For product-application trials, the eWater partner organisations have nominated catchments in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory. The list below shows the catchments and some of the management issues that our partners want to solve there. The four eWater projects (see Tools areas at right) give a little more detail on the actual applications.
| Queensland | Brisbane, Logan-Albert, Bremer, Lockyer - reduction in sediment delivery to Moreton Bay, and optimisation of future water-supply planning. |
| Queensland | Great Barrier Reef catchments - better estimation of pollutant loads entering receiving waters from upland catchments, and assessment of land use or land management options to reduce pollutant export to the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. |
| New South Wales | Hawkesbury-Nepean (Nattai and Cattai) - urban runoff and stormwater influencing nutrient loads and weed growth; loss of fish species; optimising urban water supply as well as environmental flows. |
| NSW, Victoria and South Australia | The Living Murray Icon Sites - integration of hydrologic, hydraulic and ecological response models to support adaptive management. The first icon site considered will be Hattah Lakes. |
| Victoria | Yarra River - catchment activities influencing water quality; water quality and flow management influencing river ecology. |
| Victoria | Goulburn-Ovens catchments - environmental water management; river restoration; balancing irrigation, urban and environmental needs. |
| South Australia | Mt Lofty Ranges - water quality and quantity entering metropolitan reservoirs; optimising urban water supply from surface and groundwater sources; optimising environmental water allocations. |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT catchments - optimising urban water supply and stormwater reuse while sustaining river condition downstream. |
Focus Catchment Coordinators have been appointed to manage the applications of eWater's tools and research in each catchment.
Earlier application trials
During 2007-2008, versions of eWater tools 'E2' and 'ERM', originally designed during the last days of CRC for Catchment Hydrology, were improved in response to application trials in catchments in South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
The E2 modelling platform (which is used as the basis of eWater's tools 'WaterCAST' and 'RiverManager') was adapted for successful application in 8 catchments across eastern Australia. The situations ranged from strictly technical (estimating water quality or quantity) to those involving communication with stakeholders. As a result of 20 iterations of the software, 8 new E2 models were developed for the 8 catchments in which E2 was applied.
Catchments: the Barron, Pioneer and Fitzroy catchments (all of which drain to the waters of the Great Barrier Reef), Burnett/Mary, and Condamine-Balonne catchments in Queensland; plus catchments in the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia; and the Campaspe catchment in Victoria.
ERM (now called Eco Modeller) is a systematic set of models and algorithms that predict expected ecological responses to potential environmental flows or to data for factors such as temperature, water depth, and nutrient or toxicant concentrations, over time. Two case studies evaluated the workings of a trial version of Eco Modeller during 2007 for two different situations, finding out where the software could usefully be modified.
Catchments: Werribee River catchment in Victoria; Onkaparinga River catchment in South Australia.
Focus catchment activities and software tools are discussed at dedicated workshops