Catchment hydrology

The key to all future living and economic development is the effective management of the quantity and quality of our water resources.

To this end, the Monash-based Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology aims to deliver the capability to manage catchments in a totally new way.

The centre’s main goal is to produce a decision-support system that can predict the movement of water, particulates and solutes from land to rivers, combining in an integrated package the impact of climate variability, vegetation, soil and water management.

The system will enable catchment and water managers to evaluate fully the short- and long-term outcomes of policy decisions at regional levels.

The CRC’s research programs include sustainable water allocation, land-use impacts on rivers, climate variability, urban stormwater quality and river restoration. The centre brings together the strengths of seven key rural land and water management agencies, two major urban water authorities, the CSIRO Land and Water Monash, the Bureau of Meteorology, and the University of Melbourne and Griffith University.

The Water Engineering team at Monash, much of whose research is conducted within the framework of the CRC for Catchment Hydrology, conducts basic and industry research in management of water related risks, such as floods and river degradation, using physical or mathematical models, water sensitive urban design, stormwater management (quantity and quality), water resource allocation to competing demands, combining water system network models and economic models, environmental condition and ecological flow requirements of rivers and streams, and design of special hydraulic structures related to other areas of research.

Mr Erwin Weinmann
Tel: +61 3 9905 4979
E-mail: erwin.weinmann@eng.monash.edu.au