David McPhee & John Cameron Victorian Regional Water Monitoring Partnership Coordinators

Outline Portable Automated Loggers (PALS) Inception Development Versatility Deployment Regional Water Monitoring Partnership Vision About the Partnership Benefits of participation PALS access Acknowledgements.

Portable Automated Logger system Concept proposed by Thiess Environmental Services following the floods Development fully funded from Flood Recovery funding by DEPI Flood Plain Management Unit

PALS Development Flexible and portable mobile, telemetered monitoring device to supplement the Victorian flood monitoring network Quickly deployed at short notice to unique locations and then readily relocatable if required. First deployment occurred during the Broken Creek floods in the Goulburn Valley in 2012.

PALS Versatility Readily deployed to monitor an evolving flood Augment existing flood warning network Configured to monitor multiple parameters (e.g.. Level, Electrical conductivity, DO, Temp) Utilised to assist flood recovery Cost efficient method of water information collection for short term studies (e.g.. Environmental Watering) Provide water information that supports recovery programs following any incident. Can be configured with a camera facility Web hosting is established quickly thus enabling use by multiple stakeholders

PALS deployed during the March 2012 flood event, Numurkah, Nathalia areas. Exact information available to the GBCMA, Moira Shire, Greater Shepparton City Council and VICSES at the Emergency Management Centre during the floods.

PALS Deployment 20 Units available for use by partner organisations Units are currently located across the state to facilitate rapid mobilisation at the commencement of any event. Accessible to all participants in the RWMP’s

Conclusion

Victorian Regional water Monitoring Partnerships

What's the Partnership about ? The monitoring partnerships commenced in 2003 with the formation of the Gippsland Regional Water Monitoring Partnership. The partnership model was extended in 2005 with the formation of 2 additional partnerships across Victoria, Northern and South Western Regions. Prior to the current partnership arrangements, individual organizations, including both, public and private sector organizations, had conducted monitoring to service their individual needs. This resulted in high costs, inefficient doubling up of data collection to fulfil different purposes for different organizations.

More about the VRWMP Surface water quality and quantity data is collected from around 800 monitoring sites across the state under Victoria’s Regional Water Monitoring Partnerships program. The partnership approach allows this data to be collected to a well-defined standard once, but used for multiple business needs, such as, allocation management, compliance monitoring, flood warning, water resource assessment and river health management. It provides a coordinated and efficient approach to the state-wide collection of the information required for delivering a continuous program of water resource assessment for Victoria, as required under the Victorian Water Act Around 38 organisations invest in the program and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries acts as both a partner and overarching program manager. Information gathered through monitoring activities enables these organisations to make more informed water resource management decisions by providing answers to the following questions: > How much water is there? > Where is the water? > What is the quality of the water? > How much water is being used? > What is the water being used for?

Benefits of the RWMP Consistent, accurate and reliable water resource data A coordinated data collection and quality assurance approach Sharing of knowledge and data between Partners Meets Partner obligations for data submission to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology under the Water Act 2007 Audited methodologies and service standards Cost sharing opportunities at monitoring sites Centralised contract management and service acquisition OH&S support and site maintenance assistance Knowledge and assistance available through Regional Coordinators

Access to PALS Available to any RWMP Participant Mobilised through a phone call to one of the Coordinators and following authorisation by DEPI Flood Plain Management Participant pays deployment and recovery costs via an Extra Works Agreement and are invoiced quarterly through the RWMP- Management System Monitoring costs are pro-rata of annual parameter costs (e.g.. Level approximately $35/week) A Capital replacement hire cost for the units is yet to be developed. Available for short term studies but floods are assigned priority usage.

Acknowledgements Our thanks go to Tom Candy - Thiess Services DEPI Flood Plain Management Unit Victorian Regional Water Monitoring Participants For further information on any aspect of the Regional Water Monitoring Partnerships or Portable Loggers (PALS), talk to David, John or Tom.

QUESTIONS?