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Publications
Publications (93)
What will the toolkit help you with?
1. Gain insight into the advantages of integrating Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) into your modelling approach, recognising the added value and relevance of GEDSI-aware modelling in addressing complex water management challenges.
2. Develop an understanding of the potential negative im...
Macroinvertebrates have long been utilized in the ecological assessment of streams and rivers as they respond to multiple stressors present in aquatic environments. However, the application of macroinvertebrates as bioindicators in the assessment of hydro-morphologically degraded rivers in Nepal is limited. Therefore, we studied the macroinvertebra...
This paper presents results from a study on water yield assessment across five major river basins of Afghanistan. The study was conducted using GR4J and GR4JSG precipitation-runoff models. The river basins were divided into 207 subcatchments and each subcatchment was divided into multiple functional units. The model was calibrated using observed st...
The Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) in Pakistan is the largest contiguous irrigation system. The weather cycle is characterised by a monsoonal regime with wet summer (Kharif) and dry winter (Rabi) seasons. The high-level pre-seasonal planning of the operations of the two largest reservoirs of Pakistan, Tarbela (~7.4 km3 in 2018) and Mangla (~9...
Pakistan manages the world's largest contiguous irrigation system, the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS). This system, which is under increasing pressure from population growth and climate change, provides water, energy and food security for the nation. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) in consultation with the Water and Power Development...
Earth system modelling (ESM) is essential for understanding past, present and future Earth processes. Deep learning (DL), with the data-driven strength of neural networks, has promise for improving ESM by exploiting information from Big Data. Yet existing hybrid ESMs largely have deep neural networks incorporated only during the initial stage of mo...
Droughts have severely affected Afghanistan over the last four decades, leading to critical food shortages where two-thirds of the country’s population are in a food crisis. Long years of conflict have lowered the country’s ability to deal with hazards such as drought which can rapidly escalate into disasters. Understanding the spatial and temporal...
The development and management of water resources is one of the most pressing and complex challenges facing the world today. Population and economic growth are putting increasing pressure on water resources, affecting food and energy security. Climate change further complicates water issues. The United Nations recognises these issues in several Sus...
Geographic simulation models can be used to explore and better understand the geographical environment. Recent advances in geographic and socio-environmental research have led to a dramatic increase in the number of models used for this purpose. Some model repositories provide opportunities for users to explore and apply models, but few provide a g...
Pakistan manages the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system, the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS). This system, which is under increasing pressure from population growth and climate change, provides water, energy and food security for the nation. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) in consultation with Water and Power Development Authorit...
Feeding more people requires an increase in crop productivity. Pulses have an important role in nutritional security across the world. These are enriched sources of protein and are known as’ common men’s meat’ in developing counties. The last two decades have shown a slowly increasing trend (1%) of pulses production across the world.
In Pakistan in...
This Tech Note represents a partnership between the Hydro Resources Management (HRM) wing of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of Pakistan, CSIRO and Kisters to document pathways that HRM can take to continuously improve their management of Pakistan’s water-related data. CSIRO and Kisters have long experience of producing, curating...
The female population is almost half (49.2%) of the total population in Pakistan. Yet the (published) female labour force participation is at 25%. This is well below the participation rate in agriculture-based countries in South Asia and Africa with the same income level. Recognising that the participation of women in agriculture in Pakistan is not...
Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) were initially developed to inform decision processes relating to climate change and then extended to other natural resource management decisions, including issues around integrated water resources management. Despite their intention to support long-term planning decisions, model uptake has generally been limited...
Wetland water level fluctuations often influence benthic macroinvertebrate communities through changes in water quality, substrate, and macrophytes and, hence, affect the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. However, there is lack of understanding on how water level fluctuations affect the structure and composition of benthic macroinverteb...
The report is a joint effort between the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat from Nepal and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia to develop a water resource strategy for the Kamala Basin to improve water availability across the basin
In wetland ecosystems, macrophytes are sensitive to water level fluctuations. However, studies specific to the effects of water level fluctuations on distribution and composition of macrophytes are limited in sub-tropical floodplain wetlands of Nepal. This study aimed to examine the association between macrophytes and water levels in the floodplain...
