eWater MUSIC: Harmonising nature and technology to create resilient cities

Urban Hydrologist, Mukta Sapkota, guest lectured at the University of South Australia for its Water Sensitive Design and MUSIC Modelling for Stormwater Management

Today [April 15 2024], our Senior Urban Hydrologist, Mukta Sapkota was invited as a guest lecturer to the University of South Australia for its Water Sensitive Design and MUSIC Modelling for Stormwater Management lecture where she shared her extensive expertise and knowledge on eWater MUSIC™.

eWater MUSIC™ our software tool that simulates the behaviour of stormwater in urban catchments and helps our community to understand the performance of stormwater quality treatment systems.

“It was a great privilege to be able to share best practices, capabilities and knowledge of our water management tools with students from the University of South Australia. These opportunities to share knowledge and skills are all part of our efforts to sustainably manage our precious waterways,” Mukta Sapkota said.

“I am thrilled to be sharing my expertise and knowledge in the Water Sensitive Design and MUSIC Modelling for Stormwater Management lecture. It is great opportunity to delve into sustainable urban design and modelling techniques, highlighting how we can harmonise nature and technology to create resilient cities.”

eWater MUSIC™ is used taught in 14 Australian universities and used by over 120 Australian councils, hundreds of engineering and development businesses across Australia > https://ewater.org.au/products/music/

We just wanted to say thank you to the University of South Australia and University of Adelaide which have been long-standing supporters of eWater MUSIC™ and have been teaching it to the next generation of urban planners, water engineers and urban development professionals for the past ten years.

Want to learn more about eWater MUSIC™ > https://ewater.org.au/products/music/

Michael Wilson, Group CEO, and Sarah Ransom, General Manager of the Australian Water Partnership, met with the South Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Dr Susan Close MP.

South Australia has a formidable legacy in water investment and reform including, through its partnership with eWater Group, a determination to strengthen SA’s water security approach and fully implement sustainable and integrated water resource management practices.

We are very proud of our work in South Australia through our two divisions, eWater Solutions and the Australian Water Partnership.

Both of our divisions have had a long-standing and successful partnership with the South Australian Government in providing creative, science-based, and trusted water management expertise and tools to meet its water management needs and facilitate South Australian expertise to be deployed around the world in the service of better water management and poverty reduction.

Michael Wilson, Group CEO, and Sarah Ransom, General Manager of the Australian Water Partnership, met with the South Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Dr Susan Close MP, to reiterate our continued support to the South Australian Government and its people who have invested in the capabilities we are entrusted to maintain and deliver.

“It was a great pleasure to meet again with the Deputy Premier this week and update her on eWater’s work with her Department and counterpart agencies across the country to strengthen and broaden the tools and services which strengthen quality, evidence-based decision-making over the management of Australia’s scarce and critical water resources,” said Michael Wilson, Group CEO of eWater.

“No Australian state government has done more than SA to help project Australian water management knowledge internationally, over many years. South Australia, at the end of the Murray-Darling system, has been pivotal in implementing the National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source, developed and managed by eWater Group.”

“Our meeting provided an opportunity to look at ways in which we can further develop and refine a modernised eWater Source, as well as improve our other water management tools like eWater MUSIC, in the interests of all users.”

“We also had the opportunity to discuss the SA Government’s continued strong involvement in the delivery of activities by the Australian Government’s flagship international water for development initiative, the Australian Water Partnership, and its strong and continued support for its activities in Australia and internationally.”

eWater has been involved in many successful endeavours with South Australia, delivering water management expertise, best practice, capabilities, and knowledge over the past twenty or more years.

We work to support, facilitate, and encourage high-quality, reliable, and evidence-based decision making over water resources.  We do this by developing, managing, and deploying tools and services that enhance the sound and responsible management of water. 

South Australia is a critical member of the eWater hydrological modelling community through its use of eWater Source and eWater MUSIC, our water sensitive urban design tool. MUSIC is used in eight Local Government areas and 29 South Australia-based firms provide MUSIC services to clients.  The Department for Environment and Water and (DEW) and SA Water are active users of eWater Source.

Recently, through eWater Solutions, we worked with DEW to incorporate the Source Farm Dam plugin, making the functionality available to all eWater Source users. Farm dams influence the movement of surface water across the landscape and can slow or reduce flows to local waterways.  It is important to be able to model these effects on water volume, quality, and availability in shared river systems where all users can be affected.

In areas with a high proportion of farm dams, such as rural residential areas like the Mount Lofty Ranges, these impacts can be significant. Incorporating the functionality into Source allows for a finer-scale assessment of the potential impacts of farm dams, giving water managers critical information to understand and respond to these impacts.

In addition to this project, eWater Solutions supported DEW to develop new tools to improve and simplify its model management systems and modelling outputs, in partnership DEW’s own modelling experts.

Our international development flagship, the Australian Water Partnership, managed by eWater on behalf of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has been working with the South Australian Government for some years now on various activities in developing countries overseas, as well as in the organisation of national and international policy forums and awareness-raising events.

The Australian Water Partnership worked with experts from the South Australian Government on an important groundwater activity in the Lao PDR with Flinders University. These experts, who are working on groundwater management in South Australia, were able to provide valuable peer-to-peer partnership to Lao colleagues, based on how they manage the challenges within their own communities.

South Australia has long been a supportive of national and international water events such as the 2023 Australian Water Partnership Partners Workshop, which was designed with DEW, and opened by members of the Kaurna people, SA Governor Her Excellency Frances Adamson AC and SA Deputy Premier and Minister for Water, the Hon Dr Susan Close MP. The Partners Workshop offered Australian water experts a range of engaging and informative sessions to drive conversations and practical steps towards strengthening community and environmental resilience at home and overseas through taking cost-effective and evidence-based water and climate action.  

