Water resources

Lake Tuggeranong south of Canberra is a popular place for recreation but also often suffers from toxic algal blooms in summer. This made it a good candidate to test a new water quality monitoring system called AquaWatch. Image: Allan Sharp / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Satellites and high-tech sensors are revolutionising the way water quality challenges will be monitored and responded to into the future.

The new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite will orbit across Australia as part of a game-changing mission to revolutionise how scientists observe Earth’s water.

man in hard hat beside river inserting device into pipe

CSIRO’s automated real-time in-situ groundwater monitoring system Vesi™ has funding to dive into new territories to revolutionise the way industries and utilities can manage water quality.

Aerial view of remote Australian town

Humans have re-used wastewater for thousands of years. As demand for fresh water supplies grow, communities need improved water re-use technologies to give them resilient, sustainable and high-quality water stocks.

A new CSIRO study provides a deeper understanding of how Australian irrigators have adapted and responded to drought.

Murray river at sunset

CSIRO's Jane Coram unpacks how we are harnessing digital technologies to better understand the availability of water, now and into an uncertain future.

Rain clouds over wheat field

Some Australian towns have gone from severely drought-affected to flooded in recent years. Recent rain has prompted researchers to demonstrate how water banking can be used to prepare for future droughts.

Drone shot of river system with mangroves. blue skies.

We’ve used a novel ecosystem modelling approach to demonstrate how river flows are the lifeblood of marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Aerial photo of a golf course on Norfolk Isalnd

On Norfolk Island, conserving water has been a way of life for generations. But when the island faced a water emergency in 2019-20, it became clear the natural water balance was changing. A detailed study of the island’s water resources is revealing what’s behind the change and how the island might strengthen its future water resilience.