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

Meet Dr. Emily Barbour, Mekong Program Lead, Australian Water Partnership

The drive to find answers and new ways of working to solve complex environmental challenges has always been a key driver in Dr Emily Barbour’s career. Her curiosity and her openness to sharing her knowledge and expertise with all – her colleagues and our partners – has always been apparent, from the very beginning.

As the Australian Water Partnership’s Mekong Program Lead, Dr. Emily Barbour has been leading the way in delivering climate-resilient water policies, practices, and tools in the Mekong region since joining AWP and eWater in 2022.

Dr Barbour brings more than 15 years of prior experience working in the water sector within Australia and internationally. Her previous work as CSIRO Senior Research Scientist included co-leading the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office’s Basin-scale Monitoring and Evaluation program, which evaluates the ecological outcomes delivered by Australia’s investment in environmental water within the Murray-Darling Basin.

With a Doctor of Philosophy in Hydrology and Water Resources from the ANU, and Undergraduate degrees in Environmental Engineering and Science from the University of Newcastle, Emily has worked on water resource modelling projects in South Asia and the Pacific, chaired the CSIRO Land and Water Science Council, and taught at the University of Oxford’s within its Master of Science degree program in Water Science, Policy, and Management. She also undertook an undergraduate exchange program in Norway.

Well before she thought of joining the Australian Water Partnership, a division of the eWater Group, Emily had a strong connection to eWater as she deployed her professional expertise in water policy and scientific research with CSIRO. In her time there, Emily held a number of roles including a River System Modeller and worked on Australia’s sophisticated software-based National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source.

As Mekong Program Lead at AWP, her focus is on designing and delivering development cooperation activities on behalf of the Australian Government (through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), and in partnership with international governments and institutions in the Mekong region. As part this key role, Emily is leading the way in knowledge exchange with governments which highly value Australia’s water management expertise – and our willingness to both share our experience and learn from others. 

Emily has worked with our experienced AWP partners to deliver on the priorities of important partner governments in Vietnam, Thailand, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, through innovative programming, dialogue, training, deployment of tools and processes to support quality decision-making, and policy dialogue.

“I am always interested in pursuing and understanding the different perspectives of our partners and stakeholders from Australia and internationally; I believe that knowledge-building and capability development can only be successful if shared both ways.  

“Through our partnership with DFAT, we have opportunities to observe and learn how our programs have impact, explore new ways to improve implementation, and identify how to respond to what we have learned in a meaningful way, which also enhances our effectiveness in the future.”

“I am interested in the interface between AWP and international governments, how they operate, how decisions are made, and what is useful [in terms of data and tools]. What we do feels like meaningful work to me and my team.”

“I am interested in how we can use data and technical tools to support higher quality, more evidence-based decision-making in water policy and management, and how this can improve the lives and opportunities of communities that rely on secure supplies of good quality water.”

Emily’s passion for water and the sector cannot be contested. Her commitment to finding solutions to working with water scarcity and promoting sustainability in water management in Australia, in the Mekong region and beyond is so clear when you hear her talk about her work.

For Emily, some of the biggest challenges facing the water sector is the need for a greater focus on working collaboratively to find practical and pragmatic solutions that can be realistically implemented, and which will be reliably maintained after the initial activity concludes. Infrastructure is only part of the solution to coping with the impacts of climate change.  Often policy settings, community awareness and political will are far more important to achieving lasting success.

“Having a long-term plan is of course necessary, but also we need to consider the importance of meeting people wherever they are on their journey right now and hear their advice on how we might most usefully collaborate.”

“I believe that data and technology can be powerful when engaging with governments and institutions that demand results, but relationship-building with our partners and communities is even more important, because information-enabled solutions must be trusted and continually fine-tuned. There is such power in connection between people who are committed to learning together and trusting each other.”

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:

Australia and the Asian Institute of Technology collaborate with Lao PDR on water modelling

This week, officials from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic are working with modelling experts from Australia and the Asian Institute of Technology to exchange knowledge on how water modelling can be used to build climate resilience.