Globally, many river systems are under stress due to overconsumption of water. Governments have responded with programmes to deliver environmental water to improve environmental outcomes. Although such programmes are essential, they may not be sufficient to achieve all desired environmental outcomes. The benefits of environmental water allocation m...
Integrated geographic modelling and simulation is a computational means to improve understanding of the environment. With the development of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and web technologies, it is possible to conduct open, extensible integrated geographic modelling across a network in which resources can be accessed and integrated, and furt...
Although the Dublin principles of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) are well-established, the third principle on gender is commonly missing in practice. We use gender mainstreaming to identify examples where gender-specific perspectives might influence water resource management modelling choices. We show how gender considerations could le...
The National Water Information System development: a roadmap for Afghanistan is a guidance document and identifies steps for implementation, building capability and establishing governance arrangements for developing the water information system within the context of Afghanistan’s national water strategy and priorities. It was prepared in collabora...
During the period 1953-69, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted fourteen integrated land resource surveys in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea with the aim of identifying areas suitable for accelerated development. The resulting reconnaissance-level regional survey reports and maps provided extensiv...
Following Papua New Guinea (PNG) Independence in 1975, the new administration approached Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) directly concerning the need to address issues related to food security and village-based agriculture. A subsequent series of collaborative research projects between CSIRO and PNG...
Rivers are an integral part of water resources, providing
habitats to wildlife, supplying water for sustenance of
livelihood, nourishing floodplains and being a key
parameter to socio-economic development.
Ecological assessment uses biological elements living in
the hydrological systems as these respond to all
stressors including hydrological...
Rivers are an integral part of water resources, providing
habitats to wildlife, supplying water for sustenance of
livelihood, nourishing floodplains and being a key
parameter to socio-economic development.
Ecological assessment uses biological elements living in
the hydrological systems as these respond to all
stressors including hydrological...
Best practice modelling reduces model uncertainties and quantitatively and qualitatively
documents any uncertainties and assumptions for user transparency. Conversely, poor
modelling practices contribute to uncertainties and increase user distrust in the value of
modelling.
This discussion paper synthesises existing knowledge and experience on good...
Determination of ecological responses to river flows is fundamental to understanding how flow-dependent ecosystems have been altered by regulation, water diversions and climate change, and how to effect river restoration. Knowledge of ecohydrological relationships can support water management and policy, but this is not always the case. Management...
(1) Data sources used for testing of predictions of ecological responses to alterations in river flows. (2) The range of spatial-temporal scales (over which predictor and response variables are likely to operate for responses to flows. (3) Model summary data for golden perch, Murray cod, waterbird breeding, river red gum and black box health and oc...
Water resources management often involves the monitoring and management of water quality and quantity. Many water quality models have been developed to determine the source, transformation and transport of constituents in catchments and through a water body. In practice, they can be used to predict water quality in areas where monitoring is not fea...
Water quality models are replete with implicit assumptions. Some of the assumptions may be legacy in nature, having originated from early development of a model and subsequently taken for granted within the scientific community. For instance, Easton et al. (2008) reported that the SWAT model implicitly assumes an infiltration-excess response to rai...
Agriculture makes a vital contribution to the Indian economy. While it contributes close to 16% of GDP it also underpins livelihoods, with 60% of the population being dependent on this sector. The agriculture sector is intrinsically linked to water resources. India's water resources are under pressure, as evidenced by drought, poor water quality an...
Nepal's plentiful water resources, like other countries across the globe, require careful management to
ensure equitable use across the many competing facets of water consumers. These include agricultural
production, hydropower generation and human consumption. As Nepal progresses on a water reform
journey, it is an opportune time to investigate th...
Globally wetlands are increasingly under threat due to changes in water regimes as a result of river regulation and climate change. We developed the Exploring CLimAte Impacts on Management (EXCLAIM) decision support system (DSS), which simulates flow-driven habitat condition for 16 vegetation species, 13 waterbird species and 4 fish groups in the M...
