This manual helps water managers and hydrologists to undertake assessments, providing a consistent and adaptable water assessment framework building upon Australia’s long history of undertaking assessment.

To develop this, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) conducted global meetings (Panama, South Korea, and Switzerland) and developed an adaptable framework that is suitable for water-rich, water scarce, and transboundary contexts. The framework provides a comprehensive and holistic 10-step approach, from developing objectives to identifying data gaps, through to scenario development, visualisation, and recommendations. Tools and approaches are recommended and made available throughout the framework, which is suitable for various scales.

Dr Elmahdi details how the framework overlaps with the Australian context, and how it can be used to support, supplement, and validate the Australian approach to water management at the commonwealth, state, and regional scales. He applies the 10 steps to demonstrate the wealth of tools, models, and outputs that have been developed in Australia, providing a wealth of details pertaining to the national context which is also available on the BOM website.

The manual will be available on the WMO website in December 2016 as a free resource.