Australian Water Map

Purpose of the Map

The Australian Water Map, released in June 2003, and CD ROM, released in March 2005, summarise Australia’s key water-related data onto a factual, detailed and physically attractive map (900 mm x 1300mm) and CD ROM. The Australian Water Map comprises both a spatial element and a non-spatial component (accompanying charts and tables), and aims to increase awareness and knowledge of the issues, impacts and achievements associated with water across Australia. It presents information in an easily digestible form in two media (paper map and CD ROM) and covers a range of features, including Australia’s water resources, the use and management of those resources, as well as highlighting areas of both achievement and concern.

The Australian Water Map is a resource for all those with an interest in water-related issues – including professionals wanting a ready reference for key water trends, statistics and noteworthy events, and students wanting information about major issues facing Australia’s water resource management and use.

Features

The Australian Water Map (Click to enlarge).

Supported by the National Archives of Australia, Australian Water Association, Natural Heritage Trust and Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology, along with the Water Services Association of Australia, Pratt Water, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria), Brisbane Water and Central Queensland University.

The spatial component of The Australian Water Map identifies:

  • Major Water Achievements
  • Water Recycling and Treatment Initiatives
  • Water Users
  • Water History
  • Extreme Water Events
  • Major River Diversions
  • Coastal Pollution
  • Blackspots
  • Altered Rivers
  • Salinity
  • Polluted Rivers and Lakes
  • Aquatic Biodiversity
  • Water Phenomena
  • Threatened Species
  • Introduced Species
  • Wild River Basins
  • Ramsar Wetlands
  • Major Irrigation Districts
  • Major Hydroelectric Power Sites
  • Coastal Treatment Discharge Points
  • Great Artesian Basin
  • Drainage Divisions – Inward & Coastal Draining
  • Permanent Rivers
  • Permanent Lakes
  • Ephemeral Lakes

Click on these links to see close up images of the spatial information on the map:

The non-spatial component of The Australian Water Map comprises over 50 charts and tables separated into ten categories:

Click on the links to view close up images of selected charts on the map.

Creating the Map

The Map synthesises a large amount of water-related data sourced from international, national and state environment audits, books, reports, newspaper articles etc. into an information packed overview of Australian water issues and initiatives. Key resources used are listed below. Data for the Map was reviewed by a Technical Steering Committee comprising environmental experts from professional associations, research and non-government organisations. The Technical Steering Committee were:

  • Dr. Peter Fisher – Central Queensland University
  • Assoc. Prof. Ian Rutherfurd – University of Melbourne
  • Graham Rooney – Melbourne Water
  • Geoff Sainty – Sainty & Associates
  • Dr. Tom Hatton – CSIRO
  • Dr. Mary White – Palaeobotanist, Author
  • Andy Krumins – Brisbane Water
  • Jim Elliott – Bureau of Meteorology
  • Dr. Jeff Taylor – Earth Systems
  • Nigel Murphy – Earth Systems
  • Dr. Catherine Oke – Earth Systems

Sponsors and Supporters

The Australian Water Map was developed with the assistance of three Principal Supporters – Australian Water Association, Natural Heritage Trust and http://www.bom.gov.au/ – and five Major Supporters – Water Services Association of Australia, Pratt Water, Department of Sustainability and the Environment, Brisbane Water and Central Queensland University.

The Australian Water Map CD ROM, based on the paper map released in 2003, was developed with the assistance of three Principal Supporters – National Archives of Australia, Australian Water Association and National Heritage Trust. The CD ROM was launched in March 2005 as part of the interactive program of the ‘Just Add Water’ exhibition at the National Archives of Australia.