The history of a piece of information is known as “provenance”. From extensive interactions with hydro-and geo-scientists in Australian science agencies we found both widespread demand for provenance and widespread confusion about how to manage it and how to develop requirements for managing it.
We take inspiration from the well-known software deve...
This paper presents a hierarchical systems model, which integrates a simulator of the mine water use process with a multi-objective optimiser for assessing mine water management strategies. The simulator advances prior tools in simulating complicated strategies by placing operation rules on model objects and process states. An optimisation framewor...
The simulation of routing and distribution of water through a regulated river system with a river management model will quickly result in complex and nonlinear model behaviour. A robust sensitivity analysis increases the transparency of the model and provides both the modeller and the system manager with a better understanding and insight on how th...
Water jurisdictions in Australia are required to prepare and implement water resource plans. In developing these plans the common goal is realising the best possible use of the water resources-maximising outcomes while minimising negative impacts. This requires managing the risks associated with assessing and balancing cultural, industrial, agricul...
The simulation of routing and distribution of water through a regulated river system with a river management model will quickly results in complex and non-linear model behaviour. A robust sensitivity analysis increases the transparency of the model and provide both the modeller and the system manager with better understanding and insight on how the...
Water is of great need by a broad range of mining activities, and is becoming more valuable due to growing demand and increasing scarcity. Following years of dry conditions, most mines in Queensland, Australia have been designed to highly reuse water and catch as much runoff as possible. However, during significant rainfall periods, unregulated min...
Flood inundation and retention are key hydrological characteristics of floodplain wetlands. This study developed a methodology for regional estimates of potential floodwater retention under floodplain inundation from ecologically significant flood return periods by coupling remote sensing and GIS technologies with spatial hydrological modelling. Th...
The health and condition of water-dependent ecosystems in the Murray-Darling Basin have been declining over the long term due to water resource development and over-allocation, as well as over-harvesting of fisheries and floodplain timber resources. Recent flooding, while resulting in short-term ecosystem recovery, does not signal an end to the dec...
Despite the perceived value of DSS in informing environmental and natural resource management, DSS tools often fail to be adopted by intended end users. By drawing together the experience of a global group of EDSS developers, we have identified and assessed key challenges in EDSS development and offer recommendations to resolve them. Challenges rel...
The Australian Government – through the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) – holds and
manages a large and diverse portfolio of water entitlements. In order to prioritize the use of this water to
maximise its benefit for the environment the CEWH needs to match water availability with demand within any
given year. To do this requires a p...
In recent decades, the ecological condition of the Murray-Darling Basin of eastern Australia has been in focus as the effects of drought and long-term over-extraction have resulted in a stressed, degraded river system. Within the Basin, the climate is highly variable (seasonally and decadally), the river system is highly regulated with large storag...
The Ecological Outcomes of Flow Regimes Project commenced in July 2008 and was funded by the National Water Commission through its Raising National Water Standards Program. The National Water Initiative requires that surface water and groundwater systems of high conservation value be identified and appropriately managed. Further, it is a requiremen...
The Ecological Outcomes of Flow Regimes Project commenced in July 2008 and was funded by the National
Water Commission through its Raising National Water Standards Program. The National Water Initiative (NWI)
requires that surface water and groundwater systems of high conservation value are identified and appropriately managed. Further, it is a req...
The interrelationships between humans and nature are an essential element of the culture of Aboriginal peoples. In contrast to 'western' or 'European' utilitarian views of ecosystems, Aboriginal peoples value landscapes in a more integrated and holistic style. Following European settlement of Australia, policies and actions for natural resource man...
Of concern to the environmental modelling community is the proliferation of individual, and individualistic, models and the time associated with common model development tasks such as data transformation, coding of models, and visualisation. One way of addressing this problem is the adoption of modelling frameworks. These frameworks, or environment...
Floating point arithmetic is a subject all too often ignored, yet, for agent-based models in particular, it has the potential to create misleading results, and even to influence emergent outcomes of the model. Using a simple demonstration model, this ...
To the extent permitted by law, all rights are reserved and no part of this publication (including photographs, diagrams, figures and maps) covered by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means except with the written permission of CSIRO Land and Water and The Australian National University (ANU). Important Disclaimer CSIRO L...