We were also privileged to have the support of the SA Water Ambassador, the Hon Karlene Maywald, who has participated in several AWP activities over recent years including as a member of Australian delegations to UN Climate Change Convention COP27 and COP28, as well as the 2022 World Water Week in Stockholm.

We are profoundly proud of what we have achieved in our partnership with the South Australian Government, and we look forward to strengthening and evolving together with other Australian government and private sector partners in the pursuit of better water resource management in Australia and internationally, for the benefit of all.

As a water management organisation, we are strong advocates in the building of water knowledge, capacity, and capabilities, especially in hydrological modelling, in Australia and internationally.

eWater Group welcomes the announcement by the Australian Government to open consultations on a future national water agreement, the National Water Initiative (NWI), and seeks the opportunity to create a more robust approach in building an efficient and sustainable water industry.

The NWI has had a significant impact on Australian water reforms over the past 20 years, including the establishment of the National Hydrological Modelling Strategy, which saw the adoption of the eWater Source as the national platform.

A more contemporary NWI will help address the future challenges Australia will face, including the continued impact of climate change on our water resources, water scarcity and sustainability. A future NWI will also see greater integration of First Nations water knowledge and elevate Indigenous voices.

We encourage our partners to be part of this consultation and make a submission by 3 May 2024. This is our opportunity to have a say on the future of sustainable water management in Australia.

For more information head to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website for more >  https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/seeking-views-on-a-future-national-water-agreement

Supporting a Refreshed National Water Initiative

From Greg Claydon, eWater Limited Chair and Independent Director

There has been long recognition of the importance of building knowledge, capacity and capability if we are to have an efficient and sustainable water industry in Australia. That has often been inferred and regularly stated during Australia’s water reform journey. There are likely varying views among stakeholders regarding the extent to which such recognition and importance have been underpinned by adequate resources and actions.

eWater Group regards the building of water knowledge, capacity, and capability, especially in hydrological modelling and other decision support tools, processes and products within the Australian and international professional water management community, as fundamental to our mission, subject to resource practicalities.

Australia’s Productivity Commission is currently undertaking an inquiry into the reform progress of Australia’s water resources sector. This inquiry, which follows reports of previous inquiries by the Productivity Commission in 2017 and 2020, is expected to provide advice about the progress of all Australian governments in achieving the objectives, outcomes and timelines anticipated under the 2004 Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative (NWI) and, where practicable, on key aspects of water security for Australia.

The Productivity Commission has noted that reform of the Australian water sector has been ongoing over several decades, reflecting the fundamental importance of water to all aspects of our society and environment, and the significant challenges involved in managing a shared natural resource impacted by climate change and periods of scarcity.

Water reform at a national level accelerated in 1994 when the then Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed a water reform framework. That framework recognised that decision making should be determined on the best available scientific information. Although not expressly stated in the framework, it was also recognised at the time that knowledge, information and understanding about Australia’s water resources needed to improve. That was being supported through the Cooperative Research Centres program, among others, including the CRC for Catchment Hydrology (CRCCH) and the CRC for Freshwater Ecology (CRCFE).

In 2004, COAG agreed that the NWI include knowledge and capacity building as a key element to assist in underpinning implementation of the agreement. Supporting that, further requirements, identified by the earlier work of the CRCCH and the CRCFE and others, lead to the establishment of the eWater CRC in 2005. These CRCs provide the heritage for eWater Ltd, a not-for-profit (and also a “not-for-loss”!) company owned by all Australian Governments, to, among other things, be the trustee of the intellectual property developed through the investment under the CRC and other programs of well over $100 million of public money.

In 2008, COAG agreed that a National Hydrological Modelling Strategy (NHMS) was needed to support better water planning and management in Australia, including to support implementation of the NWI. A key output and product of the NHMS has been the adoption of the eWater Source hydrological modelling platform as the National Hydrological Modelling Platform (NHMP).

eWater Group is the custodian and manager of Source. We are also the custodian and manager of other important software-based hydrological modelling tools and services, including eWater MUSIC, the urban stormwater modelling product used by more than 120 Local Governments across Australia to support their decisions about urban developments. As a part of these roles and responsibilities, we aim to ensure the security and integrity of these tools are guaranteed and satisfy industry standards and government cybersecurity requirements.

Source, as the NHMP, has been integral to many governments’, and their agencies’ and utilities’, decision-making processes for sustainable water resources planning and management; granting of water entitlements and announcements of water allocations; assessment of water security and water infrastructure developments; and, increasingly, river and water infrastructure operations and compliance activities. These may be multi-billion-dollar decisions, so Source system performance, reliability and resilience are fundamental for it to be “fit-for-purpose”.

Source provides an integral tool to link science to help inform water policy, planning, management, operations, accounting, and compliance. Importantly, water policy, planning, management, operations, accounting, and compliance are adaptive in the Australian context. They need to be, as our population, climate, land uses, water using behaviours and community expectations and attitudes change. So too then, Source has to be adaptive, and it needs to have proper upkeep, modernisation and maintenance as a critical asset to support decision making.

Arguably, the same is true for water reform in Australia. So, in that respect, it is pleasing that the Australian Government has committed to renew the NWI. No doubt, that renewal or “refreshing” will be informed by the report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry. Hopefully, that includes a commitment to a culture of evidence-based decision making, innovation and continuous improvement to underpin successful implementation.

Adaptive management is not possible without adequate modelling of Australia’s water resource systems and their interconnections. eWater Group wants to continue to have Source develop and evolve as the needs of our government owners, customers and communities evolve and as methodologies and technologies change and improve. Of course, to do that well requires adequate and responsible funding to meet necessary and efficient costs.

