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Water Events in 2008
Special Events
The Water Research Cluster is hosting more exciting water events in 2008!
The second Water Wednesday seminar was held on 2 July in the Florey Lecture Theatre, Medical School North, Frome Road at 5:30-6:45pm. The theme of water security was continued from the first Water Wednesday in October 2007.
PODCASTS OF THE WATER WEDNESDAY PRESENTATIONS ARE LINKED BELOW UNDER EACH SPEAKERS NAME
WaterWednesday
A special forum presented by the 
Water Research Cluster
of the University of Adelaide
The Water Balance and our Water Future
PROGRAM
• Water Management Options for South Australia:
finding the best policy mix
Mr Ian Kowalick, Independent Commissioner,
Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Download .mp3 5.98MB
• Desalination options in Australia:
finding the best technical mix
Mr Rod Naylor, Executive Director,
Veolia Water Australia
Download .mp3 5.79MB
• Desalination: part of the mix for South Australia
Mr John Ringham,
Chief Operating Officer, SA Water
Download .mp3 6.07MB
• Invisible water in the mix: looking for water
efficiencies in food production and consumption
Prof Randy Stringer, University of Adelaide
Download .mp3 4.56MB
• Question and answer session
Members of the audience are invited to ask questions to the panel of speakers
Download .mp3 5.14MB
Key themes under discussion at the Water Wednesday event included an overview of options underlying the State Government’s water policies, progress on the desalination project, and potential water efficiencies in food production and consumption.
Mr Ian Kowalick, the Independent Commissioner for the Murray-Darling Basin led the debate, outlining the best policy mix for managing the State’s water resources, and the urgent need to reduce our reliance on catchments where rainfall is declining.
Mr Rod Naylor, Executive Director of Veolia Water Australia, and Mr John Ringham, Chief Operating Officer for SA Water, both discussed the pros and cons of desalination as an alternative water source independent of rainfall, and the development of a desalination plant for South Australia.
The forum rounded off with a presentation on “invisible water” from Professor Randy Stringer, Head of the University’s Discipline of Agriculture, Food and Wine. Professor Stringer disclosed the large amount of hidden water used in food and discussed how Australia could save water by making the food production and transportation process more water-efficient.
COMING EVENTS
Special events planned for National Water Week 2008 are Water Wednesday and Water Pitchfest on 15 and 16 October. Speakers for the Water Wednesday seminar on 15 October are Minister for the River Murray and Water Security Hon Karlene Maywald, Peter Cosier, Director of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and Prof Wayne Meyer of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. The theme will be 'How do we reduce diversions from the River Murray and use innovation and science to find clever options for future water management?'
Water Pitchfest, jointly hosted with the Water Industry Alliance, will showcase research, innovation and technology to manage water smarter. It will be held on 16 October at the National Wine Centre.
MARK THESE DATES IN YOUR DIARY AND WATCH FOR FURTHER DETAILS!
Special Activities
Prof Mike Young of the Water Research Cluster, with his colleague Jim McColl, produces regular 'Droplets' which discuss key water issues around water management and water economics. These are available here.
Prof Mike Young and Jim McColl have produced a timely report entitled 'Future-proofing the Murray-Darling Basin'. This outlines the need for a step change in management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin. It describes the potential for much reduced water availability, as climate change reduces run-off into the southern Murray-Darling Basin. This is a proposal to manage inflows and allocations, instead of diversions. This system would allocate enough water ‘to ensure there is a river’ as maintenance water, before allocating shares to consumers and environmental trusts. Floods would be managed separated from shared water. This system would include the environment as an equal shareholder, and allow both users and the environment to carry water forward. The report urges immediate action to offset increases in water uses such as forestry, dams, salinity interception schemes and lining of leaky distribution channels. The first tasks of the proposed independent authority will be to set a sustainable cap on water allocations and to expedite the necessary changes. There are 21 recommendations for implementation of this significant change in management. Copies of the report are available from www.myoung.net.au
Past Events
Climate 2030 Seminar Series: Water Seminar 8 April 2008
Assoc Prof Justin Brookes of the Water Research Cluster coordinated a major public seminar on Water as part of the Climate 2030 Seminar Series. Justin set the context for the discussion, with the Murray-Darling Basin at less than 1,000 GL in active storage, compared to average water extractions of 4,000 GL. The need to re-think water planning and management for the future is urgent. Tim Kelly of SA Water described their program to meet the Greenhouse Challenge Plus, through avoiding emissions, reducing emissions, capturing emissions and recovering energy, and offsets or use of renewable energy. SA Water has targets of 20% renewable energy by 1 July 2008, and 60% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Prof Holger Maier of the Water Research Cluster talked about the applications of genetic algorithms to selection of optimal solutions in assessing alterative water sources. Optimal trade-offs can be determined objectively where literally millions of options are available in complex urban water supply systems.
Prof Mike Young, also of the Water Research Cluster, outlined the need for a step change in management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin. He highlighted the fact that the effects of over-allocation were already apparent when dredging of the Murray Mouth commenced in 2002, before the effects of the drought. Mike outlined the potential for much reduced water availability, as climate change reduces run-off into the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Prof Young presented a proposal to manage inflows and allocations, instead of diversions.
Wastewater Recovery Seminar by Assoc Prof Bo Jin 11 April
‘From Waste to Riches’ was the title of a seminar presented by Assoc Prof Bo Jin on 11 April, on the integrated Bio/Nanotech process for resource recovery from waste reuse. Bo is jointly appointed by the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences. He is also the head of the Wastewater Research Unit at SA Water and his Water Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory is jointly funded by SA Water. Their research covers exciting possibilities for recovery and re-use in the wastewater stream. From agricultural and food industrial wastewater they have been able to recover value-added products, such as lactic acid from sugars and starch. They have also been able to recover biodegradable plastics and food protein for animals from wastewaters. These processes also produce re-usable water. A further area of research is the use of solar nano-photocatalytic disinfection and mineralisation of treated wastewater. The WEBL group has a high record of success in applications for ARC grants.
Water Research Cluster Special Seminar 31 March
The Water Research Cluster hosted a Seminar on 31 March by visiting Prof Ray Morgan, of the Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Prof Morgan gave a very information presentation on the effects of ‘urban stream syndrome’ and the effects on streams of rapidly increasing population densities associated with Washington DC and Baltimore. The loss of small stream networks is a critical factor, along with the disconnection of riparian zones from streams. Prof Morgan has been coordinating an ongoing biological inventory for reporting under the Clean Water Act. This covers 89% of the Maryland stream network, with 1st-3rd order streams covered by over 2500 sampling sites.
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