The PC-WINDOWS version of the IHACRES rainfall-runoff model (Littlewood et al, 1997) has been extensively used in surface water hydrology applications. The core of the model consists of a non-linear loss module that converts rainfall into effective rainfall, and a linear routing module that converts effective rainfall into streamflow. Recent constr...
Climatic variability should be a significant factor influencing agricultural production decisions. Historically in Australia, farmers and governments have invested heavily in reducing the influence of this variability on agricultural production. This investment has included construction of large dams on major river systems throughout the country, p...
Several modern development environments allow executable components, such as hydrologic models, to carry metadata describing the properties and capabilities of the components. These metadata may be restricted to the names of variables, and their respective data types, or may extend to other information, such as classification of variables (e.g. inp...
Modelling frameworks provide models with support components that handle tasks such as visualisation, data management and model integration. Within these broad requirements different approaches to framework development are possible. Tarsier is a modelling framework that supports the development of models in a high level language, such as C++. This a...
We discuss the motivations for, and software design concepts underpinning, the development of a regional water quality model. The Environmental Management Support System (EMSS) was developed to predict daily fluxes of runoff, total suspended sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorous through a large-scale river network. It was built using a cus...
A move towards the development of lean, issue-focused interfaces is being explored to provide a rapid delivery mechanism to transfer catchment science to managers and custodians. This approach is a move away from development of large decision support systems which attempt to anticipate a myriad of management questions. It relies on having a modelli...
total nitrogen and total phosphorous from 175 different sub-catchments within the 22,670 km2 region. The model predictions are sensitive to changes in climate, storage operations, land use and land management practices, including point- and diffuse-source loadings and treatments. The EMSS is deployed in a GIS-like environment on a PC and has been d...
Our experience with development and distribution of environmental decision support systems (EDSSs) for delivering research outcomes to catchment managers has identified major impediments to their adoption. These include protracted development time, focus on single impacts, difficulty in combining results with other EDSSs, and no attention to socio-...
The Environmental Flows Decision Support System (EFDSS) has been developed to allow the communities and governments in the Murray-Darling Basin of Australia to assess the environmental responses of the lowland floodplain rivers to proposed flow management scenarios. The system integrates a range of qualitative and quantitative ecological models whi...
In developing an environmental DSS it is important to have a good understanding of who will use it and how. The best way to do this is by interacting with a user group during the development process to ensure an appropriate design and to foster interest and ownership of the product. A prototype of the Environmental Flows Decision Support System (EF...
Australia experienced an outbreak of algal blooms in the early 1990s that led to a concerted national program to reduce eutrophication. Most Australian States drew up nutrient management strategies which required catchment management groups to produce plans for nutrient reduction within their catchments. Most catchment management groups used the Ca...
This book is designed to assist users of the Catchment Management Support System (CMSS) software set up CMSS for their catchment. This Tutorial Book describes how to go about gathering data based on the authors' experiences with applying CMSS to many catchments within Australia.
The application of the Catchment Management Support System (CMSS) software to predict the impact of urban growth on the nutrient quality of the waters of the Hawkesbury-Nepean basin was commissioned by the Water Board, Sydney in 1992 and completed in late 1993. The CMSS program predicts the effects of changes in land use and management practices on...
The ARC/INFO geographic information system (GIS) has been combined with the ARX spatial expert system and the SMSP soil moisture-soil strength model to give the managers of a major Australian army training base the ability to predict damage from exercises. Soil types on the base, their wetness indices, and moisture status are biophysical inputs to...
In 1981 a co-operative research project was commenced between the Papua New Guinea Department of Primary Industry and the then CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources in Australia to undertake an assessment of the potential of the natural resources in Papua New Guinea for the development of village-based food and cash crop production. During the...
Keywords: DSS development, integrated assessment, stakeholder engagement, project management EXTENDED ABSTRACT Within New South Wales, Australia, natural resource management is coordinated by 13 Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) (Figure 1). The Catchment Action Plan that each CMA develops must be consistent with state-wide standards and targe...
