now supports our efforts in the Mekong region by providing a regional perspective and expertise on the ground including insights and challenges as well as managing projects and engaging with local government and water experts in country. AWP will also work closely with Mekong Water Solutions, a new initiative also funded by DFAT aimed at establishing better water technical and multi-disciplinary project management skills within the Mekong region itself.
“I love the variety of the role, the challenges; I am doing different things every day. I love that I am working in the region in different contexts, including Cambodia and Vietnam and now I am having the opportunity to learn about the diversity and challenges of Laos. It is exciting.”
“It is exciting for me to be working for an organisation that is engaging with governments in a meaningful way. It is important that governments and local and national institutions are leading the way on conversations and responses to water resources and challenges facing the water sector.”
One invaluable insight for Laura was her recent engagement with local water experts who were appreciative of AWP’s technical support and collaborative approach, which was supporting their efforts to deliver successful water projects in the region.
It is this feedback that drives Australian Water Partnership and its experts to continue to do the work that they do; being represented in the region provides support to the success of our organisation but importantly to the protection of our most precious resource – water.
So how do we protect our water resources now and into the future?
For Laura, one of the many challenges we face right now is planning for a future we don’t know, and how we put in systems now for a tomorrow. “Global environmental change and particularly climate change is creating a lot of uncertainty which will challenge the way we use and manage water.” A challenge all humans, governments and institutions need to consider as demand for natural resources continues to grow.
Laura believes the Australian Water Partnership approach of working together with local government and institutions is the best way forward to have lasting change.
Meet Our People – Praveeni Prematilleke
How we contribute to sustainable water management can come in many shapes and sizes, but what is consistent is our commitment to protecting our most precious resource, water.
eWater Group is made up of hydrologists, software developers, water industry experts and innovators. We are diverse, experienced, and most importantly we have a strong heritage of supporting sustainable water management.
Praveeni Prematilleke is our Senior Test Analyst who works with our developers and hydrologists to ensure we deliver quality software, functionality and an exceptional user experience for all Australian governments and other clients. She offers our partners and clients, together with our team, the support they need to make the right decisions when it comes to sustainable water management, which includes delivering eWater Source, the National Hydrological Modelling Platform.
Praveeni Prematilleke, Senior Test Analyst
After obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunications and Network) in 2014 from Swinburne University of Technology, and briefly working in the industry, Praveeni changed her sights on a career in testing.
“I decided to make a career change as I was interested in exploring software developing/quality assurance opportunities. I find my testing career gives me the perfect balance between coding and stakeholder interactions.”
What is your role at eWater Group?
After starting her testing career in 2015 as a Technical Tester, Praveeni made the move to Canberra and to eWater Group. Since joining in 2018, Praveeni has become an integral part of our eWater Solutions team, and of course the wider organisation for her contributions to software and water management.
“I’m a nature enthusiast and I was always a huge supporter for conserving natural resources. When I first heard about the opportunity at eWater, it made me curious to explore more about their mission and the range of software products managed by them.”
“It is truly satisfying to know that the software we implement at eWater is contributing to sustainable water management, something that would benefit the world in many ways.”
For a software tester, no two days are the same, especially when it comes to testing on complex applications like eWater Source.
“I love knowledge sharing with the developers and hydrologists as it helps me understand the user requirements and the technical aspects. It feels rewarding as I get the opportunity to work with these amazing people. I also enjoy playing a role where I can deliver a quality product which not only makes customers happy but also maintains customer credibility.”
How do we find solutions for sustainable management of water resources?
At eWater Group, our priority is to support the environmentally sustainable management of water resources in Australia and around the world, which includes finding solutions and adapting to changing environments and conditions.
Praveeni believes we can address this challenge by performing ‘stress testing’ on existing water models for extreme events to ensure they can operate in foreseeable circumstances and enable measures for timely implementation to secure water for critical human needs.
eWater’s mission to provide software development and hydrological modelling services is advancing Australia’s world-class water resources modelling tools, and our expertise, for our partners in Australia and around the world.
How do we support more diverse expertise in water management?
Our people are central to what we do here at eWater Group. Supporting and empowering our people to deliver sustainable water management solutions is critical to our success, and that includes creating opportunities.
“I believe we can empower women in information technology by providing equal opportunities for both technical and leadership roles, including mentoring and providing support to boost their confidence.”
eWater at MODSIM 2023
MODSIM 2023
From 9-14 July 2023, Darwin’s Convention Centre will host the 25th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation – MODSIM 2023. The conference brings together modellers from a diverse range of fields, to showcase the latest science, technology and application of modelling to solve the challenges of our time.
Our Session at MODSIM 2023
We are excited to be attending MODSIM 2023 and will host a session in the Water Resouces Stream (session J7).
Providing Water for all: modelling to improve water security for communities,
the environment and industry
Our session will focus on several topics, including:
how water modelling helps us understand water resources, including how they change and the interplay between supply and demand.
the use of water modelling to inform water management decision-making.
The application of Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source.
We know the eWater community has lots of fantastic work to share and we’d love to help you showcase it to the broader modelling community.
Submissions are now open
Submissions for full papers (max 7 pages) are due by Friday 10 March and Extended Abstracts (one page) by Friday 21 April.
Full papers will be published in the online conference proceedings, extended abstracts will not be. Delegates will have a choice of presentation type (oral or poster) but the organisers will make the final decision on type. Both oral and poster presenters must attend in person.
If you would like to discuss being part of our session, please get in touch with session co-convenor, Trudy Green.
Conference Details
9-14 July 2023, Darwin, Australia
MODSIM 2023 will be held at the Darwin Convention Centre, from Sunday 9 July to Thursday 13 July, with a workshop day on Friday 14 July. The conference will be in person only, but plenaries and keynotes will be live streamed and available to watch free of charge.
Following the theme: Modelling to support planning for resilience in a changing world, the conference will feature 14 streams and almost 100 sessions and typically attracts 600-900 participants.
Registration dates
Early Bird registration closes 31 March 2023 ($950 or $650 for students/retirees)
All presenting authors are to be registered by 15 May 2023
Last day to register is 30 June 2023
Full registration is $1050, $750 for student/retired
For full details about registration, streams and sessions, and logistics, visit the conference website.
NB: Accommodation can be difficult to find in Darwin during July, please book early to avoid disappointment.
We are pleased to share with our Source community that the latest Production Release of Source version 5.20 is now available.
eWater Source is Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, providing all levels of governments, researchers, and consultants with accurate and relevant information on water supply and demand within cities, agriculture, and the environment.
Our expert team have undertaken key updates and improvements in version 5.20 which includes:
Updates to the Storage Ownership logic.
Addition of a filtering option that allows output data to be limited to specific recorder sets.
Enhancements to River Operations Mode, including:
option to override data sources in the Tabular Editor
option to override minimal flow requirements.
Updates and improvements to Continuous Accounting functionality.
Our team has also undertaken small enhances and bug fixes to improve your user experience.
As a user of eWater Source, this platform is adaptable to any region in Australia and is flexible to link new and existing models and other systems. We want to provide an exceptional user experience to enable you to make the right decisions for your local needs.
When you think of a software developer, what comes to mind? Do you think of someone who develops water modelling software platforms? Or maybe someone who designs and creates tools and resources that help contribute to protecting our most precious resource, water? You would be right!
At eWater Group, we have a broad skillset. We are made up of hydrologists, software developers, water industry experts and innovators. We are diverse, experienced, and most importantly we have a strong heritage of supporting sustainable water management.
Kuan Bartel, Senior Software Developer
Kuan Bartel is our Senior Software Developer. He works alongside an incredible team of software developers, thinkers, creatives; people who are dedicated to delivering software of national importance that contributes to the sustainable management of our water resources.
Kuan contributes to the development and maintenance of the eWater Source water modelling software platform and other related tools and systems. This software is an integral part of the National Hydrological Modelling Platform as outlined by the National Hydrological Modelling Strategy for the modelling of surface water in Australia.
It is also the base for modelling tools developed for urban water modelling used by water utilities and municipal councils around the country.
