Catchment Science Informing Decisions Evaluating Outcomes Protecting Water Quality

Why Science? Sound science underpins credible decisions (eg will a rectification action be effective?) Testing assumptions and preconceived ideas (eg are kangaroos a health threat/water quality issue?)

Scope of Science at the Sydney Catchment Authority Small, dedicated science unit Research and development outsourced to universities, CSIRO and CRCs –Collaborative Research Program –CRC for Water Quality and Treatment, and Freshwater Ecology –AWWA Research Foundation

Collaborative Research Projects 3 year research and development projects focussed on specific needs Partner with leading university or research agency SCA provides –Knowledge of catchment issues –Funding, support and field access Researcher provides –World-class research and development expertise in specific science areas SCA and researcher –Transfer knowledge into the organisation to meet its strategic and tactical needs

Sydney Catchment Authority Research Themes Climates and rainfall variability Nutrients and sediments Pathogens in animals Pathogen budgets Fire and catastrophic events Water quality planning

Climate and Rainfall Variability Probabilistic Forecasting (Uni of NSW) Why? Scenario planning for inflow variability to SCA reservoirs How? Multi-site statistical modelling to rainfall variability

Climate and Rainfall Variability Forecasting streamflows – seasons to decades (Uni of Newcastle) Why? Want to predict changes in streamflow into reservoirs several years ahead How? Correlate streamflow with changes in ocean circulation and develop prediction techniques

Nutrients and Sediments Identify major sources of sediments and nutrients in Burragorang reservoir (CSIRO) Why? Understand source areas and erosion processes for targeted rectification How? Field mapping, nutrient and sediment tracing, geochemistry, catchment scale modelling Nutrient source tracing (Uni of Western Sydney) Why? Understand impacts of types of land use How? Evaluate models that incorporate sediment and nutrient data

Nutrients and Sediments Sediment budgeting in Metropolitan catchments (Uni of Wollongong) Why? Estimate sources and rate of sedimentation into reservoirs How? Detailed modelling of specific catchments, field coring, age dating

Pathogens in Animals Native animals as potential pathogen sources (Uni of NSW) Why? Map location, number and faecal deposition of kangaroos in the catchment How? Field observation, tagging, satellite tracking (over months/years) Native animals as risks to health (Macquarie Uni) Why? Investigate whether kangaroos carry Cryptosporidium How? Collect droppings – analyse quantity, distribution and genotype for variability

Pathogens in Animals Cryptosporidium genotypes in kangaroos (Macquarie Uni) Why? Are there several types of Cryptosporidium? Which ones infect humans? Do kangaroos carry them? How? Genotyping and infectivity studies in cell cultures in laboratory

Pathogen Budgets Pathogen budgets for SCA subcatchments (Uni of NSW) Why? Prioritise land use and rectification actions to minimise human health risk How? Study relative quantities of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and E-coli in streams as a function of land use. Initial focus on Wingecarribee Molecular methods for tracing faecal bacteria (Uni of NSW) Why? Develop tools to trace (and ‘fingerprint’) sources of bacterial pathogens How? Molecular genotyping of different hosts (eg cattle, sheep, pigs, kangaroos)

Pathogen Budgets Molecular methods for tracing faecal viruses (Uni of NSW) Why? Develop tools to trace (and ‘fingerprint’) sources of viruses that cause gastroenteritis How? Molecular identification of genomes

Fire and Catastrophic Events Catastrophic events and sedimentation in the Holocene (last 10,000 years) (Uni of NSW) Why? What does the geological record show about the effects of wildfire, climate and landslides on sedimentation? Impact of post-wildfire erosion on sedimentation and nutrient release (CSIRO) Why? To understand the importance of wildfires on sedimentation and nutrients How? Detailed study of Nattai catchment, coring, age dating and reconstruction

Water Quality Planning Integrated water quality planning (Uni of Technology, Sydney) Why? Need a framework to inform the Rectification Action Planning process How? Decision support system to choose the option that provides maximum benefit at least cost RAPs – how far? Offs ets

In Summary Why research? Inform Decisions Evaluate Outcomes Protect Water Quality

Photography Credits The photographs used in this presentation are reproduced with kind permission of the copyright owners: University of NSW, University of Newcastle, CSIRO, University of Wollongong, Macquarie University, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney Catchment Authority.