India

National Hydrology Project
The River Basin Planning team (Access Water Management, Alluvium & Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS) and Capacity Building team (ICEWaRM) are together organising for a high-level delegation from Indian State and National Agencies to tour of the Murray Darlin Basin. This tour is tentatively scheduled for December.

Maharashtra workshop
A case study in river basin planning is being prepared focusing on the State of Maharashtra. In early December, a workshop is scheduled to be held in Maharashtra to gain an understanding of the government’s approach to River Basin Planning, as a part of the MoU that New South Wales has with the State of Maharashtra. Access Water Management and eWater are attending to present and provide input on (i) NSW experiences with water management policy (successes and failures) (ii) the India National Hydrology Project User Guide for River Basin Planning, which provides a framework for India based in part on Australian experiences. They will then draft a case study that will be used for further development of the User Guide, of specific relevance to the Indian Ministry of Water Resources.

Myanmar

State of the (Ayeyarwady) Basin Assessment (SOBA) Review & MDB Twinning Engagement
A quality review of the draft SOBA Reports has been completed following a workshop held in Yangon, where all project teams presented on their work. The final SOBA Review Report will be completed in early November and the results presented at the Asia Pacific Water Forum, in Yangon on 11-12 December. Two senior MDBA technical specialists continue to support the production of the SOBA Review Report, as a part of the MDB Twinning Engagement.

SOBA Synthesis
A  synthesis writer from Sustineo is supporting the Hydro-Informatics Centre to prepare Volume 1 of the SOBA Report, consolidating the SOBA Reports into synthesis paper that provides a strategic and informative summary of the work.

STATUS OF PROJECTS

  • Hydrological Data Audit: Completed
  • Surface Water Baseline Assessment: Finalising SOBA report
  • Groundwater Review for Central Dry Zone: Completed SOBA report. Undertook a book launch for ‘Hydrogeology of the Dry Zone’.
  • Basin Water Pollution Survey: Finalising SOBA report.
  • Basin Ecosystems Services Evaluation: Finalising SOBA report

Nepal

Kathmandu Water Operator Partnership
The third reciprocal capacity building mission has been completed. The team provided asset management training to Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), which is responsible for the operation and management of water and wastewater services in the Kathmandu Valley.

Pacific

Pacific Water and Wastewater Association Capacity Building
HunterH2O and AWP are collaborating with PWWA to confirm a work plan to deliver the 2017-18 PWWA Capacity Development Program, which was developed at the PWWA AGM during the Pacific Water Annual Conference and Expo (Apia, Samoa 7-11 August) and in subsequent meetings. The following initiatives were identified as focus areas for 2017/18:

  • Strategic plan development involving PWWA Board members, Council (Pacific utility member CEO’s) and Secretariat
  • Young Water Professionals
  • Communication support

The first activities are to support the Board to formulate a 5-year strategy at meetings in Brisbane in late November, and to help the Young Water Professionals get active in Kini.

XDI-Waterlinks inundation risk

Climate Risk is working with the Water Authority of Fiji and The Samoa Water Authority to convert existing high value coastal inundation data from CSIRO to statistical probability distributions. These will then be used in the well-regarded AdaptWater tool (provided by Sydney Water and Climate Risk) to predict hazard risk.

China

Indo-Pacific Water Stewardship Project
Water Stewardship Australia is currently preparing a 2nd (2017/18) phase of a pilot for catchment / regional program to boost local uptake of good water stewardship.

Technology Park Stewardship
Water Stewardship Australia is developing a Good Water Stewards recognition scheme and working to identify opportunities for AWP Partners to engage with WSA in water stewardship projects.

Vietnam

Water Efficiency Improvement in Drought Affected Provinces (WEIDAP) Study Tour
A study tour of technical experts and local officials from Vietnam, organised by RMCG and AWA, was just completed. The tour of irrigation schemes in southeast Australia was tailored to inform the designs for proposed WEIDAP schemes.

VietWater

The AWP is participating in Vietwater’17 to showcase the shared Channeling Change and Vietnam – Australia Water Utility Twinning programs. The Australian Water Association (AWA) will host the Australian delegation to Vietwater’17 to connect Australian and Vietnamese water sectors.

Irrigation law for Vietnam

RMCG and Murray Irrigation will travel to Vietnam in November to meet with government officials. They aim to prepare a project proposal for advice on irrigation law, for consideration by AWP. Vietnam is looking to modernise its irrigation sector and recognises the need to update their irrigation law to allow for new institutional arrangements to accommodate, for example, new mechanisms for water allocations, entitlements and charges.