As I have mentioned previously, there are pressing imperatives to address our increasingly variable and changing climate in coherent and effective ways; to better integrate our approaches to water management, including between water quantity and water quality, surface water and groundwater; land use planning and water planning, water use and energy use, and other nexuses, recognising the water “cycle” and how water policy and programs “seep” into many other policy and program areas; and to meet cultural water provisions and the rights, needs and aspirations of First Nations people in water management. These and, no doubt, other matters will need to have a place in a renewed NWI. Similarly, to support future decision making and implementation, they should be considered integral to updating and modernising eWater’s hydrological modelling and other decision-support tools, processes and products.

It is also instructive to note that activities under the Australian Water Partnership (AWP), managed by eWater Group with funding provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), involve the building and sharing of knowledge about water reform through capacity building activities with regional water organisations, industry sectors and civil society, especially in the Asia-Pacific, by supporting access to Australian water reform policy, management expertise, and innovative approaches and technologies. So, how we go about water reform in Australia has implications beyond our shores. But more about the AWP in a future article.

In any event, to have an efficient and sustainable water industry, it continues to be important to invest in science and knowledge, skills and capacity and decision-support tools, processes, and products and to build capabilities in using them efficiently, effectively, equitably and respectfully. eWater Group looks forward to supporting a refreshed NWI on that basis.

Who are we?

Jointly owned by all Australian governments, eWater Group provides stewardship, management, development, enhancement, skills-building, research, access, and transparency in water management and modelling tools, capability, and capacity.

We do this in the interests of our government members, stakeholders, clients, and customers and on behalf of the Australian people who have invested in us.

At eWater Group, and through our divisions, eWater Solutions and the Australian Water Partnership, support governments, organisations, and water managers to use our tools and products, expertise, and international development program management capabilities, including in their pursuit of integrated water resource management objectives and poverty reduction.

Dr. Melina Vidoni, Software Development Lead, eWater Solutions

“I am a big believer in fostering collaboration and empowering and pushing my team to be more responsive and agile to changes in the market and customer needs with a great emphasis on collaboration across our developers, research software engineers and hydrologists.”

We are excited about the future of eWater Group. We are continuing our commitment to the pursuit of sustainable management of water resources through the sharing of best practices, capabilities, and knowledge of Australian water expertise nationally and internationally.

And through this, we have made significant investments in the skills and expertise within our software development and hydrological division, eWater Solutions, which is responsible for Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source, as well as our other software tools, such as eWater MUSIC.

Our organisation is a high-calibre team of software developers, hydrologists, academics, sales and project managers, public policy and water industry experts will enable us to continue to meet the needs of our Australian and international owners, partners, and stakeholders.

As our Software Development Lead for the software and hydrological division of eWater Group, Dr Melina Vidoni brings an extraordinary breadth of technical and academic experience to our organisation, including extensive experience in technical debt identification and repayment strategies.

For those not in the know, originally coined by Ward Cunningham in 1992, an American computer programmer, technical debt was considered to be the result of software developers choosing a low-quality solution due to time constraints, wanting a faster or earlier release. This definition evolved over time, and by 2010 it was acknowledged that over 16 types of Technical Debt existed (Alves et al., 2014) including process, people, requirements, and architecture debt, among others.

Nowadays, and taking a step further towards understanding technical debt in organisations’, Gartner’s definition posits that technology debt is the outstanding amount of money an organisation must spend on digital technology cost obligations to continue doing business, and the incremental burden of shortcuts caused due budget or managerial decisions.

This definition later evolved to include the decisions of all those who are somehow involved in software and, as researchers on the Software Engineering Institute demonstrated, can be highly affected by external, contextual factors.

Melina graduated from the Universidad Tecnologica Nacional (UTN) in Santa Fe, Argentina as an Information Systems Engineer before receiving her PhD, summa cum laude, at the same institution. After completing her PhD, Melina moved to Australia to pursue an academic career and gain international experience, including Lecturer at the Australian National University in the CEC School of Computing, where she specialised in technical debt identification and repayment strategies.

Melina’s career at the Australian National University enabled her to foster her international collaborations with researchers from around the world, including Canada and Australia. It is this interest in technical debt and the development of scientific software that led her to eWater Group.  

During one of her searches for internship positions for her research students, and possible partners interested in research translation, Melina found eWater Group.

“I have always been very keen on applicable, hands-on research outputs that could benefit the industry – and that led me to start collaborating with a number of companies seeking to host scientific software, or to perform an agile transformation, acquiring over 12 years of research translation and coaching experience.”

“I was taken by the reach of eWater Source – Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform. It is, by far, one-of-its-kind in terms of size, influence, and its immeasurable impact to foster and support data-driven, science-derived decision-making across Australia’s Government.”

“Being able to work with eWater, the custodians of a unique and powerful research-derived software, presents both an intellectual challenge (given my areas of research), but also a way to make a clear impact in the world – the sustainable and responsible management of water resources will benefit the entirety of Australia.

“eWater Solutions has a critical role to play in the current landscape of climate change and resilience, and the intrinsic need for humankind to protect its natural resources.”

Since starting at eWater Group in June last year, Melina has had a positive and significant impact on the eWater Solutions team through her commitment to creating a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, with the stakeholder at its centre.

“I am a big believer in fostering collaboration and empowering and pushing my team to be more responsive and agile to changes in the market and customer needs with a great emphasis on collaboration across our developers, research software engineers and hydrologists.”

“In our work with our owners, partners and stakeholders, it is critical we continue to adapt our software products to modern times, while continuing to provide operational excellence, as well as fostering and nourishing the reliability of our products.”

Melina’s leadership within the eWater Solutions team, and wider eWater Group, is part of our continued commitment to innovate and strengthen our impact in Australia and internationally. This includes the role artificial intelligence plays in research software and water modelling, and of course the science and technology industry.

