Storm approaching Goulburn, NSW.

The Australian Water Availability Project

Water availability across Australia is being mapped in research that will help farmers and water managers prepare for drought, and use natural resources both productively and sustainably.

• 2 October 2006 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Overview
• AWAP Maps
• Partners
• Phase 2

Overview

The Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) represents a new and integrated approach to predicting water availability.

The project is producing maps and electronic information on past and present water resources across Australia, from individual farm paddocks to the whole continent.

The information is being made available on the internet, providing weekly estimates of water availability, and an historical archive that spans several decades.

The AWAP provides information on all aspects of the water balance, from rainfall to soil moisture.

AWAP Maps

To view the Project's comprehensive set of maps of variations in water availability in Australia, go to the separate Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) website.

This site contains additional information about the project as well as resources such as water balance maps, reports and other data.

Partners

The Australian Water Availability Project is a partnership between:

• CSIRO
• the Bureau of Rural Sciences
• the Bureau of Meteorology

Funded by the Natural Heritage Trust through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Australian Water Availability Project monitors how water in the landscape responds to resource management decisions as well as climate variability and change.

Phase 2

The AWAP is producing maps and electronic information on past and present water resources across Australia, from individual farm paddocks to the whole continent.

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research developed a system that provides near-real-time information about current water resources, with a focus on soil water availability.

Soil moisture is the net water available to plants after the inputs from rainfall and irrigation are balanced against water losses (outputs) from plants, soil evaporation, runoff and drainage. Soil moisture is therefore a valuable indicator of drought status.

The system was tested by developing a model that draws on historical meteorological data to produce predicted histories of water availability over south-east Australia between 1900 and the present. These predictions were tested against data on vegetation greenness and surface temperature (both indicators of soil moisture), and runoff (measured as river discharge).

Where necessary, the measurements were assimilated back into the models to correct any anomalies between the predicted and measured water availability.

This approach of combining modelling and measurements has been used in meteorology, substantially improving weather forecasts over the last two decades.

It is expected that as the system is further improved in Phase 2, soil moisture and other elements of the water balance will be forecast with improved accuracy.

Other partners in the Water Availability Project, particularly the Bureau of Meteorology, are providing long-term gridded data on daily weather (rainfall, temperature, solar radiation).

More information on the project from the Bureau of Rural Sciences can be viewed at The Australian Water Availability Project [external link].