“The software developed at eWater is significantly more complex than standard software and requires developers to have a wide range of knowledge and skills. This allows them to work on not only the mathematical modelling algorithms, but also the UI, database, file formats, web services, and a plethora of tools and systems needed for the development, building, and providing access to, our software and services. There is always more which needs to be done.”
Working at eWater for the past seven years, in addition to his 18 years within the industry, has enabled Kuan to deliver incredible work for our partners and customers at all levels of Australian governments, together with local councils and consultants throughout the country.
“I enjoy working with both the concepts within the domain space and the algorithms needed for the water modelling which can be both interesting and challenging to conceptualise and develop within the software.”
“I’ve always been interested in sustainability and the environment. Prior to working at eWater, I was working at a research institute in Japan developing scientific software for undertaking Life Cycle Analysis of products and services. I had also done some post graduate studies in Environmental Management, which included some modelling of complex systems.”
“With my interests and experience, eWater is a good fit for me. A place where I could feel that my work would be valued and would make a difference.”
Meet our people – Juanita Moolman
Our hydrologists are exceptional people with diverse skillsets and experience from Australia and around the world. At eWater Group we are lucky to have a team of hydrologists providing their expertise and knowledge.
We can’t tell the story of eWater Group without our people; they are what makes our organisation what it is.
Our team are the backbone, and we want to celebrate and recognise them by putting a spotlight on one of our most respected and senior hydrologists, Juanita Moolman, who has been at eWater Limited since 2012.
Tell us about yourself?
How our world works and the people who live on it has always spurred a deep curiosity for Juanita who has had a long-distinguished 35-year career in both South Africa and Australia. Her love for the natural world was reinforced while at university where she spent her summer holidays collecting field data to be input in the modelling system being developed in the local Hydrology Department and grew from there, culminating her obtaining Honours in Hydrology.
Her career in South Africa saw her working with new hydrological technology and research, at the time, and to be applied it to local dams, irrigation, and catchment areas across South Africa, before taking this experience and moving to Australia 13 years ago for new opportunities, including the Bureau of Metrology, before joining eWater Group.
What is your role at eWater Group?
As an integrated water resource scientist at eWater Group, she contributes skills in catchment hydrology, spatial analysis, and automated big data analysis.
“As a hydrologist at eWater, I am in the business of contributing to the creation and use of the tools to effectively manage our increasingly threatened water resources, which can help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (6) ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
What project are you most proud of?
Juanita has worked on many projects during her 13 years at eWater that she has felt honoured to be a part of, including her role in the first-ever integrated assessment of the Ayeyarwady River Basin in Myanmar in 2017. The Basin, which starts in the Himalayas and runs through Central Myanmar, is a major water resource for the communities that live alongside it.
The project, supported by the World Bank and Australian Water Partnership, saw eWater Group develop a Source water system model for the Basin to understand water availability and uses, as well as implications for climate change.
“It felt honored to be part of a group of people brought together from various global organisations to document the understanding of the Basin for the first time. And providing something which can be used as a baseline for future work.”
What does it mean to work at eWater Group?
She has a strong interest in building the capacity of future generations to meet the challenges that will be facing global water availability. “As part of my role I have had the opportunity to train and mentor hydrologists from across the region as well as our own team and sharing my knowledge and experience with them is very rewarding for me.”
For Juanita, working at eWater Group provides the opportunity to be at the forefront of the conversation when it comes to water management and modelling in this country. “As the custodian of Source, the national hydrological modelling platform, we have the tool that is designed to manage Australia’s water resources. It is a key tool to understanding our changing environment, water quality and management, and how we respond to it.”
Water – either its presence or lack of – remains an important issue in Australia and internationally. For eWater, our hydrologists, together with our software developers and our broader teams, can provide our governments and partners the expertise, knowledge, and tools to make informed and sustainable decisions for our future.
Want to find out more?
For more information about eWater Group Source and its other world-class tools – Tools – eWater
eWater Limited Board elects new chair and board members
Our recent Annual General Meeting marked a great opportunity for our Board and people to come together to share and celebrate our achievements in 2022.