Both Australia and Lao PDR share the challenge of high variability in available water, despite the seasonality of water availability being very different in the two countries. Modelling provides one mechanism for understanding existing water availability and use, and how this may change into the future.

Experts from Western Sydney University, the Asian Institute of Technology, National University of Laos, and eWater Solutions are providing training in water modelling, data analysis, and equitable water management. Led by Western Sydney University’s Dharma Hagare, the training draws on the experience and understanding of water management in Lao PDR through co-delivering with knowledge brokers from the Department of Water Resources and Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat.

Funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian Water Partnership, the training comes at an important time with Lao PDR’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment currently delivering on its mandate to develop river basin plans across the country.

One of the models included in the training is the Australian eWater Source model at the direct request from the Government of Lao PDR. eWater Source is Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, which supports utilisation of available data and best practice science to support water management and planning. 

Mukta Sapkota, Hydrologist, eWater Solutions, helped run a customised training program focusing on the applications of eWater Source in Laos.

“These training sessions in water modelling are crucial to assisting Lao PDR’s water departments. They are an essential tool for planners and decision-makers for planning and developing resilient and sustainable infrastructure, taking into consideration future flood risks associated with changing climate as well as projected development of irrigation and hydropower, expansion of urban areas, population, and land use changes,” Ms. Sapkota said.

“By using water modelling tools, like eWater Source, local water managers can develop a more informed understanding of current and future river basin flows and water availability to guide infrastructure development and the supply of water for agriculture and energy generation.”

The training is an important component of the broader collaboration between the Government of Lao PDR and Australia, and we were delighted to have participants from within Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, including the Department of Water Resources, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat, and the National University of Laos.

Laura Beckwith, Mekong Coordinator, Australian Water Partnership, said “AWP seeks to build partnerships between Australian technical experts and partners in the Asia Pacific to facilitate this type of knowledge exchange.”

“This shared learning about successes and challenges related to water management in Australia and the Mekong, strengthens… [our collective] ability to deliver on the sustainable and resilient management of water resources, in the context of climate change.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.  

The Ayeyarwady River is Myanmar’s largest and most commercially important river but its water resources are not well understood.

With the support of the Australian Water Partnership, the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar commissioned the first integrated assessment of the natural resources of the Ayeyarwady Basin. eWater lead the surface water assessment for the State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA).

The Ayeyarwady Basin

With an area of just over 675 000 km², the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is the second largest country in South-East Asia, after Indonesia. 

The Ayeyarwady River starts in the Himalayas, flowing for approximately 2 000 km in a north-south direction through Central Myanmar. The river basin has a total area of 413,700 km² and covers about 61% of Myanmar. About 5% of the Basin extends into the neighbouring countries of India (to the west) and China (to the east). 

The Ayeyarwady River Basin is dominated by a monsoonal rainfall regime, associated with the south-western Indian monsoon. It is also affected by convectional systems and cyclones from the Bay of Bengal. Groundwater flows to the streams and snowmelt from the northern regions are also important contributions to basin flows.  

The Ayeyarwady River Basin is still a relatively undeveloped basin. Like the majority of Myanmar, most of the Basin is characterized as rural, with agriculture the main use of water. 

Project overview

The SOBA provides a baseline assessment of the basin’s water and other natural resources, from which future management options can be compared against.

eWater developed a preliminary baseline Source water system model for the Ayeyarwady Basin (north of the delta), from which a baseline assessment of the basin’s surface water resources was undertaken.

The model is run with historic climate data for 1982 to 2016, land use in 2014 and storage capacity in 2016. It represents agriculture, domestic, urban and hydropower water use.

For the first time, the baseline assessment gives water managers a description of the hydrology of the Ayeyarwady River Basin according to 5 Hydro-Ecological Zones and 13 sub-basins, significantly increasing the understanding of both water availability and water use in the basin. For example, in the figure below, we can see the different components that contribute to flow at the end of the system as an annual total and during the critical dry season, it shows how much water is provided by different sources and how much of this water is used or lost to evaporation.

