29 August 2013
@australianwater the first morning at #NQWater 13 some great presentations were made including;
- Steven Walker of sponsor @CardnoWRG identified the key issue facing the water industry in North Queensland as restrained finances, tightening environmental standards, population growth and urban development.
- Interesting presentation by Ian Watson talking about the scale of irrigation opportunities in North Queensland. Mainly based on the Flinders and Gilbert rivers and looking at water storage options, viability of irrigation and the environmental issues. Good to see the science being conducted ahead of political announcements.
Water quality
- Briita Schaffelke @aims_gov_au discussed that the water quality of the Great Barrier Reef was being affected by cyclones aquatic population and coral bleaching. Flood waters tend to travel north from the river mouth. Sewage discharges into the GBR have been well managed since the 1990’s.
- Brad Cowen presented ab strategic procurement in capital expenditure. Key issues include; ensuring program is looked at as a portfolio, over a 4-5 yr period, strategic souring is investigated, bundling options are investigated, benefits realisations process is in place, lessons learnt are feed back into the supply chain. We need to learn to manage water demand better and stage assets abet at a higher whole of life cost. This is an area I can provide services in.
Drinking water management plans
- We shouldn’t forget that the Drinking Water Management Plans include organisations management as well as water quality. A DWMP should be integrated into the overall business management of the organisation and not be a separate system, similar to QA, risk and other systems. Why would water quality risk assessment be a separate activity to other organisational risk approaches?
Learn more about the environment and what else is affecting the water industry here.