Resources

Books/Publications

  • Australia: State of the Environment 1996, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian State of the Environment Committee, 2001, Australia: State of the Environment 2001, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1995, Year Book Australia, Catalogue No. 1301.0, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996, Australians and the Environment: Catalogue No. 4601.0, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998, Environmental Issues: People’s Views and Practices, Catalogue No. 4602.0, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000, Australian Social Trends, Catalogue No. 4102.0, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000, Water Account for Australia 1993-94 to 1996-97, Catalogue No. 4610.0, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Allen, G.R., S.H. Midgley & M. Allen, 2002, Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia, Western Australian Museum, Perth.
  • Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, 1996, National Health and Medical Research Council, Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand.
  • Australian Infrastructure Report Card Alliance, 2001, The Australian Infrastructure Report Card.
  • Australian Research Centre for Water in Society, 2002, Perth Domestic Water Use Study: Household Appliance Ownership and Community Analysis 1999-2000,
  • Australian Water Association, 2000, The Australian Water Directory, Australian Water Association.
  • Australian Water Association, 2001, Australian Non Major Urban Water Utilities Performance Monitoring Report 2000-2001, Australian Water Association Limited.
  • Brown, J.A.H., 1983, Australia’s Surface Water Resources, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Bureau of Meteorology, 1995, The Wonders of the Weather, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Clean Ocean, 2002, Sewage Outfalls by Electorate, in Legge-Wilkinson, 1996, Human Impact on Australian Beaches.
  • Commonwealth of Australia, 2002, The Value of Water: Inquiry into Australia’s Urban Water Management, Report of the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee.
  • Crabb, P., 1997, Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities, Water Use and Consumption on Water Resources and Flooding, State of the Environment Australia Technical Paper Series – Inland Waters, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Dillon, P., 2001, Water Reuse in Australia: Current, Future and Research, Water, April.
  • Environment Australia (Ed.), 1999, Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs, Commonwealth of Australia.
  • Environment Australia, 2001, A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia, Environment Australia, Canberra.
  • Environmental Protection Agency Queensland, 1999, State of the Environment Queensland 1999, The State of Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Finlayson, B.F & T.A. McMahon, 1988, Australia v. the World: A Comparative Analysis of Streamflow Characteristics, in Werner, R.F. (Ed.), 1988, Fluvial Geomorphology of Australia, Academic Press Australia, Sydney.
  • Gleick, Peter H., 1998, The World’s Water 1998 –1999: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Island Press, Washington D.C.
  • Gleick, Peter H., 2000, The World’s Water 2000 – 2001: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Island Press, Washington D.C.
  • Great Artesian Basin Consultative Council, 1998, Draft Strategic Management Plan for the Great Artesian Basin.
  • Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 1995, Our Sea, Our Future: Major Findings of the State of the Marine Environment Report for Australia, Department of Environment, Sport and Territories, Canberra.
  • Lonely Planet, 2001, Aboriginal Australia & the Torres Strait Islands, Lonely Planet Publishing, Melbourne.
  • Murray-Darling Basin Commission, 1997, Murray-Darling Basin Resources, Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.
  • Murray-Darling Basin Commission, 2001, Rivers as Ecological Systems: The Murray-Darling Basin, Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.
  • Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, 1995, An Audit of Water Use in the Murray-Darling Basin.
  • Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, 2001, Basin Salinity Management Strategy 2001 – 2015.
  • National Land and Water Resources Audit, Sediment and Nutrient Supply to River Links, Dataset.
  • Reid, A.J., 1995, Banksias and Bilbies: Seasons of Australia, Gould League of Victoria Inc, Melbourne.
  • Sainty, G.R. & S.W.L. Jacobs, 1994, Waterplants in Australia: A Field Guide. 3rd Edition, Sainty & Associates, Sydney.
  • Smith, A., 1985, To Where Our Rivers Flow Map, Renmark.
  • Smith, David Ingle, 1998, Water in Australia: Resources and Management, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
  • South-East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy, 2001, Discover the Waterways of South-East Queensland.
  • Water Services Association of Australia, 2001, The Australian Urban Water Industry, WSAAfacts 2001, Water Services Association of Australia.
  • Water Services Association of Australia, 2001, Urban Water Use and Management in Australia, Water Services Association of Australia.
  • White, Mary E., 1997, Listen…Our Land is Crying. Australia’s Environment: Problems and Solutions, Kangaroo Press, Sydney.
  • White, Mary E., 2000, Running Down: Water in a Changing Land, Kangaroo Press, Sydney.
  • World Resources 2000-2001, World Resources Institute, 2000, Washington.

 

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