The CSIRO has enlisted partner universities in California to test and enhance AquaWatch Australia, a service that delivers national water quality updates and forecasts.
Adding to the seven test sites already around Australia, the CSIRO is working with the University of California Davis, the University of California Merced, and USGS Water Science Laboratory, to test AquaWatch at the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an important water body for agriculture and natural ecosystems of the San Francisco Bay.
CSIRO’s Dr Alex Held said testing AquaWatch in a variety of waterbodies and ecosystems helps to build and improve the system for use overseas and back home in Australia.
“It’s a chance to share experiences and knowledge as we test the system and collaborate with global experts facing similar water quality challenges,” Held said. “Australia and California share many of these challenges. The great relationship we have built with UC Merced and UC Davis is strengthening our mission to tackle this key global issue.”
AquaWatch will be a world-first system that combines data from water sensors and satellites and processes the information with advanced data analytics to provide near-real-time water quality monitoring and forecasts.
UC Merced’s Dr Erin Hestir said one of CSIRO’s specialised water quality sensors has been installed near where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers merge to monitor water delivered for agriculture and protect the delta’s natural ecosystems.
“Using the sensor, we can estimate turbidity, an important water quality measurement for the critically endangered fish, the Delta smelt,” Hestir said. “It can also be used to give insight into where contaminants of concern, such as mercury, may travel. AquaWatch allows for a region-wide perspective on water quality in the Delta. Meanwhile, the water-based sensor provides a check to validate and calibrate the satellite information.”
The project contributes to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Australian Government and the Californian State Government last year.
The Californian test site joins already established AquaWatch sites in Australia, Italy, Malaysia and the UK, with more global sites in development.
