Collaboration Between China and Australia: An e-Water Workshop Report

Abstract

Sustainable management of water resources is one of the greatest challenges facing society in the 21st century. In terms of adequate drinking water supply, ever-increasing population, accompanied by urbanization, has affected one third of the world population. Both Australia and China have identified water resources issues as a priority research area and both countries have been conducting significant R&D activities. They have supported extensive national collaborative efforts to enable the future deployment of large scale water resources management systems. The sharing of data resources, and the experience of managing water resources among practitioners will be invaluable in a collaborative effort to solve the problem of sustainable water resources. A workshop on whole-of-water cycle approach to sustainable management of water resources took place on the Gold Coast, Australia, 4-5 July 2005. The main outcomes of the workshop included the willingness to collaborate among the participants in sharing of data sets and work together towards providing policy advice for sustainable water resources in both countries. It was suggested that a three-stage approach be adopted to study various possibilities of sustainable water resources. The aim of this three-stage approach is to provide analysis and development of management policies for sustainable management of water resources in both countries.