This year, we farewelled our former chairman, Don Blackmore AM, who was chair since the formation of eWater in 2005. Don made an incredible contribution to Australian water management through various roles including Chief Executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, and Deputy Chair of Land and Water Australia.
The AGM also marked new beginnings with the election of a new chair, Greg Claydon PSM, and two new Independent Directors, Kathryn Silvester, and Dr Grace Mitchell. They join our ongoing Directors – Murray Rankin, Bob McMullan, David Dreverman, Deb Brown, Mitchell Isaacs, and Andrew Reynolds on an expanded Board.
Each of our Directors brings a diverse range of skills and experience to our organisation including water policy and management, commercialisation of Australian technology, international development, research and development, public policy, governance, and strategic planning.
Greg Claydon, Chair, and Independent Director
Greg has extensive experience within the water industry as well as natural resources management, both in Australia and internationally. He has been recognised at state, national, and international levels for his work in water and associated national resources reforms, in whole of river basins planning and management, and in integrated urban water management. Greg has held many board memberships including the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, International Water Centre, COAG Water Reform Committee.
Dr Grace Mitchell, New Independent Director
Grace brings a wealth of knowledge to the eWater Limited Board including leading numerous high-profile, complex, multi-disciplinary initiatives that have required significant stakeholder engagement and negotiation within and between state and federal governments. With a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Monash University, Dr Mitchell has a proven track record in delivering complex policy initiatives and program outcomes, which will benefit the eWater Limited Board and eWater’s government owners, customers, stakeholders, and clients.
Kathryn Silvester, New Independent Director
Kathryn brings extensive knowledge and experience to the eWater Board including her work at the Sydney Water Corporation as Resilience and Climate Changer Adaptation Manager. Kathryn is a passionate water professional and has been a member of the International Water Association and Australia Water Association strategic councils, providing advice to their Boards of Directors.
Murray Rankin, Re-elected Independent Director
Murray is a director and chair of numerous boards of innovative Australian companies as well as serve on several government boards as a technology adviser. He has won numerous national business awards including the Telstra Small Business of The Year. He is an occasional lecturer in business strategy at the Australian National University, Macquarie University and Melbourne Business School.
David Dreverman, Independent Director
David has held many distinguished roles over his extensive career, including Executive Director, River Management, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and General Manager, River Murray Water of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. He has also worked as a consultant in the engineering industry; with SMEC, Hydro Electric Commission Tasmania and Australian Power and Water. David has been involved with large dam and hydropower projects, both in Australia and overseas for more than forty years.
Bob McMullan, Independent Director
Bob has held several ministerial positions in the federal government over his career, including Minister for the Arts, Minister for Trade, and Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance. He represented the Australian Capital Territory in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Since leaving parliament, Bob has been involved in a range of activities, with a focus on international development, including Director of the ANU Crawford Leadership Forum, Board Member for the Crawford Fund and Foundation for Development Cooperation and as Australian Executive/Alternate Director for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Mitchell Isaacs, Owner-nominated Director
Mitchell Isaacs has worked in water related roles in the NSW Government since 2009 and from November 2020 as the Chief Knowledge Officer, Water Group, in the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Prior to joining the NSW Government, Mitchell worked as a research scientist in Australia and Japan, and as a project management advisor to the Cambodian Government’s Fisheries Administration.
Deb Brown, Owner-nominated Director
Deb Brown is the Executive Director, Catchment Waterways Cities and Towns in the Water and Catchments Group of the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and a trusted and respected water leader with over 20 years’ experience within the public sector. Over her career, Deb has specialised in urban water management and conservation, environment, and river health improvement, and more recently in improving Traditional Owner inclusion in water management.
Andrew Reynolds, Owner-nominated Director
Andrew Reynolds has more than 24 years’ experience in the water industry, managing major water supply infrastructure, as well as extensive knowledge in the fields of engineering project management, dam safety and construction management. Andrew is the Executive Director, River Management at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Prior to that role, Andrew held various roles with Goulburn-Murray Water which included management of the Headworks business responsible for 16 large dams and associated infrastructure, delivery of several major dam safety upgrade projects, and leading the business’ engineering and scientific resources.
eWater Group and its people are happy to welcome new and continuing members of the eWater Limited Board to vital strategic conversations about Australia’s and the globe’s water future.
