Users of Our Research
Users of our research and their requirements
The users of hydrologic knowledge are widespread,
and include
- Commonwealth and state government resource-management
and policy agencies
- Urban water authorities
- Local government authorities
- Environmental regulatory agencies
- Private companies involved in the resource
utilisation sector
- Consultants
- Catchment and river management boards
- National, regional, and local community groups
- Landholders
- The research and education sector, including
other Cooperative Research Centres.
Users of hydrologic knowledge now agree that
the problems of catchment management are both
diverse and inter-related, and that holistic approaches
to catchment analysis and management are required.
Almost all of the users consulted have stressed
the need for better predictive capability, so
that the hydrologic impacts of catchment management
and climate variability can be forecast.
Specifically, they have requested:
- a paradigm shift in hydrologic research and
land and water management to view catchments
as holistic entities, requiring multi-objective
analysis and management
- access to predictive models applicable to
a range of problems, spatial scales, and time
scales
- integration of hydrologic, meteorologic, geomorphic,
ecologic and socio-economic knowledge in such
models
- tools to measure and forecast climate variability,
and the means to best utilise this information
- better understanding about the positive and
negative feedbacks of afforestation on the salinity
problem
- improved knowledge regarding the sources of
sediments and nutrients in runoff, and land
management strategies to curtail their delivery
to rivers
- ways to improve the quality of urban stormwater
to relieve pollution pressure on urban aquatic
systems
- best practice methods for stream restoration,
and methodologies to evaluate their performance
- a workforce conversant with the needs of the
industry and state-of-the-art hydrologic understanding.
The activities of the CRC are driven by these
needs, with research, strategies for utilisation,
and education and training targeted to meet them.
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