“In various areas of science, artificial intelligence is being used to analyse massive amounts of data, automate routine tasks, and make new discoveries that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”

“AI is being increasingly integrated into scientific discovery, and so far, AI approaches have proven useful to accurately model complex, non-linear hydrological processes, to cross imaging data sources with data from sensing tools, always leveraging the power of the Internet of Things (IoTs) (Chang et al., 2023).”

“Deep learning has been successfully used to project the production and consumption of resources and deal with the increased demand (Raya-Tapia et al., 2023), to identify crop water stress (Chandel et al., 2021), and across multiple areas of the hydrological modelling, including urban water security, prediction of physical processes, and smart-city water management (Allen-Dumas et al., 2021).”

“eWater and AWP are at the forefront of hydrological modelling in Australia. I could not think of any organisation better positioned than us to spearhead the translation of fresh, novel research into usable systems that will empower decision-makers to rely on trustable, sound science.”

References:

As we near the end of the year, we celebrate our achievements as an organisation and the challenges we have overcome to deliver water policies and programs with integrity and value for the communities we support throughout Australia and in developing countries around the world.

Michael Wilson, Group CEO, eWater Group “I take this opportunity to thank the hard work and perseverance of eWater Group employees and am optimistic that our organisation has a bright and dynamic future ahead of us driven by a creative, expert, and professional team.”

We look forward to 2024 and continue our work in the pursuit of sustainable management of water resources through the development and sharing of best practices, capabilities, and knowledge of Australian water expertise, nationally and globally.

Australian Water Solutions and the role of eWater Group in Australia and internationally

Greg Claydon, Chair and Independent Director, eWater Limited Board, deep dives into the challenges ahead for the water industry next year and the role of eWater Group in Australia and internationally.

As we move into our twelfth year of operation as eWater Limited, this past year has provided an opportunity to refresh the strategic direction of the organisation, including strong custodianship of a modernised national hydrological modelling platform that is fit-for-purpose, now and into the future. 

No other organisation can ensure the safe custody and prudent ongoing development of this critical national asset.

eWater Source, used appropriately, greatly assists those tasked with the sensible and sustainable management of Australian water resources to make high-quality, informed, confident, transparent, equitable and wise decisions.

This past year was also an opportunity for the Australian Water Partnership and Mekong Water Solutions to further strengthen our international efforts and our partnerships to build water security, resilience, equality and understanding in the face of climate change, population growth, demographic shifts, poverty reduction and other challenges. 

Through these efforts and partnerships, we aim to support and further develop Australia’s world-class water management and modelling products, services, and capabilities.

We also aim to deliver operational excellence and capacity building as a trusted adviser to international governments, demonstrating and exhibiting strong capabilities in international development program management.

Most importantly, we finish 2023 in a stronger financial position than we started – this was no easy feat. It means we are going from strength to strength as we can continue our work in pursuit of better water management both in Australia and with our partners overseas and that is what eWater is all about.

This year, like many other water advocating organisations in Australia and around the world, we have seen some challenges, all of which we can address through strong cooperation, collaboration, and commitment.

For the wider water industry first, the all-encompassing challenge is how do we come to grips with our changing climate – preparing for and dealing with the increased variability, the bigger floods and the longer droughts, the higher temperatures and higher sea-levels, and less rainfall in many areas. That, combined with continued population growth and changing demographics, including expanding cities, puts tremendous pressure on water security for the environment, for industry and for communities. These all-impact people’s lives and livelihoods.

At the same time, there are imperatives to better manage available water supplies more efficiently and get the best outcomes from water for the environment, while recognising the importance of meeting cultural water provisions and the needs and aspirations of First Nations people in water management.

And concerns continue to grow about threats to water quality and the distressing impacts of poor water quality on people and the environment.

So, there is still a lot to do to have an efficient and sustainable water industry. It continues to be important to invest in science and knowledge, skills and capacity and decision-support tools, to exercise leadership and good governance and to support initiatives like a refreshed National Water Initiative and overseas aid programs that seek climate resilience, poverty reduction and equity of opportunity.

All the above actually present tremendous opportunities for eWater Group.

The challenge is to make those opportunities a continuing integral part of our business by way of partnerships, investments, commitments, and innovation.

That is why, for example, eWater Group is determined to modernise eWater Source as the National Hydrological Modelling Platform that is fit-for-purpose for 2030 and beyond. Not only is eWater Source a focus, but we are also looking to update the science underpinning the eWater MUSIC modelling platform, to further improve information and decisions about water sensitive urban design and improved water quality in urban settings.

That is also why eWater Group is keen to deliver phase 3 of the Australian Water Partnership, building on the tremendous achievements of the first two phases managed by eWater. And we also would like to continue our great work in the Mekong, including with the Mekong River Commission, which has been a valuable partnership over many years.

I think it is fair to say that we all desire greater certainty in these uncertain times. eWater Group can provide the strategies, the skills, and the tools to help with that.

Engineer Australia’s 2023 Hydrology and Water Resource Symposium

Author: Samira Azadi, Hydrologist, eWater Group

eWater Solutions hydrologist, Samira Azadi, represented eWater Group at Engineer Australia’s 2023 Hydrology and Water Resource Symposium in Sydney recently and provide an insight into her attendance.

Engineers Australia recently hosted the 2023 Hydrology and Water Resource Symposium in Sydney which was a fantastic opportunity to engage and connect with fellow industry experts on a wide range of theoretical, technical, and practical aspects of hydrology and water resources.

The symposium provided me the opportunity to hear firsthand from some of our user community and partners on their real-world application of eWater Source or eWater MUSIC.

I was also able to hear from key leaders in the hydrology industry on the challenges and proposed solutions, particularly in the context of climate change and flood control. Notably, there were engaging presentations on the application of artificial intelligence in hydrological issues, revealing intriguing results.

