Chapter 3
I Background
II Early European Settlements
III Assessment Of Available Water Resources
IV Water Supplies For Goldmining Development
V Irrigation Development
VI Farm And Stock Water Supplies
VII Urban Water Supplies
VIII Wastewater Management And Treatment
IX Water Quality Management
X Limnological And Water Quality Research
i Drinking water quality
ii Irrigation and Stock Waters
iii Descriptive phase research
iv System understanding phase
XI New Techniques In Water Resource Planning And Management
XII Legislation
XIII Conclusion
XIV List Of Abbreviations
XV Acknowledgements
XVI Plantations-high Productivity Resources
References
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
System understanding phase
The upsurge of limnological and water quality research from about 1970 resulted largely from a major increase in Federal Government funding. Research moved towards providing a basic understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes controlling Australian aquatic systems rather than the mere collection of descriptive data.This developing interest in understanding ecosystems has been accelerated by a change in attitude by management agencies around Australia, which are now endeavouring to ensure that healthy ecosystems are maintained wherever possible in the nation's streams, lakes and reservoirs.
Valuable work has also been done on the transportation and effects of heavy metals and nutrients in streams; the life histories of aquatic biota; and the usefulness of macro-vertebrates as biological indicators of water quality changes. Research has also been conducted into the water quality effects of land use activities such as forestry operations and broad-scale clearing. The stratification of water in reservoirs, which is important in determining water quality and in reservoir operation, has also been studied intensively since 1960.
 |
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |  |
© 1988 Print Edition pages 185 - 186, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/195.html