Some big new initiatives Agreed priorities: New water systems Climate change implications Stormwater harvesting energy and water trialling new water technologies infrastructure assessment bio-safety and bio-security Agreed priorities: Future water supply Indirect potable Stormwater capture Aquifer Storage and recovery Optimising water systems Water loss reduction Water information and integration systems Managing risks Public acceptance climate Water Services Australia Association Southeast Queensland

First Ministers’ request on Murray-Darling Water Security First Ministers commissioned CSIRO to report progressively by the end of 2007 on sustainable yields of surface and groundwater systems within the Murray- Darling Basin, including an examination of assumptions about sustainable yield in light of changes in climate and other issues. Such a report would provide a robust Basin-wide estimate of water resources on an individual catchment and aquifer basis, taking into account climate change and other risks to shared water.

Vision for the Water Resources Observation Network By 2010 the framework enables a national scale approach to management of water resources resulting in a 15%-20% saving in the annual $2.6B costs of management Goal: To develop by 2010 a federation of harmonised information systems based on a standardised framework for the provision of: A robust National Water Account available to all water users; An accredited National Water Forecasting System; A modular and flexible National Water Reporting System; A National Water Sensor Network providing accurate and timely information of water use and ecosystem health.

WRON - Why? About 150 organisations implement 1,000 water monitoring programs throughout Australia. About $170M per year is invested in water quantity and quality monitoring by State and Local Governments, Catchment based and community water monitoring groups. Of over 3,000 stream gauges operated nationally, as few as 1,000 are currently telemetered. Estimated measurement error in the current MDB monitoring systems could be as much as 1,100GL (with a value of $1.1B). Improvements proposed could effectively halve error uncertainty. No routine capacity to accurately report on water resources. On 16 June 2006, the State and Federal Water Ministers agreed to the need to improve monitoring, measurement and management systems across the nation. The WRON proposal has been influential in this regard.

Link all water- related information via web services Hydrometric data Geospatial data Usage and entitlement data Models

Data Integration Focus on the interoperability of existing data sets pertinent to water resources management Reporting Systems Focus on the provision of a system of web-based reporting tools to suit different end-user needs Forecasting Systems Focus on the implementation of automated forecasting tools linked to WRON data sources Sensorization Program Focus on improving water resource and water use monitoring Standards&Access Focus on the development and promulgation of interoperability standards and inter- agency agreements for sharing data AWRIS NAMS SoE eWater Toolkit ACCESS AWDIP NICTA ESCAWRI AWDIP How WRON links to other initiatives

WRON Roadmap Short term (2-3 Years)Medium term (3-5 Years)Long term 20% saving in annual costs of water resource manageme nt Theme Goal: By 2010, achieve harmonisatio n of all water information systems based on an interoperabl e framework enabling dynamic national scale water accounting, forecasting & reporting. WRON Framework Development, Implementation of the specifications & standards for water resource management WRON compliance a mandatory requirement for all water infrastructure tenders. Adoption by Software Vendors Dynamic, automated national water accounting available to all WRON Technologie s WRON Systems Alignment and convergence with other initiatives (AWRIS, AWDIP, Water 2010 etc…). Consortium established to deliver and govern the WRON WRON Open Source implementations, developer, validation and accreditation tools available WRON components deployed as web services used as WRON building blocks. Next Generation web-based forecasting and reporting tools available to communicate key water issues to a wide range of users Accredited National Water Forecasting System operational across Australia Water Data Integration Programme Making existing water resource, water use and water entitlement data available, in collaboration with water data custodians Secure access to hydrometric, climate, geospatial data seamlessly linked to wide varitety of hydrological models Information systems deployed for fine scale, real time large scale water quantity and quality monitoring Implementation of a National Hydrological Model Comprehensive National Water Monitoring and Reporting network A national programme to double Australia’s monitoring infrastructure and improve data quality through an upgrade and enhancement of State-based water monitoring networks Real time national sensor network provides improves calibration of models and simulations leading to improved accuracy of water resources forecasting

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