Publications

Afforestation in a catchment context report

This report provides the scientific background to help land and water resource managers and the plantation industry better understand the effects of afforestation on catchment runoff and river salinity.

Afforestation in a catchment context, Understanding the impacts on water yield and salinity, was published in March 2007 by Lu Zhang, Rob Vertessy, Glen Walker, Mat Gilfedder and Peter Hairsine, CSIRO Land and Water.

Plantation forestry in Australia is an important industry that has expanded rapidly over the past decade and has signaled an intention to expand further. This report outlines what science has revealed about the impacts of changes in land use will have on catchment water quality and quantity and on dryland salinity.

Specifically, the report addresses:

• How afforestation affects the volume and timing of runoff from catchments
• How afforestation affects river salinity
• How afforestation can be managed to minimize flow reductions and maximize river salinity reductions.

The report is one of the outcomes from a joint Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and CRC for Catchment Hydrology funded SI&E Grant.

Contact: Peter Hairsine


Ecohydrology: vegetation function, water and resource management

This important reference book will assist land managers, industry, policy makers, students and scientists achieve the required understanding of water in landscapes, for the sustainable management of water in Australia and elsewhere.

The book introduces and explains the fundamentals of several disciplines - plant physiology, hydrology, ecology, environmental science - required to successfully understand vegetation and groundwater interactions and management.

It provides in the one volume the fundamentals of plant ecophysiology, hydrology and ecohydrology as they relate to this topic.

Both conceptual foundations and field methods for the study of ecohydrology are provided, including chapters on groundwater dependent ecosystems, salinity and practical case studies of ecohydrology.

The importance of ecologically sustainable development and environmental allocations of water are explained in a chapter devoted to policy and principles underpinning water resource management and their application to water and vegetation management.

Modelling is also dealt with in a chapter which brings together the ecophysiological and hydrological domains and compares a number of models that are used in ecohydrology.

Eamus D, Hatton T, Cook P, Colvin C. 2006. Ecohydrology: Vegetation function, water and resource management. CSIRO PUBLISHING. 360 pp. col. illus.

Contact: Dr Tom Hatton, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship


CSIRO develops a guide for TBL reporting for US water utilities

CSIRO have recently completed a guidebook for triple bottom line (TBL) performance reporting for US water utilities. The work was cofunded by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) and CSIRO. Case studies of Yarra Valley Water and Sydney Water in Australia and Seattle Public Utilities in the US inform the report and demonstrate how management and reporting of TBL performance can help water utilities address future challenges. The report:

• Identifies global reporting and water-sector reporting trends and future challenges.
• Includes self-assessment check sheets which enable utilities to gauge their current management and reporting position;
• Outlines a matrix of sustainability assessment tools to guides the use of potentially appropriate planning tools;
• Identifies the internal functions within utilities which help manage TBL performance;
• Provides step-by-step guidance for the preparation of a TBL report;
• Short lists of reporting indicators based on analysis of indicators reported and recommended in the global water industry;

In March 2007 Steven Kenway presented the project to the joint American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation Management Conference, Seattle Public Utilities Management Team, AwwaRF and others. The American Water Works Association has used some of the report in the preparation of a short industry video regarding sustainable urban water management. The published report is expected to be available from July 2007.

Contact: Steven Kenway, CSIRO Land & Water


Guide to nutrients in the tropical landscape

Concerns for declining water quality in Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments and near-shore habitats has prompted the Catchment to Reef Program (Rainforest CRC and CRC Reef) to produce a colourful booklet on nutrients in the tropical landscape.

The 16-page A4 booklet 'Nutrients, catchments and reefs', produced by a team of scientists and science communicators, is designed primarily for landholders, land managers and senior school students. The booklet uses plain-language and lively graphics to introduce the role of nutrients in the environment. It explains nutrient cycles, the natural flow of nutrients from catchment to reef, the effects of increased nutrients (from human activities) on the GBR catchments and inshore environments, and what is being done on-ground to redress this nutrient imbalance.

The free booklet, funded by DEH, Catchment to Reef, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship through the Flagship Collaboration Fund, NAPSWQ, BDTNRM and FNQ NRM Ltd, is available online at Catchment to reef.

BDTNRM – Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM Body; DEH – Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage; FNQ NRM Ltd – Wet Tropics NRM Body; WFHC – Water for a Healthy Country Flagship (CSIRO); NAPSWQ – National Action Plan (Water Quality State Investment Program)

Contact: Leane Regan, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
 

Update Home

Message from the Director

Major collaboration aims to improve energy efficient water desalination

Water Research Alliance for South-East Queensland

Greenhouse gases cut WA rainfall

Climate impacts on water security investigated for regional NSW

New study predicts the impact of forests on water

Valuing Recreation in the Murray

Science challenges in the Great Barrier Reef catchment

WATER RESOURCES: Quenching Data Thirst the First Step to Water Security

New sensor technology advances Australia's water management

Publications

Conferences

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The Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.

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