Meet Our People at eWater – Mukta Sapkota, Urban Hydrologist
Why is urban hydrology so important? Why do we need to care? And what does an urban hydrologist do exactly? All good questions to a complex and vital industry, particularly in Australia and its diverse weather and climate.
At the eWater Group, we have a broad skillset. We are made up of hydrologists, software developers, water industry experts and innovators. We are diverse, experienced, and most importantly we have a strong heritage of supporting sustainable water management.
Mukta Sapkotais one of our resident Urban Hydrologists, who has been working at the eWater Group for nearly four years, together with more than 10 years’ experience in urban water systems and hydrology in Australia and overseas.
At eWater…
Mukta provides specialist technical support to eWater Source, MUSIC, and Urban Developer software users.
“As part of my role, I provide specialist technical support to eWater software users and assist in the delivery of various water projects and training courses. I also test and document the specification of the new and existing functionality of eWater software, and am involved in the development of business development proposals and participate in project applications.”
For Mukta, not one day is the same. “One minute I am providing modelling support to a client, the next moment, I am into software hydro-testing, then documentation. I am very passionate about sustainable water management and thrilled to work at eWater that subscribes to the same vision. I always enjoy helping people learn and solve their problems.”
“My role at eWater provides a great opportunity to challenge myself and test my skills. I love the variety and wonderful things I am learning each day by supporting clients. I equally enjoy delivering training.”
Sustainable water management approach
Countries around the world, including Australia, are facing increased pressure on water resources from growing populations, social and economic ambitions, increasing industrialization, demanding agriculture, and environmental flow needs. In addition to this, changing climate and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events have added extra pressure.
For Mukta, an integrated water planning approach that considers demand management, wastewater/ stormwater recycling/reuse, and water trade/transfer, is required to support resilience to climate change, the wider pressures of various demands, and environmental protection. Such a development of sustainable water management needs holistic modelling tools.
“eWater’s Source, integrated with Urban Developer and MUSICX, offers an integrated modelling platform to support water managers in modelling such complex water management problems and help in decision-making for sustainable water management.”
Supporting Women and Girls
The future of water resources and sustainability isn’t the only issue Mukta is passionate about – supporting women and girls in hydrology.
A sustainable workforce requires diversity. Giving women and girls opportunities to consider hydrology, or other STEM roles, starts with education and creating opportunities to go into these fields as adults, as well as breaking down the barriers for current female hydrologists in the industry.
“I believe we need more women and girls in hydrology to maintain gender diversity for creating a healthy work environment at workplaces. We also need more women in higher management to foster gender equality and put forth women in leadership to ensure this principle is implemented.”
Mukta is just one great example of women, in both Australia and internationally, being supported to pursue and thrive in STEM careers, and eWater is excited to have her as part of our team.
MUSICX v1.10 Released
MUSICX, the industry-leading stormwater modelling tool, has been completely re-designed and rewritten while maintaining all the capabilities of classic MUSIC.
MUSICX is the most significant upgrade of MUSIC in a decade. The users will see many additional benefits in our upcoming production release (v1.10) including a powerful and flexible tabular data editor.
New features in MUSICX v1.10:
• Tabular model data editor
• Text/Excel export and import features for nodes
• Muskingum Link storage routing
• Summary Report Generation capability (like MUSIC v6.3)
• Background image supported
• Improvement in Results Manager
• Editable Advance Model parameters
• Additional functionalities
Our live demonstration will offer an opportunity to see firsthand how this vital tool is helping to inform the development of water quality and quantity standards in our towns and cities across Australia and overseas.
MUSICX is a critical tool that enables urban developers, planners, and engineers to manage the impact of urban development and other land use changes on waterways.
