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OVERVIEW

Director's Overview

The CRC for Catchment Hydrology aims to deliver the capability to manage catchments in a totally new way.


Our central goal is to produce a decision support system able to predict the movement of water, particulates, and solutes from land to rivers, linking the impact of climate variability, vegetation, soil, and water management together in an integrated package.

For catchment and water managers, this system will enable them to fully evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of policy decisions at regional scales.

The management issues able to be tackled by this predictive capability are national ones, involving the direct expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. They impact on a water industry with revenues of $5000 million per year, and on the environmental health of our natural resources. The industry-identified issues to be addressed by the CRC’s research program are:

The major performance indicator for the CRC for Catchment Hydrology will be the level of adoption of research outcomes. The use of focus catchments, with the direct involvement of catchment managers and community groups in the research at these sites, will facilitate this adoption. Social and economic constraints, which currently limit the application of catchment technology, are being specifically addressed. To increase the skill and knowledge-base in catchment-scale hydrology, an Education and Training Program, linked to the research, includes school and community education, training of professional staff, and enriched post-graduate studies.

The ability of this CRC to deliver on its program of activities is enhanced by the bringing together of the strengths and commitments of:

  • seven key rural land and water managers in the eastern mainland states of Australia
  • two of the largest urban water authorities in Australia
  • the major CSIRO division covering land and water research
  • three universities with strong water research and teaching programs
  • Australia’s national meteorological and hydrological body.

The participants bring to the new Centre a wide range of multi-disciplinary skills. The addition of new participants, while retaining the old, will build on the success and experience of the existing CRC. With its demonstrated capability to collaborate, cooperate, and manage complex projects, and its ability to get results into practice, the previous CRC has given the current one a flying start.

The national benefits of this public good CRC are major, as indicated in this figure (click on the image to the right for a larger version). From the strategic research required to make prediction at catchment scale a reality, the prospects of:

  • more efficient water use, with large economic and environmental gains
  • sustainable catchment management
  • reduced hydrological risk from extremes of climate
  • cleaner urban streams, beaches, and bays
  • healthier rivers

are well within reach.

Rodger Grayson
Director,
CRC for Catchment Hydrology

Director's Overview
Who Are We?
Who Are Our Users?
Mission, Vision and Objectives

The CRC for Catchment Hydrology’s
successor is the eWater CRC.

eWater Enquiries:
Building 15,
University of Canberra ACT 2601
Phone +61 2 6201 5168
Fax +61 2 6201 5038
Email support@ewater.org.au