The water system model is a first cut at drawing together the information required to adequately understand and simulate the complexities of the Ayeyarwady River Basin. The baseline model will be a key tool to support the future management of the basin’s water resources, making it possible to:   

• Combine outputs from the model together with observed values, to provide an overall assessment of water availability and uses across the Ayeyarwady River Basin.  
• Understand baseline water availability and use, to support the ongoing assessment of the Basin’s water resources and to examine possible future scenarios and possible implications, for example with climate change or increased agricultural use. 
• Simulate components of the hydrological cycle at locations where observed values are not available. 
• Identify information gaps and inform future data collection initiatives. 

Scoping Study

Following the completion of the SOBA, eWater was engaged to undertake a scoping study of potential development options for the mainstream of the Ayeyarwady River and tributary flows. The study was also supported by the Australian Water Partnership.

The scoping study sought to demonstrate how water resource models can be used to assess management scenarios and provide valuable outputs to support stakeholder consultation.

The surface water system model was adapted to allow it to provide information on the likely changes in the Ayeyarwady mainstream and tributaries from different development scenarios. The scoping model can assess the likely flow changes from different development options, to consider the impact on water dependent outcomes such as irrigation, hydropower production, surface water flow heights and and flood magnitude. It is not intended to evaluate specific development proposals.

The scoping model was used to compare a High Development Scenario of hydropower on the tributaries and some irrigation development in the Central Dry Zone against a baseline scenario. The baseline scenario included ‘current’ irrigation demand and hydropower dams representing 2000 megawatts of hydropower, it does not include some 30 irrigation storages where data was not available.

The results compared include:

• Change in hydropower generation on an annual and seasonal basis, inter-annual variability was also assessed. 
• Agriculture water use and availability assessed on an annual and inter-annual basis. 
• An assessment of changes to hydrographs at Sagaing, Pyay and Monywa, including changes in flow volume as well as surface water level.

An example of the scoping model outputs is shown below. In this, dry season irrigation extraction under the baseline and high development scenarios are compared.

Capacity Building

eWater conducted face to face training programs to introduce water managers in Myanmar to the principles of hydrological modelling and the use of Source. The training used the new Ayeyarwady Source model, providing participants with hands-on experience in the use of the model.

The Queensland Water Modelling Network (QWMN) aims to improve the state’s capacity to model its surface water and groundwater resources and improve the quality of it’s models. 

Established by the Queensland Government in 2017, the QWMN provides tools, information and collaborative platforms to support best-practice use of water models and the uptake of their results by policy makers and natural resource managers. The QWMN encourages engagement between modellers, researchers, policy makers and resource managers.

A key focus of the QWMN is building Queensland water sector capability through its mentoring program. The program partners experienced modellers with university undergraduate students and young water professionals interested in water modelling, it The aims to:

• Grow the size and capabilities of the Queensland water modelling workforce by building a pipeline of skilled and enthusiastic graduates who want to pursue water modelling careers in Queensland.
• Expose students to ‘real world’ water policy issues so that they develop applied knowledge and become enthused about the work of water modellers.
• Develop undergraduate student critical analysis and systemic understanding of how the outputs from water models are and can be used.

The program has two components. Firstly, students undertake online water model training and tutorials to become familiar with the relevant models and tools. Students then undertake a ‘real world’ modelling challenge, supported by mentors who are experienced Queensland Government modellers.  

eWater is an active supporter of the mentoring program, providing access to the full version of Source, training materials and technical support for participants.

Phase 1 of the program has been successfully completed by students from Griffith University, James Cook University, University of South Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and University of Queensland and a young professional within the Queensland Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy (DNRME).

Students used eWater Source to understand how water quality targets are set for the Great Barrier Reef catchments. The Cattle Creek sub catchment within the Mackay/Whitsunday region used in the challenge. Through the project, participants both learn how to use Australia’s National Hydrological Modelling Platform, eWater Source and are exposed the the challenges faced by both government and industry to meet the Great Barrier Reef water quality targets.

The program has since been extended to students at the universities of Central Queensland and the Sunshine Coast in 2020-21. The QWMN is also working to engage modelling experts from the private sector.

