2022 QWMN RDI Showcase

The 2022 QWMN project showcase video is now available. Approximately 80 people participated in person or on-line from inside and outside government, from Brisbane and the regions. The QWMN Secretariat is considering the June Showcase of project results and would welcome feedback on the initial event – qwmn@des.qld.gov.au

The Showcase stream includes the following 2022 QWMN projects and consortia:

• Building trust and enhancing dialogue and collaboration in water modelling using animation – The University of Queensland, Ecofutures Consulting, Healthy Land and Water, Yirendali Aboriginal Corporation, Jibija Ung-gwee, Alluvium Consulting, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation.
• Eco-nomics for NRM planning and reporting – Truii and Southern Queensland Landscapes
• Improving the flood resilience of a tropical urban catchment – James Cook University, Cairns Regional Council, Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation and Abriculture.
• Modelling Unseen flow pathways of water and contaminants in the Wet Tropics – James Cook University, Alluvium, Jaragun Ecoservices, Department of Resources, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
• New catchment models for SEQ – Alluvium Consulting, BMT Commercial Australia, Griffith University
• Trialling customisation of a water quality model in an ungauged catchment for DIN – University of Southern Queensland, Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee and the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation.
• Incorporating First Nations Land Management into Technical Approaches to Water Modelling: A Pilot Study to Establish Frameworks to Incorporate Indigenous Knowledge – Relative Creative, Firesticks Alliance and Water Technology, with the cultural guidance of Mandandanji Traditional Owner, Aunty Kay Blades).

Active projects

Building trust and enhancing dialogue and collaboration in water modelling using animation

This project uses animated drawings and videos to enhance communication between water modellers, Traditional Owners and the wider community. This is important, because collaboration over the entire modelling life cycle has the potential to expand the knowledge base for model development and verification, ensuring models are fit for purpose and building trust in models. The output will be an animated video and a collection of animated infographics. The video “We are all modellers at heart” will be a short animation which demystifies water modelling for a general audience, to improve two-way communication between water modellers and the wider community. The animated infographics “Starting the conversation” will be a collection of captioned and annotated drawings, co-designed to empower respectful dialogue and collaboration between water modellers and First Nations Peoples.

(Delivery Partners - The University of Queensland, Ecofutures Consulting, Healthy Land and Water, Yirendali Aboriginal Corporation, Jibija Ung-gwee, Alluvium Consulting, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation)

Eco-nomics for NRM planning and reporting

Eco-nomics: A Natural Resource Management investment planning and impact reporting tool with a pilot in the Northern Murray Darling Basin. In partnership with Southern Queensland Landscapes, Truii will deliver the capacity to model the impacts of Natural Resource Management actions on biophysical parameters (water quality, and environmental metrics) and co-benefits (social, economic, First Nations, Climate) within the constraints of investment budget, adoption potential and temporal response of actions. The platform will be able to be applied to any region (subject to data availability) and will be piloted in the Qld Murray Darling catchments.

(Delivery Partners: Truii and Southern Queensland Landscapes)

Improving the flood resilience of a tropical urban catchment

Recent flooding events in Australia highlight the need to increase to survive and recover from future flooding events. This 1-year pilot project uses a LGA priority region, Saltwater Creek in Cairns, to better understand the impacts of flooding due to climate change and to explore ways to achieve place-based adaptation measures by working collaboratively with local government (Cairns Regional Council) and First Nations peoples (Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation, Abriculture), The project activities include the following:

1. flood modelling for different climate change scenarios
2. flood modelling to examine the role blue green infrastructure has on flood mitigation
3. First Nations ranger training
4. engagement events with local community (information dissemination, co-design).

Through this project, we hope to encourage increased communication and engagement between Traditional Owners, local stakeholders and Council to find innovative and practical solutions to future flooding events. Traditional Owner historical knowledge and experiences are invaluable in checking modelling results, co-designing blue-green infrastructure that is suitable to each site and identifying future areas for the project. The project methodology is scalable to other regional urban areas as it relies on local knowledge and active participation in conjunction with the use of traditional flood models.

(Delivery Partners: James Cook University, Cairns Regional Council, Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation and Abriculture)

Modelling Unseen flow pathways of water and contaminants in the Wet Tropics

Dried-up river channels (palaeochannels) may potentially be a fast route for transporting nutrient-rich water to the coast. This pilot, 1-year project seeks to understand and address gaps around palaeochannels and the roles they play in water and nutrient movement for Wet Tropics catchments. This is achieved through a collaboration that includes industry (Alluvium Consultancy), Government agencies (DAF, DoR) and NRM groups run by First Nations peoples (Jaragun Pty Ltd). The project activities are focused around the Russell River catchment and include the following:

1. mapping and characterising palaeochannel locations and features
2. literature review that supports the development of a conceptual model
3. development of a model that describes subsurface water movement via palaeochannels
4. engagement event with local stakeholders

The outcome of this project will help managers to determine suitable ways to improve water quality for catchments draining to the GBR and assess the effectiveness of these options (e.g. wetlands, bioreactors).

