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DWE Home > Home > Water Management > Water data online > Why is water data collection important?

Water data online

Why is water data collection important?

Australia is not only one of the driest continents in the world; we also have a large variability in our rainfall and therefore our runoff from year to year. The resulting variability in river flow is also a product of our unique vegetation and its evapo–transpiration strategies. The following table compares the annual and peak flow variation of the major continents.

World–Wide Flow Variability

Area	Annual Flow Variation	Peak Flow Variation
World	0.43	0.28
Northern Africa	0.31	0.18
Asia	0.38	0.24
North America	0.35	0.25
South America	0.35	0.14
Europe	0.29	0.17
Southern Pacific	0.25	0.22
Australia	0.70	0.45
Southern Africa	0.78	0.46

From Finlayson and McMahon 1991

As a result it is essential that we monitor the extent, availability and quality of our freshwater resources. The Australian Water Resources Council stated that “ ... with regard to water resources – the flat topography, aridity, spatial and temporal climatic variability and biological distinctiveness have produced an aquatic environment to which much overseas research is inapplicable.”

In addition on a world wide level it has been recognised that “...while the world's fresh–water resources are massive, they are not only unevenly distributed in both space and time but also have a finite limit in terms of practical utilisation. .... Improving knowledge of the globe's water resources is indispensable for the well-being of mankind and for the protection of the environment. Reliable information on the state and the trends of water resources is a prerequisite for sound decisions on their sustainable management.” (quote from the 1991 WMO/UNESCO publication Water Resources Assessment – Progress in the Implementation of the Mar del Plata Action Plan and Strategy of the 1990s).

The natural hydrological cycle is being modified quantitatively and qualitatively. Human activities such as land use change, urbanisation, water storage, inter–basin transfer, irrigation and drainage have major impacts on the quantity and quality of our freshwater resources. In addition it is likely that global climate change will further impact on the availability water resources throughout the world.

As a result water data needs to be constantly collected, as information collected in the past is not likely to be a reliable indicator of recent or future conditions. Nonetheless any water monitoring program needs to be cost–effective while also providing high quality data which is precise and accurate, consistent with defined standards, and available when and where the user needs them. As a result the Department has worked with other agencies on data standards, the development of the NSW Natural Resources Atlas and has made much of its data available on–line.