Water research
Contoured land, like this rice paddock, can present water efficiency usage challenges
Feature article:
water in Australia
Water is perhaps the state's most critical and vulnerable resource.
In NSW, farmers manage 76% of the land and a similar proportion of the state's developed water resources. Adoption of better farming practices is the most efficient and cost-effective way of improving natural resource management.
NSW DPI takes a wholistic systems approach to water management, integrating environmental needs with those of primary industries and the community.
Our research into managing water use spans agriculture, forestry, minerals, coastal and inland wild fisheries, and aquaculture.
Current research
Research is undertaken by the following units:
- Salinity and Catchment Hydrology
- Climate Science and Irrigation Research
- Soils, Recycled Organics and Environmental Health
- Forest Resources
- Viticulture
- Aquatic Ecosystems
- Aquaculture
Projects
Below are listed examples of NSW DPI research on water usage:
Agriculture
Dryland farming systems
- Optimising crop performance through innovative phase farming systems - new approaches to improve the nitrogen supply
- Precision Agriculture in the Western Plains
- Key sites for hydrology and salinity measurement and model validation
- Improving water and soil resources for tree production
- Cropping, soil and deep drainage
Irrigated farming systems
- Electromagnetic survey and seepage measurement in Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area supply channels
- Improving the performance of basin (contour) irrigation layouts
- Advancing water management
- Lifting irrigated cropping profitability and water use efficiency
- Soil Compaction and Waste Materials cut Water Losses from On-Farm Channels
Forestry
- Native Forest Hydrology Research
- Impacts of Forestry Activities on Water Quality
- Hydrological function and sediment delivery from headwater drainage lines
- Forestry effects on headwater ecosystem health: a multi-catchment experiment
Fishing and aquaculture
- Assessment of environmental flows in the Snowy River (fish component)
- Murray River Wetlands Management and Water Recovery Initiative: Fish communities, aquatic habitats and water quality at sites prioritised for water recovery works
- Integrated monitoring of environmental flows (fish component)
Minerals
- Pages about our research relating to minerals will be added as information becomes available.