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The Australian Water Availability Project
The past year has seen much of Australia suffer from severe meteorological and hydrological drought. This has seen water resources fall to record lows and agricultural production massively decline in many regions, such as the Murray Darling Basin. There has never been a greater need for up to date information about the state of Australia's climate and water resources to ensure that water resources are used in a sustainable manner.
The Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) is a partnership established in 2004, between the Bureau of Rural Sciences, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian National University.
The project aim is to develop an operational system for estimating soil moisture and other components of the water balance, at scales ranging from five kilometres (km) to all Australia, over time-periods ranging from daily to decades.
The Bureau of Meteorology has recently released a Milestone Report. The study generated a range of improved meteorological analyses and remotely sensed datasets for Australia.
Careful attention was paid to developing systems and datasets which are robust and useful for the monitoring of both climate variability and climate change. These systems are now running in real time and are expected to form the basis of ongoing monitoring and mapping of Australia's climate by the Bureau of Meteorology and are seen as a substantial improvement on existing Bureau practice and are comparable with international practice.
http://affashop.gov.au/product.asp?prodid=13747
English food industry tackles water consumption
The Food Industry Sustainability Strategy (FISS), drawn up in April 2006 with the aid of a Stakeholder Group, sets out how all those involved in the food and drink industry beyond the farm gate in England can, through the widespread adoption of best practice, help achieve sustainable development.
The food industry is a major water user in England and at the time of the publication of the FISS accounted for 10% of all industrial water use of the public water supply and 10% of the industrial and commercial waste stream. Thus it was recognised that it has an important role to play in conserving water supplies.
To view the full Champions' Group Water Report, conclusions and recommendations visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/fiss/pdf/report-water-may2007.pdf
SOURCE: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, UK
Online resources from the Bureau of Rural Sciences
A source of scientific information that you may not be aware of is the Bureau of Rural Sciences which provides scientific advice to government in support of Australia's agricultural, food, fisheries and forestry industries. Online publications and seminar papers are available for public use and include topics such as:
Seminars
- Monitoring Resource and Management Condition with Reference to Wind Erosion and Groundcover
- Water Issues in the Murray-Darling Basin
- Agricultural innovation, R&D and the environment
Publications
Most publications can be downloaded for free. To browse the BRS online shop for other relevant publications visit http://affashop.gov.au/browseshop.asp
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