An aspect of the symposium I really liked was the recognition and appreciation extended to several distinguished individuals in the field of hydrology, including Dr. Allen Goyen, Dr. Geoff O Loughlin, and Dr. Francis Chiew, who have dedicated themselves with high motivation to the field of hydrology in Australia for many years.

Hearing firsthand from several distinguished experts and learning about the significant amount of effort, time, and energy they have invested in the scientific and practical progress of hydrology in Australia, is not only essential but also highly inspiring for early career professionals like me.

Considering that Australia features a diverse climate and abundant natural resources, it becomes imperative that we continue to be led by proficient and experienced individuals across various realms of management, science, and practice, particularly in the domain of hydrology.

The Hydrology and Water Resource Symposium provided an opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and forge new connections with experts in various fields, ranging from hydrology and hydraulics to urban water management, flood control, and climate change. One of the highlights for me was the amount of research conducted using eWater Source and eWater MUSIC software. This underscored the potential of these software tools for use in research and practical projects in Australia.

The discussions and questions that followed the presentations contributed to a deeper understanding of user needs across different fields, offering the eWater team valuable insights for designing and planning the future software enhancement path.

eWater Group attends the 13th MRC Regional Stakeholder Forum

The impact of climate and human activities in the Mekong River Basin continues to have a detrimental impact on the lives of millions of people and communities in the region and requires experts across government, the private sector and community organisations to work together for a sustainable future.  

eWater Group was delighted to participate in the recent 13th Mekong River Commission Regional Stakeholder Forum, in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, with representation from Trudy Green, Hydrology and Partnerships Lead, and Dr Paradis Someth, Principal Hydrologist.  

A highlight of the forum was the release by the Mekong River Commission and Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center (LMC Water Center) of the Phase 1 findings on Changing Hydrological Conditions of Lancang-Mekong River Basin and Adaptation Strategies. We congratulate the MRC and LMC on this significant achievement. 

For eWater, the Forum provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to contribute to the outcomes of the Joint Study and engage in insightful conversations with our partners in the Mekong. 

Trudy Green, Hydrology and Partnerships Lead, said: “Attending the workshop was a fantastic opportunity to understand the diversity and complexity of issues in the Mekong Region and will allow eWater Group to continue to improve and refine the technical support we provide to the MRC and the Member Countries.”

At this regional forum, we were excited to reconnect with our valued Mekong partners, including Mekong River Commission Secretariat, National University of Laos (NUoL), Lao Department of Water Resources (DWR), Laos National Mekong Committee (LNMC), Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC), Thai Office of the National Water Resources (NOWR), and Viet Nam National Mekong Committee (VNMC). 

eWater Group is thrilled to offer a world-class water resource modelling tool, empowering transboundary water management. 

Learn more about the Forum > https://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/consultations/regional-stakeholder-forums/mrc-rsf-13/  

To read more about the MRC Joint Study > https://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/news/pr-20230910/?fbclid=IwAR3wAhpldrLocWbuwyksmsMcER3S5efCBwfO6hd-kgBD3wQTjHU-JLSP_Vs  

Celebrating Australian science and technology and the power of people

The sustainable management of water is critical for all life on earth and the wellbeing of our society. As the driest inhabited continent on earth, Australia is well-placed to understand the complexity of protecting and managing our water resources and has become an internationally recognised leader in water policy and management.

We are marking National Science Week 2023 by acknowledging and celebrating the people and science behind the work we do at eWater Group.

We are committed to the pursuit of sustainable management of water resources through the development and sharing of best practices, capabilities, and knowledge of Australian water expertise, nationally and internationally.

Our people are hydrologists, academics, software developers, sales and project managers public policy and water industry experts and innovators who are all here to find water management solutions for the benefit of all people and their communities.

We develop and deliver Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform on behalf of all Australian governments through eWater Solutions; and deliver international development programs on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including through the Australian Water Partnership and Mekong Water Solutions.

We provide creative, science-based, and trusted water management expertise, products and services for people, communities, livelihoods, and environment impacted by many factors, including climate change.

From our beginnings as a Cooperative Research Centre Program to the organisation we are today; eWater Group has evolved to occupy a unique place in Australia’s water management and international cooperation ecosystem, including custodianship of the eWater Source platform.  

eWater Source supports integrated planning, operations, and governance from urban to catchment to river basin scales including taking human and ecological influences into account. It accommodates diverse climatic, geographic, water policy and governance settings for both Australian and international climatic conditions. 

eWater Source is the largest scientific software in use by the Australian Government, blending science insights with technological innovation to maintain the National Hydrological Modelling Platform.

Our world-class platform translates water-science outcomes into software to enable all Australian governments and our partners to harness data-derived insights and use scientific outputs in their decision making.

eWater Source has been applied extensively in a wide range of real-world water use situations, both in Australia and internationally, supporting the management of rivers in Australia, the Mekong region, across South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Alongside eWater Source, we also have eWater MUSIC and Urban Developer models which are designed to manage the interaction between various water supply systems as well as capture all water cycle components including rainfall and stormwater runoff, potable water, and the recycling / reuse of wastewater. These tools enable robust and reliable decision-making for secure urban water supplies.

To achieve positive outcomes across all sectors – food security, energy security, climate resilience, biodiversity and ecosystem health, and disaster management – water security is paramount. And as climate change accelerates the challenges, international cooperation to share learning is increasingly important.

A key part of Australia’s support for climate resilient water management in South-East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific, is through our work within the Australian Water Partnership, which works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and over 200 Australian partners across the public and private sectors.

The Australian Water Partnership supports a range of activities that draw on Australian expertise to respond to assistance from our international partners and governments, including on river basins, irrigation modernisation, integrated urban water management and environmental water.

