Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the envir ....Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the environment and allowing water to move between competing resources. This study will enable policy makers and water managers to optimise the positive outcome of water markets and increase the likely success of programs to purchase environmental water.Read moreRead less
Groundwater flow age distributions: Understanding open pit mine hydrology. This project aims to improve the estimation of the age of groundwater. Understanding groundwater age is critical for sustainable management and environmental tracers are increasingly used for this purpose. However, groundwater samples are inevitably mixtures of water of different ages. Since for most tracers the relationship between tracer concentration and age is not linear, different tracers can produce different mean a ....Groundwater flow age distributions: Understanding open pit mine hydrology. This project aims to improve the estimation of the age of groundwater. Understanding groundwater age is critical for sustainable management and environmental tracers are increasingly used for this purpose. However, groundwater samples are inevitably mixtures of water of different ages. Since for most tracers the relationship between tracer concentration and age is not linear, different tracers can produce different mean ages for the sample. This project aims to determine whether it is possible to determine moments of the groundwater age distributions from measurements made with different environmental tracers. The project also aims to examine whether the degree of heterogeneity within the aquifer can be determined from the disparity between ages obtained with different tracers. This project aims to tackle the largest problem with using groundwater chemistry to estimate water age – that mixing processes in the subsurface are never known. Solving this problem will allow much more accurate estimates of groundwater velocity and aquifer recharge rates. The groundwater industry contributes an estimated $6.8 billion per annum to the Australian economy, and this project will contribute to the sustainable management of the groundwater resource.Read moreRead less
Effect of faults and barriers on groundwater flow and solute transport. This project will address the role of faults and dykes on groundwater flow and solute transport. Faults and dykes can act as barriers to groundwater flow, yet faults can also be conduits for flow through otherwise impermeable layers. Understanding their role is critical to assessing the impacts of mining, unconventional gas and water resource developments. This project expects to develop new methods to quantify groundwater f ....Effect of faults and barriers on groundwater flow and solute transport. This project will address the role of faults and dykes on groundwater flow and solute transport. Faults and dykes can act as barriers to groundwater flow, yet faults can also be conduits for flow through otherwise impermeable layers. Understanding their role is critical to assessing the impacts of mining, unconventional gas and water resource developments. This project expects to develop new methods to quantify groundwater flow through and along faults and dykes by combining geological, hydraulic and geochemical approaches with detailed 3D numerical models. The expected outcome will be an improved understanding of the role of faults and barriers in subsurface hydrology, and an improved ability to model complex groundwater systems.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354677
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce a ....Sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems through integrated assessment and modelling. Australia must take the lead internationally in sustainability assessment and management; it hosts both the problems and expertise, and is proactive in integrating research and management. This Initiative unites, for the first time, leading researchers from all relevant disciplines to advance our knowledge for achieving sustainable terrestrial and riverine systems (STARS). The intended network can produce assessments, strategies and policy directions that are objective, adaptive and inclusive. It can evaluate trade-offs between sustainability strategies, integrating research and outcomes, making them accessible to managers. It will build a coordinated research capability that directly supports Australia's goal of ecologically sustainable development. Read moreRead less
Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessm ....Environmental Genomics: Mining, climate change, water, crime and health. The new Environmental Genomics approach will employ high-powered genome sequencing systems to perform some of the first detailed genetic studies of Australian environments. The resulting high-resolution data will comprise a genetic audit, providing essential information for the accurate measurement of climate and environmental change. This method will dramatically improve the speed, and power of environmental impact assessments, permitting responsible resource development with major benefits to industry and the economy. It will also create new tools to improve water management and quality, biosecurity, forensics/policing and human health, as reflected by the diverse range of industry partners supporting this project.Read moreRead less
The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecologic ....The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecological impacts of industry development. Important benefits of the project include information and tools for streamlining development approvals and accurately assessing risks to threatened species to improve outcomes for both our economy and our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the secrets of the groundwater cycle using Si and Li isotopes. This project aims to determine how non-conventional lithium and silicon isotopes can be used to understand groundwater processes using an innovative source-to-target approach. The project aims to apply these isotope tracers to trace the water cycle within a well constrained system: an island aquifer with a dense borefield which has been analysed using traditional isotopic techniques. Supporting hydrochemical data will be us ....Unlocking the secrets of the groundwater cycle using Si and Li isotopes. This project aims to determine how non-conventional lithium and silicon isotopes can be used to understand groundwater processes using an innovative source-to-target approach. The project aims to apply these isotope tracers to trace the water cycle within a well constrained system: an island aquifer with a dense borefield which has been analysed using traditional isotopic techniques. Supporting hydrochemical data will be used to determine the relationship of the isotopes with environmental processes. The project impact will be the development of new methods to help understand our groundwater resource. The improved process understanding will be translated to groundwater management in general. The projects' focus on carbonate aquifer systems typical of coastal regions of southern, eastern and western Australia will have relevance to groundwater management in urban areas such as Perth and in rural areas for tourism and viticulture, and for management of natural resources in National Parks.Read moreRead less
Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catch ....Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catchments. The expected outcomes include major improvements in hydrological predictions for Australian catchments. This project will provide major benefits to irrigators, water authorities and engineers, who rely on hydrological predictions for sustainable water management in the highly-variable, semi-arid Australian climate.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354852
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Sustainable Regions for a Competitive Australia. How can metropolitan, rural and remote regions balance economic and job growth, with environmental and social sustainability? This Initiative establishes a Network of researchers to work collaboratively on questions of environmental best practice, community development, regional governance, labour markets, economic development and technology transfer. The Network's vision is to find ways to use existing and future research to help make Australia ....Sustainable Regions for a Competitive Australia. How can metropolitan, rural and remote regions balance economic and job growth, with environmental and social sustainability? This Initiative establishes a Network of researchers to work collaboratively on questions of environmental best practice, community development, regional governance, labour markets, economic development and technology transfer. The Network's vision is to find ways to use existing and future research to help make Australia's regions more competitive on world markets and more environmentally sustainable, and to help build stronger regional communities. The Network cuts across traditional discipline boundaries to find integrated solutions to the real problems confronting Australian regions.Read moreRead less
Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-sca ....Spatial-dynamic models to identify optimal fire mosaics, based on demography, dispersal and fire responses of plants, birds and reptiles. Inappropriate fire regimes threaten native species with extinction. The threat is higher in cleared landscapes where habitat is isolated and recolonisation unlikely. Furthermore, climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of intense bushfires. To meet the priority goals Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and Responding to Climate Change, landscape-scale fire management is essential. We will use simulation models based on detailed biological data and fire-behaviour to explore large-scale and long-term consequences of alternate fire management policies. Our project will enable fire mosaics to be implemented that maintain biodiversity and will identify effective fire management responses to climate change, and habitat fragmentation.Read moreRead less