1. Overview: CIRO and Water for a
Healthy Country Flagship
ACEDP Australia-China Roundtable
Dr Bill Young, Director, Water for a Healthy Country
National Research Flagship
2. CSIRO today: a snapshot
Australia’s national science agency
One of the largest & most diverse in the world
6500+ staff over 55 locations
Ranked in top 1% in 14 research fields
20+ spin-off companies in six years
160+ active licences of CSIRO innovation
Building national prosperity and wellbeing
2 | CSIRO. Australian Science, Australia's Future
4. Our strategy – growing our impact
Delivering
on National
Challenges
Exploring New Horizons
Conducting Science with Impact
Harnessing One-CSIRO
Building our People and Science Excellence
4 | CSIRO. Australian Science, Australia's Future
5. CSIRO international engagement 2008-09
• Canada (9) - 38
• USA (1) - 268
• UK (5) - 54
• France (4) - 56 • Japan (6) - 49
• China (3) - 88
• Hong Kong (8) - 39
• India (7) - 43
•
• Malaysia (10) - 33
• Co-authored scientific publications:
• >200 Publications
• 50-200 Publications • Other collaborative activities (top 10 countries):
• 10-50 Publications • >200 Collaborative activities • NZ (2) - 117
• <10 Publications • 50-200 Collaborative activities
• No Publications • 10-50 Collaborative activities
CSIRO International Strategy 2007-2011 Page 5
6. National Research Flagships
Climate Light Sustainable
Adaptation Metals Agriculture
Water for
Energy Minerals
a Healthy
Transformed Down Under
Country
Food Preventative Wealth
Futures Health from Oceans
Future
Manufacturing
6 | CSIRO. Australian Science, Australia's Future
7. Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
Water for a Healthy Country
To provide water managers with options that meet water needs to
2030, creating $1 billion per annum of net economic benefit, while
maintaining or improving the condition of aquatic ecosystems
Establish research investments that:
• Address a significant unmet need with an adoption partner
• Are large, to accommodate a research portfolio approach
• Are long-lived, to provide a secure platform that allows for new
ideas to be developed
• Build new partnerships with other research institutions to
provide necessary skills
8. Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
To provide Australia with solutions for water resource management, creating economic gains of
$3 billion per annum by 2030, while protecting or restoring our major water ecosystems
Integrated Water Healthy Water
Urban Water Regional Water
Information Systems Ecosystems
Stream 1 Stream 1 Stream 1
Stream 1
Integrated Water Systems
Water Informatics Environmental Water Water in a Changing Climate
Analysis
Stream 2 Stream 2
Stream 2 Stream 2
Water Resources Assessment Irrigation, Economics and
Recycling and Diversified Supply Catchment and Aquatic Health
and Accounting Environment
Stream 3
Stream 3 Stream 3 Stream 3
Groundwater Characterisation
Advanced Treatment Water Forecasting and Prediction Environmental Contaminants
and Management
Stream 4 Stream 4
Urban Water Environments Water in Northern Australia
Stream 5 Stream 5
Distributed Systems River System Modelling
Stream 6
Sustainable Asset Management
Stream 7
Intelligent Networks
10. CSIRO Sustainable Yields Projects
Murray-Darling Basin
Northern Australia
South-West Western Australia
Tasmania
11. Annual rainfall and inflow into Perth dams
Runoff is affected by climate and other factors
• 16%
reduction
• 55% • Historical
reduction
• Rece
nt
• CSIRO South-West Western Australia Sustainable Yields Project – Overview
12. Projected changes in rainfall and runoff by
2030 in four SY regions
The data for SWWA do not include the 10-15% reduction in rainfall
and 55% reduction in runoff that occurred between 1975 and 2008
13. MDBSY – Climate scenarios
• 15 GCMs (IPCC AR4), 3 global warming levels (high,
medium, low)
• 45 variants for climate assessment and rainfall-runoff modelling
• For each region, select 3 based on modelled mean annual
runoff
• 2nd wettest for high warming
• 2nd driest for high warming
• Median for medium warming
• Uncertainty in 2030 hydrology is dominated by
differences amongst GCMs not differences between
warming levels
• Explore water availability, flow regime and water sharing
impacts of these 3 variants
24. Implications for water resource
management and environmental flows
• Regional CC projections remain uncertain meaning water
resource planning must consider multiple plausible futures in a risk
framework.
• Water resource development has doubled the average period
between flooding for many wetlands; the additional impact on
average flood intervals of even moderate CC could lead to major
ecological change.
• Given current impacts even moderate CC would mean maximum
periods between floods would be 4x the natural values for many
wetlands and ~10x the natural values for some wetlands.
• Under moderate CC the % of months in which the LL are below
MSL would double, and would see LL levels drop twice as far
below MSL than would otherwise be the case.
• CC means achieving ecological sustainability will require greater
reductions in water use in the MDB than would otherwise be the
case.