This week gives cause for us to acknowledge this collective commitment as an organisation, and individuals, to finding water management solutions which is why we want to acknowledge and celebrate National Science Week.

As the impacts of climate change and other environmental factors continue to grow and exacerbate water security, eWater Group is best placed to provide support, program delivery and training for the protection of our most precious resource. 

Who are we?

eWater Group is owned by the Australian Federal, State and Territory governments to further develop Australia’s world-class modelling tools and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally.

Our organisation is comprised of three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership and the Mekong Water Solutions to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.

We also partner with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and research groups and institutions to provide expertise and support for sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally, now and into the future.

With MODSIM 2023 now done, we are taking the opportunity to recap our time at this critical conference and how important it is for modellers from a diverse range of fields to showcase the latest science and technology and how it is applied by the global water modelling and community.

Last month, Darwin played host to the 25^th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation – otherwise known as MODSIM – where modellers from across Australia descended on the balmy city to talk about water modelling, including the use of emerging technologies to improve modelling practice and the use of modelling to find new solutions to solve the growing impact of climate change in our waterways and environment.

eWater Group Hydrologists, Dr Jin Wang and Sudeep Nair represented our organisation at MODSIM, where we were a sponsor, to facilitate sessions related to hydrological modelling and showcase the new functionalities of Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source, and how it helps water managers to meet the changing needs in water resources management.

Sudeep said “it was great to see how various users unravel the many facets of eWater Source and understand how it is helping the users to achieve their objectives. We heard their experiences and feedback, which helped us to understand the strength of Source as a hydrological modelling tool and areas for potential enhancement.”

“MODSIM was also a great opportunity for us [hydrologists] to introduce eWater Source to a wider audience who were not so familiar with the tool, and a chance to update ourselves on the latest trends and techniques in water and environmental modelling.”

One of the more interesting observations from our hydrologists was from other presenters at the conference who demonstrated the versatility and agility of Source as a hydrological modelling tool and how modellers were using it for bespoke applications.

“One of the many advantages of eWater Source is that it can handle both water quantity and quality aspects and has many functionalities specific for Australian purposes,” Sudeep said.

With any science-based software and technology tools, there is also room for improvements in areas such as stability, accuracy, and performance improvements, and eWater Group is diligent in improving our software platforms to enable our owners, partners and water experts have an enriched user experience.

For our hydrologists, Dr Wang and Sudeep Nair, MODSIM provided a great back drop to generate interest and discussion on hydrologically modelling methods in general and eWater Source in particular.

Both Sudeep and Dr Wang co-presented a session with Rachael Holden from Power and Water Cooperation: Providing Water for All: Modelling to Improve Water Security for Communities, the Environment and Industry, which helped spearhead conversations on the impact of water modelling to inform decision-makers and the role of eWater Source.

To read the full abstract from Sudeep Nair > https://lnkd.in/eDzNiybjhttps://ewater.org.au/3443-2/ and for Samira Azadi (who was unfortunately a last-minute cancellation) > https://ewater.org.au/3443-2/.

Conferences like MODSIM play a significant role in the water space. It is an avenue for learning, networking, and informing of the latest research and modelling outcomes in Australia and beyond; and an important opportunity for eWater Group and our people to showcase who we are and what we are doing to address the new challenges in the hydrological modelling realm.

Who are we?

eWater Group is owned by the Australian Federal, State and Territory governments to further develop Australia’s world-class modelling tools and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally.

Our organisation is comprised of three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership and the Mekong Water Solutions to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.

We also partner with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and research groups and institutions to provide expertise and support for sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally, now and into the future.

eWater Group celebrates 10 years of water expertise in Australia and internationally

This year marks ten years of eWater Group, and we recently took the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate our achievements so far and the challenges that we have faced as an organisation over the past decade.

Representatives from across Federal, State, and Territory governments, the private sector, research, and international institutions, recently came together at a special event in Canberra to celebrate eWater Group and its divisions, and our work in Australia, the Mekong, and the Indo-Pacific region.

Since our inception, we have led the way in delivering water management, water security, and sustainability solutions through our expertise, knowledge, program delivery, and water modelling tools and services.

Michael Wilson, Group CEO, said the event was a great opportunity for employees, our owners, and partners to acknowledge the collective efforts by all to deliver water management expertise and tools to meet both the Australian and international needs and the increasing pressure of climate change on our environment.

“I thank our owners and partners for the support and collaboration that have shown eWater Group over the past ten years and now into the future. With this support, our organisation will continue to grow and reinforces Australia as a leader in water management, water security, and sustainability, here and internationally.”

While we acknowledge our achievements over the past decade, we are now looking ahead to the future as eWater Group, and its divisions continue to deliver new programs as well as strengthen and create new partnerships in Australia and internationally.

Our Hydrology team recently joined experts in the Mekong region for a regional training modelling tools program.

Sharing best practices, capabilities, and knowledge of Australian water expertise globally is our mission at eWater Group.

Our people – across eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership, and Mekong Water Solutions – work incredibly hard in the pursuit of sustainable management of water resources.

Members of our Hydrology team – Juanita Moolman, Paradis Someth, Samira Azadi, and Sudeep Nair – recently joined experts from six Mekong countries to run a regional training modelling tools program as part of a joint study.

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) are conducting a joint study on the changing hydrological conditions of the Lower Mekong River Basin. The study aims to develop adaption strategies that address the flooding and drought risks caused by climate change across the river basin.

Paradis Someth, Principal Hydrologist, eWater Group, said “As part of the study, our eWater Group Hydrology Team joined by water modelling experts from across the Mekong region to provide hands-on training and expertise on using, eWater Source to gain a better understanding of this tool and how it can help in impact assessment.”

