March 2009

From the CEO

While many international organisations are battening down the hatches hoping to avoid the worst of the global economic meltdown, ICE WaRM is expanding its operations and alliances – especially in South-East and East Asia.

We’ve undertaken three significant initiatives since the start of the year – and more are in the pipeline as our experience in the region gains further traction.<...  full story

New Memorandum of Understanding Signed

ICE WaRM Chief Executive Richard Hopkins has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Water Engineering Association (CWEA).

The signing ceremony took place in Adelaide in mid-March while a top-level, five-person delegation from the CWEA was in Australia for a brief visit.

The Association, which was formed in 2006, has around 80,000 members across China and amon...  full story

Mekong Subregion Follow-up Visit

ICE WaRM’s partnerships in the Mekong Subregion, old and new, have been further strengthened following an intensive visit by Chief Executive Officer Richard Hopkins and International Partnerships Manager Mike Seager in February and March 2009.

Thailand, Lao PDR and south-western China (where the Mekong River begins its long journey) were included on the itinerary.

“This further visit by ICE WaRM reconfirmed strong national and regional demand for the suppo...  full story

Contributing to UNESCO Programme

In February ICE WaRM Chief Executive Richard Hopkins was an invited contributor to the UNESCO Regional Water Education Workshop, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The regional event was hosted by UNESCO and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) with invited representatives from South Asia, South-East and East Asia and Australia. Ten selected case studies from across the region were presented to stimulate discussion of common challenges in water education and training.

...  full story

Yellow River Commission Students Start Studies

The latest group of 19 future leaders from China’s Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) have started their Graduate Certificate studies in water management after completing their initial round of English language tuition.

The 15 men and four women, the third group from the YRCC to study in South Australia, will spend the next six months completing the Graduate Certificate ...  full story

Environmental Trust Now Active

The Water Resources Management (WaRM) Trust was approved by the Minister for the Environment and registered as a Deductible Gift Recipient Trust over the final months of 2008, and became fully active in January 2009, when the initial donation was made to the associated Water Training, Education and Research (WaTER) Fund.

This is an important milestone in the transition of ICE WaRM into sustainable operations at the conclusion of the founding agreement with the Australian Government....  full story

Strong ICE WaRM Presence at OZWater

ICE WaRM Chief Executive Richard Hopkins and International Partnerships Manager Mike Seager were among 1300 delegates attending the OzWater 2009 conference in Melbourne in mid-March. ICE WaRM is an active member of AWA, including national and international partnership activities.

The three-day conference, hosted by the Australian Water Association (AWA), covered key issues facing the Austra...  full story

Advance Notice - IAH Seminar

The International Assocation of Hydrogeologists will be holding a seminar titled

Groundwater resources in SA - how are they coping with the dry years?

The seminar aims to provide a status report on how the resources are faring and whether management approaches are appropriate.

The seminar will be held on Monday 4th May at SA Water, Level 1, 250 Victoria Square

Further information will be provided in d...  full story

New International Jobs Available From the MRC

New international jobs are now available on the ICE WaRM website, linking water resources organisations with a wider range of skilled professionals.

The listed vacancies are, again,  with the Mekong River Commission (MRC), which was established in 1995 by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, with P R China and Myanmar serving as dialogue partners.

The MRC aims to introduce and coordinate strategic programmes promoting sustainable management and ...  full story

Hydrology & Hydraulics Course Starts the Year

The ICE WaRM short courses programme commenced in March with the two day Hydraulics and Hydrology for Non-engineers.

Held in Brisbane, the course was presented by Terry Lucke of UniSA and attended by a group of 14 people, whose work backgrounds were in local government, health or natural resources.

The participants aimed to become more knowledgeable on what was involve...  full story

Australian Water Industry Essentials Short Course

ICE WaRM recently held a one-day version of the Australian Water Industry Essentials course in response to demand from stakeholders.

The single-day course was staged in Adelaide in late March and covered the latest developments in rivers and wetlands, constitutional and jurisdictional controls, water ownership and the law, institutional arrangements, irrigation, technology and recent developments in water, environmental management and protection of water, urban water, plus the water...  full story

Apply Now for AU-EU Exchange Opportunity

This programme is now active, as the first student from the Netherlands commenced studies at the University of Adelaide this semester.

Applications are now open for students wanting to take part in the exchange, starting in the second semester.

The exchange programme gives 90 students the opportunity to further their water-related studies overseas. Up to 45 students from ...  full story

Domestic Scholarships Application Deadline Looming

Scholarship applications for domestic students studying the Water Planning stream of ICE WaRM’s Graduate Diploma in Water Resources Management close on April 17.

Successful applicants from this latest scholarships round will commence study in Semester Two. A further round of scholarships will be offered in October for a Semester One start in 2010.

ICE WaRM, in conjuncti...  full story

International Scholarships Update

ICE WaRM offers full and partial tuition scholarships for international students to study the Master of Water Resources Management programme at any of its five partner institutions – the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia, Flinders University, Deakin University in Victoria and CQUniversity.

Scholarships are offered twice each year - in February, for a Semester Two start and in July, for a Semester One start.

Applications for commencing stud...  full story