CSIRO explores water quality monitoring for the Murray Darling Basin

Four people sit at a trestle table at an event booth with CSIRO banners in the background.

CSIRO team at the MDA Conference. (Left to right): Fred Hooper; Nicole McCartney; Alex Held; Janet Anstee

AquaWatch Lead, Alex Held, and AquaWatch Deputy Lead, Janet Anstee, recently represented CSIRO at the 80th Anniversary Conference of the Murray-Darling Association (MDA) in Tamworth.

We were also pleased to be accompanied by Fred Hooper, who attended as our guest. Fred has been working with the AquaWatch Australia team on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement. He was recently appointed as a Director by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) for the interim governance to help deliver the Murray–Darling Basin Aboriginal Water Entitlements Program.

There wasstrong interest by the community in how AquaWatch can support the provision of transparent and comprehensive information on water quality across the basin, once in operation.

The MDA represents 172 local governments and councils on the Murray Darling Basin (MDB)  in their work with state and federal governments to support the sustainable management of the basin, including the implementation of the Basin Plan.

We presented at the opening of the conference with a panel discussion on AquaWatch, diving into water quality, especially when water is scarce, and how AquaWatch can be used to help monitor and provide early warning.

The recent shepherding of environmental water down the lower Darling and Murray Rivers provided a significant environmental benefit (flushing) to the lower basin region and was highly praised by MDB councils as improving the water quality of this region, highlighting the impact of water management decisions. Our team presented on how AquaWatch can help inform such decisions with robust data.

The AquaWatch team and other CSIRO researchers were available to talk to stakeholders at our booth and were pleased to connect with representatives from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, the Murray Darling Basin Authority, Inspector-General of Water Compliance, University of New England, the Natural Resources Access Regulator and Tamworth Regional Landcare Association.

CSIRO will continue to explore options to support water quality monitoring and forecasting via AquaWatch for MBD communities.