“eWater Group 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 shaping 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 river basin monitoring, assessment, data and information sharing, and dialogue and cooperation.”

Since 2013, eWater Group has supported the 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.

To learn more about our partnership with the Mekong River Commission read the full story > https://ewater.org.au/ewater-group-and-its-partnership-with-mekong-river-commission/

For more information eWater Source > https://ewater.org.au/products/ewater-source/

Reach out to our team for more > https://ewater.org.au/contact-us/  

Understanding the movement of water in rivers, lakes, dams, and seas, together with the effects of climate change on an increasingly changing environment requires a wealth of knowledge… and a Master’s or other higher degree can help.

Meet Samira Azadi, one of our hydrologists with a Masters in Water Engineering from Iran’s Shiraz University and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Civil Engineering – Water and Environmental – from the University of Newcastle. As an experienced Water and Environmental Engineer, Samira plays a key role in supporting our National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source.

After completing her MPhil, Samira decided to make Australia her home and moved to Canberra to join eWater Group in 2021 and has been making her mark ever since.

“I wanted to live in Australia because I found Australians are very friendly and welcoming. It feels like a big diverse community. I love that we love our jobs, but it is part of what we do, not everything we do. There is so much more to explore.”  

For Samira, working as an eWater Group Hydrologist, enables her to continue her passion for hydrology and eco-hydrologic modelling, and offering support and advice to our partners across each state and territory to deliver innovative solutions to support sustainable water for cities and communities across Australia and the world.

“I love my job. I am passionate about what I do. And if I want to describe eWater in only one word I would say eWater is a dynamic organisation.”

“I am able to learn new things every day, and share my knowledge and experience with my colleagues, including fellow hydrologists and developers, but also support our partners to deliver water solutions for their communities.”

“My fellow hydrologists empower me and create opportunities for me to learn so I can be the best at my role. I love that my team is so supportive.”  

For Samira, working as an eWater Group Hydrologist, enables her to continue her passion for hydrology and eco-hydrologic modelling, and offering support and advice to our partners across each state and territory to deliver innovative solutions to support sustainable water for cities and communities across Australia and the world.

“I think eWater Source is an incredible tool. Being the national hydrological platform means that everyone is getting consistent data and information to make informed decisions about hydrology, catchments, and river systems.”

“From the moment that the first raindrop comes from the sky to where it lands and how it seeps through the soil, we can show our partners this critical information through dynamic data. This helps them make the right decisions regarding how our water resources are used and where.”

Source helps water experts with all climates and environments and is adaptable and readily updated to include new policy, data, knowledge, and management approaches. It offers the flexibility and ability to link to new and existing models and other information systems; and has been built in partnership with governments, industry, and research organisations.

For Samira the critical issue facing water sustainability and hydrology is data, and ensuring we continue to have the right data with real-time information for our partners and clients. By continuing to invest in Source, we can deliver the best information available to make the right decisions to enhance our ability to manage water sustainability, scarcity, and resilience.

Who are we?

eWater Group is owned by the Australian Federal, State and Territory governments to further develop Australia’s world-class modelling tools and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally.

Our organisation is comprised of three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership and the Mekong Water Solutions to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.

We also partner with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and research groups and institutions to provide expertise and support for sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally, now and into the future.

Climate change is increasing water scarcity

by Damien Pearson, General Manager, eWater Solutions

Climate change is one of the defining challenges of this century. 

Water is the primary expression of the effects climate change has on humanity and the environment manifesting itself through droughts, floods, water stress, and declining water quality. In many countries reliable supplies of freshwater are becoming scarce, undermining economic growth, increasing poverty, placing vulnerable people at risk and further disadvantage, and damaging the environment on which all life depends. The “livelihood crises” caused by the climate crisis have been identified by the World Economic Forum as “one of the most potentially severe risks over the next decade.” [i]

Effective management of water resources in the face of changing climate is essential to achieving all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agreed by all nations in 2015. 

How Australia can make a difference

As the driest inhabited continent on earth, Australia has become an internationally recognized leader in water policy and management.

Our sought-after expertise includes advice on transparent water allocation systems, efficient irrigation practices, and technologies, drought mitigation measures, allocation of environmental water flows, as well as reforms in urban water and sanitation. 

Importantly in the context of climate change, Australia’s reforms include an explicit focus on economic efficiency and environmental sustainability.^[i] However, Australia is a continent with many different climate zones and many different water use profiles.^[ii] 

Consequently, Australian states and territories have had to develop water governance frameworks appropriate to their climate and environmental contexts while maintaining content and coherence with national plans and agreements. One size does not fit all.

eWater Source, Australia’s agreed National Hydrological Modelling Platform (NHMP), supports integrated planning, operations, and governance from urban to catchment to river basin scales including taking human and ecological influences into account. Source accommodates diverse climatic, geographic, water policy and governance settings for both Australian and international climatic conditions. 

Our platform integrates water resource assessment and policy, to produce water accounts and manage rivers, and share water according to allocations and agreements.

eWater Source has become an important tool for understanding water supply and demand, managing allocations between users, and delivering water when and where it is needed.

Designed to be adaptive and readily customized to meet local or specific needs, eWater Source is underpinned by world-class science and technical innovation, and assists in the following broad areas:

• Assessing climate change impacts on water availability and demand over time
• Establishing effective water policies, regulatory systems, and institutions to enable infrastructure investments (governance policies and systems)
• Collecting and managing water data and developing water information systems
• Enabling water allocations and management of river basins and urban water supply

eWater Source has been applied and validated extensively in a wide range of real-world water use situations, both in Australia and internationally, supporting the management of rivers in Australia, the Mekong region, across South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Growing urban demand

Our world is rapidly becoming more urbanized. In 2018, 55 percent of the world’s population was living in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 percent by 2050. Projections show that urbanisation, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90 per cent of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa, according to United Nations data set[1].

