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ARR Update March 2105

Book 3 – Peak Flow Estimation released for industry comment

The ARR team is pleased to announce the first complete draft book of the 4th edition of Australian Rainfall and Runoff is released for industry comment. Book 3 covers both regional and at site flood frequency estimation techniques. The at site flood frequency chapter is a significant change from the version previously available (Kuczera and Franks, 2006) and supersedes this version. Please note that this is a draft and as such some of the figures, examples and formatting have not been finalised. The report will be available for industry comment until the end of April. