Stage 1 – Visioning
Key to improving the management of our
nation’s water resources is an information
system that tells us how much water we
have now and expect to have in the future,
who is entitled to use it and under what
conditions, and how it is actually being
used.
Everyone needs to agree on these facts
and the information needs to be conveyed
to the public in a transparent, cost-effective
and understandable manner.
With WRON, we hope to practice proactive,
early intervention water management,
rather than reactive treatment of symptoms
- for the first time in Australia.
Supporting the National Water Initiative
Governments have a responsibility
to ensure that water is allocated and
used to achieve socially and economically beneficial outcomes
in a manner that is environmentally sustainable.
- excerpt from The Intergovernmental Agreement
on a National Water Initiative
The National Water Initiative (NWI) seeks
to establish national standards for water
resource accounting, ensuring “adequate
measurement, monitoring and reporting systems
are in place in all jurisdictions, to support
public and investor confidence in the amount
of water being traded, extracted for consumptive
use, and recovered and managed for environmental
and other public benefit outcomes”.
WRON aims to meet the water resource
accounting needs and related water management
needs specified in the NWI.
Core Components
Sensing
With WRON we will extend and upgrade
our monitoring services to sense the true
state of our water resources, incorporating
water use and ecosystem health. More...
Data Integration
A robust and transparent national water
account, WRON will integrate water resource
data and information about water entitlements
with usage, in context. More...
Forecasting Systems
By layering a set of forecasting tools
over the integrated data bases described
above, we will enable WRON to make
accurate predictions. More…
Reporting Systems
A single, national reporting interface
for water resources observations
and forecasts. Customised reports,
periodicals and web services. More...
The Value Proposition
Ultimately the WRON will allow governments,
investors and the community to:
- anticipate
changes in water availability – from
trends in consumption, to climate
and vegetation change, and other
changes such as the introduction
of plantations or farm dams
- evaluate management interventions,
such as environmental flow allocations,
water sharing plans, regulatory and
trading instruments, and land-use re-zoning
- elucidate problems, such as
water losses, water theft and threats
to sustainability in riverine environments.
Presentation to the National Water Commission
(NWC)
Dr Rob Vertessy, Chief of CSIRO Land
and Water, presents to the National Water
Commission in Canberra on WRON.
The presentation includes a small movie
- Click on the link below to see the
presentation (Flash, SWF, 30
MB).
View
the presentation.
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