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SARDI scientist to lead River Murray project
Above: Dr Qifeng Ye measures water quality in the River Murray
Media Release - 18 February 2011
A ground breaking project to improve the health of the River Murray system will be led by SARDI’s Dr Qifeng Ye.
The $1.3 million project will take 15 months with the research team including members from CSIRO, the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, SARDI and the Department for Water.
Dr Qifeng Ye is Principal Scientist, Inland Waters and Catchment Ecology Program at SARDI.
Minister for Water Paul Caica said the Goyder Institute is embarking on a suite of additional ground breaking research projects including the downscaling global climate models to understand the impact of climate change on South Australia’s climate, looking at ways to use environmental flows more efficiently to improve the health of the River Murray system and an investigation to discover new Outback groundwater resources.
“As the River Murray receives significant inflows after the worst drought in recorded history, the Institute will monitor the recovery of ecosystems along the river to provide the first detailed understanding of how its health changes as it refills,’’ he said.
“A great deal of research has been done on the effects of the drought on river health, but this ‘Murray Flood Ecology’ project represents a once in a lifetime chance to measure the recovery of the river, wetlands, tree and plant growth, fish spawning and recruitment as water returns to the system.
This will provide vital information how we can maximise the environmental benefits with the water we have available for the River Murray in the future.”
Dr Qifeng Ye said to achieve the greatest ecological benefits from available environmental water in the River Murray it was vitally important to know how the biological systems respond to various flow scenarios.
“Over the last 10 years significant research and monitoring efforts have been undertaken across the lower River Murray,” she said.
“Nevertheless, this has been a protracted drought period, resulting in a system with reduced flow volumes, rates and water levels.
“This project is a unique opportunity to undertake time critical ecological investigations, measuring how biological systems respond and recover when water is restored to the system after a long period of drought.”
A separate project will identify and assess potential groundwater sources in the Far North to underpin mining development.
Facilitating Long-term Outback Water Solutions involves identifying Far North groundwater resources and assessing their capacity and quality.
The project team will assess any risks to ecosystems and develop modelling tools for the investigation of sustainable groundwater resource extraction for mining.
Stage one of FLOWS has a budget of $3 million and is due to be complete by mid-2012.
The project will be led by Dr Tim Munday from CSIRO and is a major collaborative effort between CSIRO, Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, SARDI, the Department for Water and the Department of Primary Industries in SA.
Other projects recently approved by the board will consider sustainable management of water in the South-East and ways of using wetting events to detect salinity thresholds for aquatic plants in the South East.
The $50 million, Adelaide-based Goyder Institute was established earlier this year to provide independent scientific advice on the state’s water system. It is a partnership between the State Government and CSIRO, as well as the state’s three universities, the SA Research and Development Institute and SA Water’s Australian Water Quality Centre.
Further information contact Dr Qifeng Ye 8207 5447 or SARDI Communications Terry Price 8303 9433 / 0423 292867