More about the QWMN

More about eWater Source and managing the Great Barrier Reef

Construction of dams, weirs and use of water for irrigation, industry and towns has meant that many aquatic and floodplain ecosystems don’t get the water they did naturally.

One way of addressing this is to construct infrastructure, such as regulators and embankments that allow water managers to simulate natural watering regimes with lower flows.

While inundation brings a range of ecological benefits, it also has the potential to cause hypoxic blackwater (low dissolved oxygen) events. Blackwater events occur when inundation washes organic material from the floodplains into waterways leading to a rise in dissolved organic carbon in the water. This causes the water to turn a dark colour. The increased bacterial activity breaking down the carbon consumes oxygen, which causes a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen. In some circumstances, levels can drop so much that fish and other aquatic organisms do not have enough oxygen and die.

Blackwater can also create challenges for downstream water use, such as increasing treatment costs for drinking water supplies.

Blackwater events are a natural feature of many river systems. However, when natural flood patterns are changed and there are longer periods between overbank flows, the amount of organic material can be substantially increased, exacerbating the risk.

The project

As part of the South Australian Riverland Floodplain Integrated Infrastructure Program (SARFIIP), the South Australian and Commonwealth governments have invested in major infrastructure upgrades to provide water to the Pike and Katarapko floodplains. The infrastructure allows the Department for the Environment and Water (DEW) to create higher water levels to inundate the wetlands, improving watering frequency and the ecological health of the floodplains.The project includes a number of initiatives to manage potential blackwater risks. This has included developing a model to help understand and predict dissolved oxygen responses to different inundation events, giving DEW important information to design watering events with reduced risk of blackwater events occurring.

Spreadsheet models were previously used to help understand blackwater risks (Howitt et al. 2007, Whitworth and Baldwin 2016, known as the Blackwater Risk Assessment Tool – BRAT). While effective for non-complex situations, DEW was unable to represent realistic hydrology, such as events where water flowed into and out of different floodplains along the river. A more sophisticated approach was required. DEW determined the best approach to be to develop a Source plugin to model blackwater processes on the floodplains.

DEW and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority use the Source modelling framework to help manage the River Murray System. The Source framework uses “plugins” as a flexible way to build additional modelling capability into model. Combined with the South Australian Source Murray Model, the new Blackwater plugin allows DEW to model interactions between the river and floodplains and the different processes that contribute to the risk of blackwater events.

The approach

Conceptually, the model is based on the original spreadsheet models and represents the key influences on the generation of blackwater events (from SMEC 2015):

• time period since the last inundation
• the duration and rate of inundation
• water exchange during inundation
• temperature
• area of inundation
• litter loading
• depth of inundation
• influence of floodplain creeks on dilution
• river dilution flows and proximity to environmental values

In addition, the model includes location specific information such as elevation, floodplain area and litter accumulation (from vegetation type), to understand the extent of inundation and litter accumulation.

The blackwater plugin is set up to represent all of the River Murray in South Australia, to consider interactions between the river and floodplains, as well as cumulative effects from multiple operations being inundated at the same time.

Model performance

Model performance was tested in two ways. Firstly, simple floodplain scenarios were run through the Blackwater Risk Assessment Tool (BRAT) and the plugin. The results were comparable.

Secondly, a natural high flow event that inundated the Pike Floodplain in late 2016/early 2017 provided an opportunity to compare the model performance against observed DO data. The model compared well with the measured DO trends and magnitude but further testing under a wider range of scenarios is required to fully test the model. Notably, the event shows the importance of interactions with the river during blackwater events, as the majority of the DO decrease on the floodplain during Oct-Nov 2016 appears to relate to the low DO in the inflow water.

Implementation

The model supports DEW to:

• understand the potential DO changes associated with different environmental watering actions on the floodplains
• adjust proposed watering actions to reduce the risk of blackwater events
• forecast potential DO changes and blackwater risks from floods, and to identify potential river operations to minimise forecast blackwater events.

The figures below are two examples of the blackwater plugins outputs. The first shows the range of floodplain inundation under five different scenarios. The second shows forecast dissolved oxygen levels for each of the scenarios.

