Land and Water Link

November 2003

A Global Role for CSIRO Irrigation Research

CSIRO Land and Water’s Sustainable River and Irrigation Hydrology Research Directorate, led by Dr Shahbaz Khan, has achieved global recognition for its innovative science and power to achieve practical on-ground results in the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment.

Last year, the southern New South Wales catchment was named as the UNESCO HELP program’s first global reference basin during the Pilot Phase (2001-2003). This year it is being used as a model for proposals for a full scale implementation of HELP program by about 100 other basins worldwide.

A joint initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization, the HELP (Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy) project is transferring knowledge, skills and technology across a global network of catchments that fulfil the HELP criteria for baseline physical and socio-economic data exchange.

UNESCO has now announced that it will further expand CSIRO’s role on the international irrigation stage, by making the Sustainable River and Irrigation Hydrology team based in Griffith the HELP Regional Coordinating Unit for Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, China, India, Pakistan and Philippines. This entails promotion of research activities across countries throughout the region, as they deal with similar problems in water use efficiency, salinity and wider environmental management.

Further information