Damien Pearson has joined eWater in the recently created role of General Manager. Reporting to the eWater Limited Group CEO, Michael Wilson, Damien will be responsible for the day-to-day management of eWater’s software development and hydrological modelling services and contribute to the strategic direction of the eWater Limited Group.
Improving Livelihoods in Northern Cambodia
More than 300,000 people living in Stung Staung river basin in Northern Cambodia rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Access to a clean water supply is fundamental for wellbeing and health particularly to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Increased food security, higher income for farmers and improved health in the villages can be expected if the reliability and quality of water supplies in the province can be enhanced through improved sharing of existing water supplies.
Partnering with the World Bank and support from the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), eWater undertook a study to assess the challenges of water supply development and to establish an enabling environment, based on scientific evidence, for a water sharing dialogue between authorities, farmers and relevant water users and assist with developing a long-term investment plan for water supply utility for Staung district in Kompong Thom Province.
(AdobeStock, Rice worker planting rice in a rice field, by Michel)
Study Area
The Stung Staung river rises in the mountains of Northern Cambodia before flowing 213 km to the iconic Lake Tonle Sap, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. In its northern reaches, the river flows through forest before entering expansive cropland to the south. The majority of the 217 villages in the catchment are along the river in the farming districts which cover about a third of the catchment. More than a quarter of the people in the river basin live in poverty.
Competition between irrigation and village water supplies is increasing as climate change varies the annual rainfall pattern. Barrage ‘Samsep Kagna’ of 7,200 ha is the only large irrigation scheme in the catchment. Other existing schemes include 17 medium schemes and 8 small schemes (Figure 1). Currently, rainfed paddy rice is the main crop in the command areas, but further downstream field and garden crops are more common.
Figure 1: Irrigation schemes and water supply utility in the Stung Staung Catchment.
To help manage the water competition and cope with climate change, a large water reservoir of the Staung Water Resource Development Project with a potential area of 30,000 ha is planned.
Clean water supply in the coverage areas comes from the Stung Staung River, supplemented with groundwater from a 200m deep tube well next to the treatment plant near the river. A World Bank’s Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project (WaSSIP) aims to increase water supplies to villages by up to four times through a new water supply utility near Barrage ‘Samsep Kagna’.
Development of a Source model to assess demand and supply
Through 2019-2020, funded by the World Bank, eWater, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology Cambodia (ITC) and Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM), and Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MISTI) undertook a comprehensive catchment assessment in the Stung Staung River and developed a Source model to support dialogue on a water sharing plan in the catchment. The outcome of the assessment will support the design of future water supply infrastructure and investment potential of the RGC and the World Bank in Staung district.
Stung Staung River Source Model
Methodology
The data review included demography, geography, water sources, status and trends of water supply and demand, initial potential risks and mitigation measures. Additional hydrometeorological datasets were collected to help refine the existing country-wide Source model to form the Source Stung Staung Model, the model supports hydrological and water system modelling. The hydrological model was used to undertake a water balance assessment that characterised the natural condition (rainfall-runoff process) in the catchment. The water system model was run to quantify water demand from various sectors, mainly irrigation activities and municipal water requirements.
Once the hydrological characteristics for the catchment were defined, several future scenarios were formulated and later assessed using well calibrated models of the pre-development and future-development scenarios. This allowed for an assessment of potential hydrological risks. The simulations quantified surface water availability from the natural processes of rainfall-runoff and water resource use by different sectors. Hydrological baseline statistics were developed, which characterised the water supply/demand balance on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis.
Climate change impacts
An analysis of rainfall patterns over the Stung Staung Catchment reveals an observed change in rainfall between the past condition (2000-2011) and the present condition (2012-2019). The pattern of mono-modal with a peak in September has changed to bi-modal with peaks in July and September. A decrease in rainfall in August was clearly observed for all the key stations. Particularly, a big change in rainfall was observed at Stoung in the lower section of the river. Monthly rainfall in the wet season dropped about 100 mm. A significant drop was in September: decreasing from about 400 mm to below 200 mm. The climate change assessments suggest a decrease in all flow ranges from the present condition.
