WAT E R M ANAG EMENT
MAKING WATER WORK
IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA
LAKE ARGYLE, ONE OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA’S CRITICAL ASSETS.
A new approach is needed to manage shared water resources in Northern Australia, to ameliorate the impacts of drought and flooding events and to provide opportunities and confidence to produce new agricultural products for high value markets.
F
ollowing a period of foundational research activity, including a series of sector based situational analyses, the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) has now consolidated its approach and is investing in a number of large-scale initiatives to underpin its role in developing the north. One of these initiatives is progressing the Water Security for Northern Australia Program (WSNA) which presents an opportunity to jointly deliver a series of flagship research activities for the CRCNA across several game-changing research initiatives that will deliver long-term benefit for the region. The Northern Australia University Alliance (NAUA) of Charles Darwin University, CQUniversity Australia and James Cook University have partnered with the CRCNA to undertake a research-focused approach to this challenge by building on recent collaborative regional research proposals. The partnership acknowledges the full potential of Northern Australia and this co-investment is a vital
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UTILITY • MAY 2022
opportunity to demonstrate that economic growth and environmentally healthy and sustainable eco-systems can coexist in a water context. The objective of the program of research activities is to de-risk the Northern Australian investment and development landscape by improving water sustainability across the region and providing a pathway for the future development of key sectors as well as improving the health and wellbeing of the north’s communities. Initially the partnership will support the CRCNA to identify key research priorities and those opportunities that can be sensibly advanced within Northern Australia. Identifying technologies and solutions for tropical savannas and remote arid areas are much less developed or nonexistent. Unfortunately, despite the massive investment in Australia and globally, the water management challenges peculiar to the north of Australia are still to be addressed. Such challenges include: a general lack of water planning, remote and disparate small communities, a lack of skilled
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