With a growing focus on meeting a more spatially concentrated water demand, planners require tools to understand their water supply and drainage options and constraints, along with means to assess alternative scenarios to manage these. Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) seeks to blend traditional rainfall-dependent and alternative water supplies (such as recycled water, and rainwater tanks) to enhance water security.

To understand this blend of supplies and potential trade-offs, eWater MUSIC and Urban Developer models are designed to manage the interaction between various water supply systems as well as capture all water cycle components including rainfall and stormwater runoff, potable water, and the recycling / reuse of wastewater. These tools enable robust and reliable decision-making for secure urban water supplies.

Climate Change is exacerbating the water scarcity crisis through changing weather patterns and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.  The water challenge has become “too much, too little, or too polluted”.

Climate change adaptation primarily demands climate-resilient water management and eWater is ready to share its experience and tools to assist countries facing persistent poverty and disadvantage resulting from the impacts of climate-driven water scarcity. 

eWater Group is jointly established and owned by the Australian Federal and all State and Territory governments to maintain and further develop Australia’s internationally respected water modelling tools, and to provide support, program delivery, and training domestically and internationally. 

[1] 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN | UN DESA | United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,

[i] Aither 2022 Governance as Infrastructure for Water Security.

[ii] Productivity Commission, National Water Reform 2020, Inquiry Report. p68

We are continuing the Meet Our People series where we put the spotlight on the people that make up eWater Group. We are an organisation focused on delivering smart, sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally.

Sudeep Nair is one of our hydrological experts who has been working within our organisation and supporting our partners and clients nationally, and internationally, for nearly two years now, in addition to his 10 years of experience in the field of water resources management and modelling.

Sudeep’s interest in water resources began when he started his postgraduate studies at IIT Kharagpur leading him to pursue his doctoral studies in Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources, and eventually academia. But the urge to work on real-world water resource problems and water modelling was too great, and Sudeep made the leap from research to eWater Group.

As one of our hydrologists, Sudeep works on Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source, and MUSIC, and supports this country’s most prominent government and non-government organisations to find solutions to support sustainable water management.

“I get the opportunity to involve in both the development of the tools and their application to solve real-world water management problems. Moreover, I am part of the team which supports the adoption and use of our software products through various training programs.”

Acting as a bridge between our customers, who include hydrologists and water modellers, and the software developer team, Sudeep identifies, tests, and reviews their models to ensure there are working at optimum levels to deliver high-quality water data and information in real time.

“I don’t have a typical day [at eWater Group] which is why I like working at our organisation. The hydrology team is a small and cohesive team, and we get the opportunity to get involved in almost all activities such as the development of new functionalities in Source and MUSIC, software maintenance and support, modelling, supporting clients and partners, and training.”

While our hydrology team may be small, it has a huge impact. “As a key member in a small team, my suggestions and feedback are heard and valued. It feels like a family here in eWater. I am also given the opportunity to undertake various training to regularly update my skills and knowledge.”

Like any industry, we face many challenges in water management and delivering high-quality data and information to a growing audience in Australia and internationally. For eWater Group our focus is offering Australian governments, water experts and institutions here and abroad the highest of expertise, knowledge, and support.

For Sudeep, the challenge we face is the need for clarity amongst modellers regarding the selection of appropriate water modelling tool to address changing and emerging needs of water managers.

“eWater Source [the National Hydrological Modelling Platform] is different and is increasingly being adopted in Australia which enables uniformity and comparison, along with [our other modelling platform] MUSIC, which is already used widely in Australia for urban water modelling purposes.

eWater Source, and MUSIC, are constantly evolving tools, with more capabilities and functionalities added to our toolkit based on customer feedback and requests. It is this continued drive to deliver better support and services which “make eWater tools ready for assessing new water-related challenges in the wake of climate change and other pressures.”

Who are we?

eWater Group is owned by the Australian Federal, State and Territory governments to further develop Australia’s world-class modelling tools and to provide support and training nationwide and internationally.

Our organisation is comprised of three divisions – eWater Solutions, the Australian Water Partnership and the Mekong Water Solutions to deliver water management solutions for communities in Australia and overseas.

We also partner with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and research groups and institutions to provide expertise and support for sustainable water management solutions in Australia and internationally, now and into the future.

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.

Arranging international 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.

Visit the ICEWaRM website

Sharing Australian water management expertise

Every second year, the Australian water sector hosts the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Asia-Australia Learning Week. The Learning Week is a collaboration between the ADB and the Australian Water Partnership. It brings together team leaders and water specialists from the ADB and ADB project representatives from the bank’s Developing Member Countries (DMC) governments. The focus is for the participants to share knowledge and experience and to learn from Australian water sector specialists and institutions.

The 2019 Learning Week was facilitated by eWater, the International Water Centre (Griffith University) and Alluvium. The week was structured around the theme of the use of decision support tools in water policy development, investment planning and on-ground management of water resources. Nine ADB staff and 17 representatives from DMC governments (from 14 Asia-Pacific countries) participated. The theme was decision support tools to guide water policy development, investment planning and on-ground management of water resources.

The week showcased the use of decision support tools at all scales, from local to catchment and in rural and urban settings. Participants heard from government agencies, water researchers, water utilities and water associations, including:

• Murray-Darling Basin Authority
• Bureau of Meteorology
• Geoscience Australia
• CSIRO
• the Australian Rivers Institute
• University of Queensland
• Melbourne Water
• Water Services Association of Australia
• WaterNSW (field trip to Burrinjuck Dam)
• Goulburn-Murray Water (field trip to irrigation infrastructure)
• Yarra Valley Water (field trip to Waste to Energy plant)