Project partners

This work forms part of the $155 million South Australian Riverland Floodplains Integrated Infrastructure Program (SARFIIP) to improve the health and resilience of Riverland floodplains. SARFIIP is funded by the Australian Government through the Murray–Darling Basin Authority and implemented by DEW in partnership with SA Water.

The Blackwater Plugin was developed for DEW by the University of Adelaide and Flow Matters Pty Ltd. eWater was engaged by DEW to further develop functionality and modify the plugin to better work with improvements made to the Source platform after the plugin was developed.

References

Howitt JA, Baldwin DS, Rees GN and Williams JL (2007). Modelling blackwater: predicting water quality during flooding of lowland river forests. Ecological Modelling 203 (3–4):229–242. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.20

SMEC (2015). SARFIIP Blackwater Risk Assessment: Stage 1. Report to the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. SMEC, Adelaide in association with Natural Logic (Karla Billington) and University of Adelaide (Luke Mosley)

Whitworth KL, Baldwin DS (2016). Improving our capacity to manage hypoxic blackwater in lowland rivers: the Blackwater Risk Assessment Tool. Ecological Modelling 320, 292–298. 06.11.017

Acknowledgements

This case study was prepared in collaboration with the SA Department for Environment and Water and Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

Source models support strategic planning, policy development, catchment and water resource management in the Australian Capital Territory

The models underpin the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Water Strategy 2014-44 – Striking the Balance and support the ACT Government to meet its obligations under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012.

Together with eWater, the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (the Directorate) have embarked on a series of initiatives to upgrade the ACT’s Source models.

Audit of water models

The Directorate use several different Source models to inform strategic planning and decision-making regarding land use planning, urban development and climate change on water quantity and quality and the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure.

eWater was engaged to audit the Directorate’s existing Source models to ensure they were fit-for-purpose and could address emerging needs, including the ability to:

• explore different policy, planning and management actions and assess potential impacts on the natural environment and water resources
• predict impacts of land development decisions on water resources and assess mitigate measures 
• test new ways of operating water infrastructure 
• predict future environmental states to inform policy and management decisions, such as environmental condition and future water supply/catchment yields.

The audit identified several issues with the existing models that limited their ability to meet the current and future needs of the ACT Government. eWater recommended a substantial rebuild of the models, including:

• Consolidating the existing nine models.
• Utilising human-readable input sets and data sets to run scenarios, rather than individual models.  
• Reconfiguring storages and lakes in the catchment model to better represent how they operate.  
• Reconceptualising and recalibrating the rainfall-runoff models. 
• Incorporating the ACT water supply system. 
• Establishing a current conditions baseline case for scenario assessment. 
• Preparing and justifying a baseline scenario for the comparison of land use change scenarios. 

Model rebuild

Following on from the audit, eWater was engaged to rebuild the ACT’s catchment and planning models.

eWater built two new Source models for the ACT, a catchment and a planning model.  Model performance has been improved by reducing the number of sub-catchments outside of the ACT. The new models use LASCAM (Large-Scale Catchment Model) rainfall-runoff models, allowing for physically based assessments of hydrological impacts of land use change. The catchment model now incorporates Canberra’s water supply system, including storages. The consolidation of the models allows for different policy and management options to be implemented by Scenario Input Sets.

In addition to the model re-build, the project also included collaborating with the ACT Office of the Chief Digital Officer to the integrate Source models with the ACT Government Water Data Management System. This brings two main benefits, it streamlines the transfer of data and model outputs and adds dashboarding capabilities to improve the presentation of model outputs. Integrations was achieved through a customised plug-in, developed by the eWater Software Development Team.

eWater also provided customised training to Directorate staff, to ensure they understood the Source model and were able to support its future development and application.

Implementation

The Directorate is using the models to inform a wide range of water and catchment management activities, including to:

• support investment in catchment remediation and
  investment, by helping identify which areas will lead to the greatest
  improvements in water quality and/or water yield
• investigate Integrated Catchment Management
  options across the ACT and the greater region
• understand stormwater and flooding risks in
  urban areas
• forecast future water supply and demand
  scenarios
• compare likely outcomes from different water
  efficiency initiatives
• investigate alternative water supply options,
  such as treated effluent, grey water and stormwater for consumptive and
  non-consumptive uses
• test different options to improve the management
  of rivers and lakes, to promote recreational use and reduce risks to public
  health.

Acknowledgements

This case study was prepared in collaboration with the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate.

Resolving tension between farmers upstream and downstream over water allocations in the upper Godavari River in Maharashtra was the focus of a four year engagement in the west Indian State by eWater.

The Maharashtra and New South Wales governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation across a wide range of issues.  Under the provisions of this MOU, the Government of Maharashtra in partnership with the NSW Department of Industry, Lands and Water (then) engaged eWater to provide training, technology transfer, and ongoing support in the use of Australian river modelling technology to Maharashtra.

eWater assisted the Maharashtra Department of Water Resources to develop a modelling framework to test water management options and to support the development of an integrated water resources management (IWRM) plan for the Upper Godavari sub-basin.

Basin overview

The Godavari River basin is India’s second largest river basin, it covers 50% of the land area of Maharashtra state.  It is a complex system, with 20 dams. Water use includes irrigated crops, industry and domestic use in urban and rural areas, including drinking water.  Water availability and equitable distribution of water within the sub-basin are major public concerns that have resulted in legal challenges.

Within the sub-basin there is significant spatial and inter-annual variability in monsoon rainfall. Typically, runoff is generated in the high-rainfall, high-elevation areas of the sub-basin with little runoff generation in the area near the large Paithan irrigation dam at the outlet of the Upper Godavari. 

Project outcomes

The project had two primary outputs, a calibrated Source model for the Upper Godavari Sub-Basin and building the capacity of the Maharashtra Department of Water Resources.

eWater, in collaboration with modellers from the Maharashtra Department of Water Resources set-up and calibrated a Source model for the Upper Godavari sub-basin. The model was used to evaluate water management options to improve equitable access to water across the sub-basin. Model outputs were used to inform the integrated water resource management plan

eWater and the NSW Department of Industry, Lands and Water used outputs from the river basin models to establish and focus communication and discussion with the Maharashtra Water Resources Department about improved water management policies and governance processes to implement the objectives of the Maharashtra State Water Policy. With a key focus being improving targeted communications to farmers in the basin.

eWater delivered a comprehensive training program in the use of Source, with customised training based on the Upper Godavari model. Training was held in India and Australia, both involved a combination of hands-on desktop learning and field visits to better understand the linkages between models and on-ground water management. 

More broadly, the project brought together water managers, academics and researchers in the Upper Godavari sub-basin to establish a community of practice that allows lessons and experiences to be shared across other sub-basins in Maharashtra.

Award winning project

The success of the project was recognized at India Water Week 2019, when the national Minister for Jal Shakti (Water Resources) presented an award to the Maharashtra Water Resources Department (WRD) for using eWater Source modelling framework to achieve equitable distribution of water in the Upper Godavari Sub-basin.

eWater, Geoscience Australia (GA) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) collaborated to pilot using space-based data to forecast streamflows and water availability.

With the support of the Australian Water Partnership, eWater, GA and the BOM worked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (UNESCAP) to develop new metric’s for the their ‘Regional Cooperative Mechanism for Drought Monitoring and Early Warning in Asia and the Pacific’ (the Regional Drought Mechanism)

The project integrated three leading Australian tools for water management:

• Australia’s National Hydrology Modelling Platform – eWater Source
• GA’s Open Data Cube for accessing and managing space-based data
• the BOM’s streamflow forecasting tools

The pilot project integrated the three tools, to develop streamflow and water availability forecasts from space-based data. Traditionally, such information requires significant on-ground data and complex analysis tools. The pilot highlights the potential of the integrated suite of tools to significantly increase the information available to water and agricultural managers and farmers to anticipate and plan for drought conditions.

Further, the use of Open Data Cube technology enabled many Source model inputs to be generated automatically, reducing the time to build the model, potentially making modelling more accessible to water managers.

The information was made available in a relatively simple format and accessed through mobile technology via https://escap.ewater.org.au/

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