Pathway to resilient water resources
The project allows the Cambodian authorities to consider the developed workflow and application of the Source Modelling Platform for water balance analysis and catchment assessment as a scientific tool to support water allocation mechanisms.
The study recommended, through community discussions, establishing a minimum requirement for water quantity and quality as the priority for domestic water supply. Understanding community priorities will assist the large water storage managers in developing an equitable water sharing plan for domestic and irrigation water. While there is a potential for expansion of irrigation scale, the irrigation modernisation should be taken into account of water balance to improve the sustainability of the irrigation system, providing benefits to farmers and the downstream biodiversity and aquatic environment in the river. Crop intensification would lead to higher irrigation water demand resulting in water shortage so shifting the crop growing calendar could be considered as a way to ease water shortages in May and June.
With signs of less water available in the future, the villages in the river basin need to discuss their options, such as crop diversification to high value crops, which may generate greater income with less water. The study provides valuable details and guidance for the authorities and villagers in the river basin to mitigate risks and for Development Partners to investigate water resource development option and enhance water resource management benefits in the Stung Staung Basin.
The eWater team has been working hard on a number of updates to MUSICX, with a new version out now, highlights include: – MUSIC-link – The ability to add notes to individual nodes – Additional recorders, including Overflow, Pipe flow, Water Level, Storage, Water Demand and Reuse – allowing a Monthly Pattern as Data Source for PET
In a special ceremony in Phnom Penh, Australia’s Ambassador to Cambodia, His Excellency Pablo Kang formally gifted access to Australia’s national water modelling platform, eWater Source to Cambodia’s Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM) His Excellency Lim Kean Hor.
This technical exchange forms part of Australia’s ongoing support for sustainable water management throughout the Mekong region.
eWater Source, Australia’s national hydrological modelling platform will assist the Cambodian Government to better understand the availability of water resources throughout the country. It will provide a stronger evidence base on which to make decisions about the development of water infrastructure and the allocation of water for a range of users – cities and towns, farming and freshwater fisheries, hydropower and industry.
“The sustainable management of Cambodia’s precious water resources is crucial to support the socio-economic development of our cities and of our growing agriculture and energy sectors, while preserving our unique environment” stated His Excellency Lim Kean Hor.
“We welcome the offer by the Government of Australia to provide both technical tools and capacity building support so that Cambodians can learn from the Australian experience and improve our management of water resources for the entire country.”
In response, Ambassador Kang said “We are pleased to share an important Australian innovation – the eWater Source platform –with our neighbours and friends in Cambodia, because doing so will help ensure water governance is based on solid evidence and can contribute to Cambodia’s post-COVID recovery”
eWater has worked with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) its member countries (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam) for many years. Starting in 2013, eWater developed a Source model of the entire Mekong River and major tributaries, ultimately leading to eWater contributing to the 2018-19 MRC Council Study using Source to integrate information and existing basin models.
In 2017-19, eWater, in partnership with UNESCAP, Geoscience Australia and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology implemented a pilot in Cambodia using space-based data to help water users in drought prone countries to better understand and manage droughts. eWater provided updated technology and access to satellite data through the Geoscience Australia Open Data Cube to improve the ESCAP Regional Drought Mechanism. In 2019 eWater was appointed as an adviser to MOWRAM in Cambodia under a World Bank project.
A new home for ICE WaRM
In July 2020, ICE WaRM, the International Centre for Excellence in Water Resource Management, entered into a collaboration with eWater Ltd to re-launch its international water education and training program.
The collaboration will build on the established strengths of both organisations. ICE WaRM’s substantial experience in designing and delivering education, training and capacity building programs will be enhanced by eWater’s practical training in water modelling tools and capacity building to connect modelling with policy, regulation and management.
The new program will be strengthened by the range of ICEWaRM education and training programs that draw on South Australia’s’ water technology and expertise.
Arranginginternational study visits will step up a level through the combined practical experience and detailed knowledge of the Australian water sector of ICEWARM and eWater.
ICEWaRM’s strong commitment to inclusiveness across its programs will complement eWater’s efforts, in gender equity and social inclusion.
