Water resources

CSIRO Land and Water Science Director Dr Paul Bertsch discusses the food-energy-water nexus, and how transitioning to clean energy will transform the way we produce food and how we think about water security.

Storm over Mount Porepunkah, Victoria. photographed by Stephen Routledge

New research shows that Victoria’s climate is changing and with that comes the need to better understand how the water cycle is changing and how this will impact on water supplies.

Australia is one of the sunniest places on the planet. That means we lose large volumes of water from our reservoirs through evaporation. Our scientists have created a way to measure evaporation rates with expert precision, helping to better manage water resources.

Showing the dry land and shrub of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (or APY lands) in South Australia

Researchers have teamed up to uncover an ancient buried water source in South Australia.

A dam wall and water

A new national forecasting service is giving dam operators, river managers – even kayakers – a clearer picture of river and stream flows up to a week in advance. Paradoxically, uncertainty is a key to more reliable forecasts.

A woman carrying watre on her back from the Bagmati River in Nepal

Access to clean water has never been so important in South Asia. But for millions of residents it continues to be a daily struggle.

Three white birds taking flight from a wetland.

Management of the Lower Lakes system in South Australia has been informed by extensive science. Understanding the impacts of climate change and adaptation remain future challenges for the region and the Murray-Darling Basin as a whole.

A new computer model to predict arsenic pollution will help to support water management decisions and develop new arsenic remediation strategies.

Dry dam with very little water

Day Zero marks the day when residential taps are turned off — a reality for some regional and rural towns across Australia. When this current drought breaks, we can’t lose sight of the fact that another drought will inevitably come. We have to prepare for water security now.