(Delivery Partners: James Cook University, Alluvium, Jaragun EcoServices, Department of Resources, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)

New catchment models for SEQ

The modelling of catchments in South East Queensland has seen ongoing application since the late 1990s with a range of rainfall-runoff and node-link style models applied at varying levels of complexity. These always used a “lumped-conceptual” style of modelling, in that various landscape features, such as land uses, topography and soil characteristics were lumped together to represent expected catchment responses to climate drivers in terms of runoff and water quality.

A new project funded through the QWMN will see a new style of catchment modelling applied in the SEQ region. This model will use a gridded approach, where individual characteristics of the landscape can be represented on a cell by cell basis, rather than lumped, to capture more of the catchment complexity and therefore simulate more of the spatial variability of key processes. The project is a collaborative partnership between Alluvium, BMT, Griffith University and Brisbane City Council, and building on years of catchment understanding from Healthy Land and Water and their partners. The project will see the development of a new module as part of the TUFLOW modelling suite, as well as improved understanding of water quality characteristics of the region and will be realised in a pilot scale model in one catchment in the region.

This work will help to provide a much finer resolution for future catchment planning and for the first time, provide a seamless assessment from the top of the catchment to Moreton Bay. It is hoped that this improved modelling will help with understanding the effectiveness of future management actions, such as the role of mitigating streambank erosion to offset nutrient inputs, and provide greater understanding of the links between landscape processes and receiving environment conditions.

(Delivery Partners: Alluvium Consulting, BMT Commercial Australia, Griffith University)

Trialling customisation of a water quality model in an ungauged catchment for DIN

The UN Sustainable development goals call on decision makers to achieve reduction in land based nutrients entering marine systems by 2030. Water quality models are the tool used to quantify nutrient balances and inform the best investment decisions to achieve the targets.

Current methods for modelling nutrient from catchments that flow to the Great Barrier Reef donate observed water quality data and parameters to neighbouring ungauged catchments.

While such data transfer is a modelling practice, recent research has recommended using land use and original vegetation cover data as proxy to identify donating catchments which may not necessarily be the neighbour catchment. This research includes ground truthing data and parameter transfer to ungauged catchments using water quality observations collected by the NRM community group partner Mary River Catchment Coordination Committee (MRCCC). The provision of community workshops and including modelling expertise within the community group is aimed to bring the community on the journey to address uncertainties of water quality modelling in the ungauged areas. Where the pilot Mary catchment demonstrates the performance of approach, it will be available for adoption in other ungauged catchments. It should be an opportunity to build trust and improve understanding in the modelling water quality.

(Delivery Partners: University of Southern Queensland, Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee and the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation)

Incorporating First Nations Land Management into Technical Approaches to Water Modelling: A Pilot Study to Establish Frameworks to Incorporate Indigenous Knowledge

This QWMN pilot project seeks to understand and address gaps within the water planning process to ensure that First Nations Land Management practices can be effectively integrated, alongside relevant models, into landscape rehabilitation and resilience. The project focusses on the community of St George in the Northern Murray Darling Basin.

Working collaboratively and across multiple disciplines Relative Creative (First Nations-led strategic designers and visual communication designers), Firesticks Alliance (First Nations land management practitioners) and Water Technology (water, engineering and environmental consultants) will progress the project under the cultural guidance and authority of Mandandanji Traditional Owner, Aunty Kay Blades.

The twelve month project will progress in five phases through literature reviews, case studies, community engagement and co-design, and technical analysis. As the project progresses there are a number of key outcomes that will help analyse gaps, share learnings and document the process undertaken, they are:

• outcome reports documenting case studies and recommendations
• a video case study
• a factsheet capturing key recommendations and insights
• a presentation/webinar on project findings and recommendations.

The project will establish what work is necessary to underpin future requirements, test application in other locations and make recommendations around how and where Indigenous Knowledge could be engaged within the Water Modelling Pipeline, including better engagement and inclusion of First Nations Land Management practices through engagement with First Nations Knowledge holders and the application of First Nations Land Management practices by First Nations Peoples. This work will have further involvement with end-users, including best-practice recommendations around how to approach this. Anticipated end users include the St George community, local NRM groups, QWMN, DES and local council.

Institute for Water Futures Collaboration

The Queensland Water Modelling Network has partnered with the Australian National University’s Institute for Water Futures to better explore future scenarios for water and natural resource management in Queensland. The research project aims to develop participatory foresighting approaches for considering multiple plausible futures, and test methods for translating this information into water models to better inform management decisions. To learn more about the project objectives and outcomes, read Queensland Water Management in 2050.