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Australian Water Availability Project
Water issues are now considered among the most important drivers and constraints on natural resource management in Australia; from environmental hazards like salinity and drought, through to security of urban and rural water supplies. At present, Australia has no comprehensive, consistent source of information on the water balance of its landscapes; that is, on the relationship between rainfall, evaporation, transpiration, soil moisture, runoff and drainage to ground and surface water. A better understanding of water availability is needed across the entire country and is relevant to the implementation of key Australian Government policies such as Exceptional Circumstances, the National Water Initiative, the Prime Minister’s National Plan for Water Security and policies in support of improved natural resource management.
The outputs of the Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) are available through these websites:
What is the Australian Water Availability Project?
The AWAP is a partnership established in 2004, between the Bureau of Rural Sciences, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian National University. The project aim is to develop an operational system for estimating soil moisture and other components of the water balance, at scales ranging from five kilometres (km) to all Australia, over time-periods ranging from daily to decades.
Data from ground-based climate measurements, remote sensing and models (water, plant and climate) are being combined to produce maps of historic and current levels of all the main components of the landscape water balance, including rainfall, evaporation, transpiration, available soil moisture, runoff, stream flow and deep drainage.
The project focus is on improved management of the Australian landscape by industry sectors and individuals through better understanding of the crucial linkages between climate, water availability and vegetation growth. Risks and opportunities related to water availability in the landscape due to seasonal and annual climate variability, and the possible longer-term vulnerability of industry sectors to climate change will be highlighted.
Why is nationally consistent water balance information important?
Climate and land management practices have a profound impact on Australia's water resources, the environment and agricultural production. The availability of nationally consistent water balance information is critical to securing sustainable water resources, agricultural productivity and prosperous regional communities. Real-time water resource information is needed by agricultural industries and catchment managers to improve their drought preparedness and their risk management.
Key uses include:
- Monitoring and reporting water resource conditions and trends at the national, regional and catchment level
- Targeting investment in regions with significant current or future water resource management issues
- Performance information for agricultural industries and Environmental Management Systems
- Development planning and risk assessment at the national regional and catchment level, and
- Modelling processes that affect the water resource base and generate problems such as salinity and declines in water quality and quantity.
AWAP - the future
The future challenge is to deliver a fully web operational system, including underpinning procedures for robust real-time product delivery, continuous improvement and validation, and links to seasonal forecasting of water balance conditions. Investment is currently being sought from existing and new project partners.
The fundamental data derived from this project will help underpin future planning and decision-making on a range of issues including drought management and policy, securing urban and rural water supplies, salinity, biodiversity management, ecosystem services and sustainable farming.
The real-time web operational system to be developed will help agricultural industries maintain farm profitability before, during, and after drought events and help water and catchment managers quantify the impact of climate cycles or climate change on surface and groundwater recharge, vegetation and biodiversity. Additionally, risks to agricultural production may be assessed by detailed analysis of moisture availability and moisture utilisation trends for all Australia.
We would like to acknowledge that the Natural Heritage Trust partly funded this project.
- The Australian Water Availability Project | May 2007
Reports from the project
- Climate data for the Australian Water Availability Project - Australian Bureau of Meteorology | October 2007
- Deriving moisture availability from time series remote sensing - CSIRO Land and Water Division | June 2007
- The Generation and Delivery of Historical Climate Data Sets - Australian Bureau of Meteorology | July 2006
- Australian Water Availability Project - CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Final Report Phase 1 | 30 June 2006
More information
- BRS Rural Water website
- CSIRO website
- Climate data arising from the project, visit the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology website