News 2008

To train the next generation of specialists in the field of sustainable water resources 5 five Australian universities (all members founding partners of the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management – ICE WaRM) and 3 three European leading water universities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to exchange 90 post graduate students in the coming three years.

This exchange is funded by the Australian government and the European Union. In total a grant of over AU$ 1,000,000 (500,000 euro) is available for students and staff members to share best practice and to improve global understanding of the importance of sustainability in water resources. This exchange is funded by the Australian government and the European Union.

Over the next three years, 45 post graduate students from the University of Dundee (Scotland, UK), Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and the Technical University of Dresden (Germany) will study for one semester at one of the participating universities in Australia.

In return, 45 post graduate students from Flinders University, University of South Australia, Deakin University, Central Queensland University and the University of Adelaide will come to Europe to study at one of the three participating European universities.

As well as exchanging students, the student exchange, staff members will visit the universities in the other continent to give guest lecturers, to start joint PhD research projects and to develop joint courses.

Information on this exchange programme can be obtained form Mr Richard Hopkins of ICE WaRM, +61882365200, rhopkins@icewarm.com.au or Christopher Bustin, +441382388031 or c.m.bustin@dundee.ac.uk.

For more information, please click here

ICE WaRM’s First International Scholarship Students Ready to Graduate

Study Adelaide, December 2008

The first five overseas students to be awarded scholarships by the Adelaide-based International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM) have completed their 3-semester programmes.

The students – two from China and one each from Sri Lanka, the Solomon Islands and Peru – have been studying ICE WaRM’s Master of Water Resources Management programme at the University of South Australia, Flinders University and the University of Adelaide.

The students come from a variety of backgrounds including Chemical Engineering, Water Resources Management, Hydrogeology and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Most are now preparing to return home with a boost to their careers in the water industry.

They all believe the ICE WaRM programme has given them the knowledge and experience to achieve those aspirations. One plans to ‘advance and improve the quality of life in my country’, while another expects to ‘pursue further studies and work as a lecturer’.

The international scholarship students also are full of praise for the educational and social experience in Adelaide.

They say the educational opportunities in South Australia are ‘top quality’ with ‘excellent’ facilities. And they described the social experience as ‘amazing’, paying tribute to the Adelaide lifestyle and saying it was ‘nice and easy to live here, with friendly people and it was easy to study’ and ‘Adelaide is better to live and study’.

Each of the international students emphasised the importance of developing their English language skills while they’ve been here, and also urged other overseas students to embrace the Australian learning culture.

They say ‘taking extra classes’ is a key to improving their English and, despite being used to a less questioning student culture in their homelands, the scholarship winners believe it’s vital to ‘ask questions in class’ and to ‘speak your mind’.

They celebrated the chance to explore ‘more social experiences, not just university’ and ‘enjoy the colourful life’ and ‘different experiences’ in Australia.

The five international students point to ICE WaRM’s Water Resources Management Master programme as the crucial factor in choosing to study in Australia, because it is offered through multiple educational institutions, with an extensive choice of courses and flexibility.

ICE WaRM is developing a new stream in Water Planning, which will be offered from Semester One 2009, and climate change and sustainability principles also are being incorporated into the existing courses.

Applications for the next round of ICE WaRM international scholarship are now open. For more information, visit www.icewarm.com.au or email mail@icewarm.com.au

ICE WaRM is Australia’s leading water resources education, training and research organisation and helped create Australia’s first Water Resources Management Master Degree, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate programmes for local and international students. It also hosts award-winning study tours for representatives of overseas governments and water authorities and assists in the development of industry and community-focused research. ICE WaRM was established in 2004 as a Federal Government initiative, supported by the South Australian Government, and is based in Adelaide. Its founding partners are the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia, Flinders University, Deakin University and CQ University.

Australian Leadership Awards - Mekong Water Recipients

Focus Magazine (AusAid), November 2008

Two groups of senior industry and government leaders from the four Mekong River countries have recently been in Australia for a Professional Development Programme (PDP) with the common goal of boosting their water resources management skills. The PDP, held through July and August, comprised a series of intensive short courses, field studies, seminars and workshops.

The 45 Australian Leadership Award recipients from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos studied issues including computer modelling of groundwater and surface water (rivers and floodplains), integrated catchment management, maintaining water quality and water re-use.

The programme, hosted by the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources (ICE WaRM), focused field studies on a number of innovative projects in South Australia and upstream states of the Murray-Darling river basin.

One of the operating schemes the groups studied was at Parafield wetlands and water re-use sites in Adelaide. The unique project uses natural processes to treat urban storm water naturally through the wetlands, which are home to rare wildlife – preventing polluted storm water from flowing into the ocean and damaging the local aquatic and marine ecosystems. Some treated storm water is stored in the groundwater aquifer for later re-use during dry periods.

Thai delegate, Alin Chintraruck, believes the project has important implications for the flood-prone Mekong, saying that in Thailand “untreated flooding water can go to ground water and cause a lot of contamination.’

Laotian delegate, Oudomsack Philavong, sees the project as a significant breakthrough which provides a cost-effective answer to the problems of the Mekong countries and is “very cheap, in terms of water treatment, and very efficient.”

Through facilitated workshops, the ALA Fellows also started work on a series of action plans, applying the knowledge and skills gained in Australia to their local water resources situation. Many of the action plans remain works-in-progress and will involve ongoing co-operation with each other, and with international water resources specialists, including Australian experts.
Other highlights of the programme included field trips to the Barossa and South Para Reservoirs and to the Cox Creek Catchment in the picturesque Adelaide Hills; and, in a first for many of the delegates, an Australian BBQ at ICE WaRM’s headquarters in Adelaide to welcome them to Australia. 

The International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM) is an Australian Government initiative which provides a national focus and international gateway to Australia’s leading education, training and research expertise in water resources management. 

Australian Leadership Awards
The Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) are funded by AusAID and are a chance for current and emerging leaders in the Asia-Pacific region to develop their skills and to gain further experience in their chosen fields. For more information see www.ausaid.gov.au/scholarships 

ICE WaRM WINS MAJOR GRANT TO UPGRADE WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES

MEDIA RELEASE - Adelaide, July 2008

The International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM) today announced it has been awarded an Australian Government grant to upgrade its flagship post-graduate water resources management programme.

The grant, from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change’s Climate Change Adaptation Skills for Professionals Programme, allows ICE WaRM to increase the emphasis on sustainability and include the recognition, mitigation and management of climate change in the Master degree in Water Resources Management Programme, and the shorter Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma programmes.

A new course on Developing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Water Management will also be developed for the programmes.

ICE WaRM Chief Executive Richard Hopkins says the grant reflects the growing recognition that climate change is one of the major influences on the world’s water resources.

“ICE WaRM introduced the water resources management programme in 2004,” Mr Hopkins says. “At that stage, there was a broad acknowledgement of climate change – but in the last four years, there’s been growing awareness of its crucial influence on water resources management.

‘This grant will allow ICE WaRM to develop new elements which will make the programme even more relevant to the future leaders in the water sector.”

ICE WaRM expects the redesigned programme to be introduced progressively over the next three years.

The programme is the first of its kind in Australia and is offered through ICE WaRM’s five partner universities – Deakin University, the University of Adelaide, CQUniversity, the University of South Australia and Flinders University.

The Australian Government grant follows the South Australian Government’s announcement that ICE WaRM has been awarded approved-provider status to offer training courses in water resources and climate change.

About ICE WaRM:
The International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM) is Australia’s leading water resources education, training and research organisation. ICE WaRM has helped create Australia’s first water resources management master degree, graduate diploma and graduate certificate programmes for national and international students. It also hosts award-winning study tours for representatives of overseas governments and water authorities and assists in the development of industry- and community-focused research. ICE WaRM was established in 2004 as a Federal Government initiative, supported by the South Australian Government, and is based in Adelaide. Its founding partners are the University of Adelaide, Deakin University, the University of South Australia, CQUniversity and Flinders University. .

For more information about the Department of Climate Change’s Climate Change Adaptation Skills for Professionals Programme please visit www.climatechange.gov.au/impacts/skills 

Highlights from Water Down Under

15th - 17th April 2008

ICE WaRM and Engineers Australia have co-hosted one of the most important water conferences to be held in Australia this year – Water Down Under 2008.

The conference, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in mid-April, attracted 450 of the world leaders in water science and technology – nearly 100 of them from overseas.

As well as co-hosting the conference, ICE WaRM also sponsored one of the Keynote Speakers – Professor Ezio Todini.

Highlights from each of the keynote speakers, the Munro Orator and overview articles from other presentations are provided below, together with presentations and audio where available.

From Traditional to Sustainable Water Management: New Approaches and Tools in Line with the European Water Framework Directive

Professor Ezio Todini, University of Bologna, Italy

Keynote Speaker at Water Down Under 2008

Achieving sustainable water supplies requires a fundamental change in the way society regards water, according to Professor Ezio Todini from the Department of Earth and Geo-Environmental Sciences at the University of Bologna.

Professor Todini, a keynote speaker at Water Down Under 2008, says traditionally economists, politicians, engineers and other stakeholders viewed water as the fundamental resource for development, with an unlimited supply which could be exploited.

Under that regime, water resources planning and management was carried out to maximise profits or to minimise losses.

But the reality of the 21st century is that to ensure sustainable supplies, water must now be regarded as a limiting factor for development.

And Professor Todini believes water resources management has to fundamentally change to recognise this new paradigm.

The sustainability concept was introduced in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development and aimed to fulfill three objectives:

• Environmental integrity
• Economic efficiency
• Equity for present and future generation

This radically changed the traditional view of water resources management and raised concerns including:

• The effect of present-day activities on the future
• The importance of maintaining ecological processes
• The benefit of improving the present quality of life without denying future generations a similar opportunity

The sustainability principle led to new concepts in water resources management:

• Water must be considered as a limiting factor for economic growth and development
• Environmental aspects - especially water quality which may reduce water availability and the quality of life - must be considered
• Socio-economic aspects must be taken into account
• Local, national and international legal and political issues must be considered
• Uncertainty - including hydrological stochasticity, climate change and future demand - has to be accounted for

Professor Todini points to the sustainability of water supplies as the most significant measure to deal with climate change and the prospect of water scarcity.

But he says the concept requires new tools to assess the effects of planned interventions.

One of the keys is to create scenarios for water resources availability and proposed resources management changes.

Professor Todini says the European Water Framework Directive (EWDF) is a leading example of setting new benchmarks to achieve sustainable water supplies and creating comprehensive simulation systems exploring the physical, social, economical and environmental aspects of water allocation.

The EWFD recently also moved to include demand management and environmental costs in the planning phase.

But Professor Todini believes there is an emerging need for further planning-, verification- and decision-supporting tools to:

• Describe the existing state of the water system
• Assess the state of sources, usage, water cycles and environmental quality
• Forecast future developments on the basis of assumed or envisaged scenarios, technical alternatives, management policies and actions
• Evaluate the impact of the planned action

He says these tools are essential for planners to analyse the environmental and socio-economic implications of future water availability scenarios and balance them against public requirements and administrative and legal considerations.

One of the most fundamental changes we need to make is to include the community in the decision-making process from the outset - not just asking them to rubber-stamp the directions of governments and water experts, but inviting them to consider the consequences of various new approaches from start and giving the public input to the deliberations.

Background on Professor Ezio Todini

Professor Todini has held the Chair of Hydrology at the University of Bologna in Italy since 1980 and also is President of the Management Board of ProGeA (Protezione e Gestione Ambientale), a spin-off company of the same university.

Previously, he was Professor of Applied Hydromechanics at the University of Pisa from 1973 to 1980 and was Professor of Water Resources Planning at the University of Florence for two years from 1979.

Presentation

Podcast

Water Resources and Environmental Management: Current Educational Issues and Challenges

Professor Peter Loucks, Cornell University, USA

Keynote Speaker at Water Down Under 2008

Water resources managers are facing major challenges in this era of climate change, the growing world population and increasing demand for food.

The statistics make grim reading.

The amount of water available and suitable for human consumption is limited. Too many people live with less water than they would like – many with less water than they need.

The world population is increasing rapidly and so is their demand for water. And, sadly, the goal of providing everyone with access to reliable drinking water at reasonable costs is unlikely to be achievable, at least in the foreseeable future.

According to the United Nations, one person in six doesn’t have access to safe drinking water and about one in three doesn’t have access to safe sanitation.

Agriculture uses about 70 per cent of our water and the World Water Council believes that by 2020, we’ll need 17 per cent more water than is available to feed everyone.

Every day, on average, more than 30,000 children aged under five die from hunger or from water-borne and easily-presentable diseases.

Unfortunately, in developed nations, there always seems to be something more important than planning for events which will have a major impact on our water supplies – a phenomenon dubbed ‘the hydro-illogical society’.

In the United States, this situation has worsened because of a shift in emphasis over recent years away from water planning and management issues and towards addressing scientific uncertainties.
Employers working in water management often say they’re having trouble finding suitably trained staff.

No doubt these are common directions in other countries as well.

It is a major challenge for universities to expose their graduates to the key water planning and management issues and prepare them to make a more effective contribution to the future.

So what should our educators and educational institutions be doing to fill what has become a significant skills gap?

Five key points come to mind as a good place to start:

• Get our students involved in designing transparent and open social learning processes as key features of sustainable water management regimes

• Expose our students to real world problem-solving and collaborative governance

• Give our students the capacity to continue to adapt to the changing conditions of our natural resource systems

• Increase the technical and managerial skills of students who will eventually work as public servants responsible managing water and land resources in local, state and federal agencies – and equip them to oversee work carried out by private contractors.

The global water statistics certainly are grim – but with the right training, we can develop a new generation of water resources managers who will be up to the task of shaping a brighter future.

Background on Professor Peter Loucks

Peter Loucks has been Professor of the Department of Environmental Engineering at Cornell University in the United States since 1976 and teaches courses in engineering economics and management, applied systems analysis and environmental modelling. His research focuses on the development and applications of mathematical computer models for studying environmental and water resource development problems.

Professor Loucks also works with various international and government agencies involved in natural resource management and regional development. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from Pennsylvania State University in 1954, a Masters from Yale University in 1955 and a PhD from Cornell University in 1965. Since then he has been on the Faculty of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University.

Presentation

Podcast

Sustainable Water Management in a Drying Climate

Dr Jim Gill, CEO Water Authority Western Australia

Keynote Speaker at Water Down Under 2008

The doubters complained long and loud when the idea of building a desalination plant in Perth was first mooted in 2001.

And we could still hear the chorus of protest throughout the planning and development process.

Now, Western Australia is building its second desalination plant and the other Australian states are heading in the same direction.

The reality is that desalination plants are a key part of the future of Australia’s water supplies.

On their own, they’re not the answer to our prayers for a sustainable and reliable water supply – but life without them could become extremely difficult.

Desalination plants don’t come cheap, but the cost has come down dramatically over the last 20 years and they are highly efficient.

They do use significant quantities of energy. But we need to put that in context. The desalination process requires the same amount of energy as it takes to heat water by three degrees. When you’re having a long, hot shower each morning, your domestic water is being heated by 25 degrees – using eight times the energy levels required to remove the salt from seawater.

Desalinated water is pure and needs no further treatment to be safe for human consumption. Water from traditional sources such as dams requires thorough treatment before it can be safely consumed.

It costs between $1.50 and $2.50 per litre to produce desalinated water, which admittedly is more than the cost of water from traditional sources. But the comparison isn’t fair. The fact is that desalinated water can be produced at around the same price – if not cheaper – than water from other new sources.

Desalination plants are an important new source of water and must be an integral part of our long-term water planning – in Western Australia, we’re already looking nearly 50 years into the future and are drawing up the shape of water supplies heading to the second half of the century.

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Podcast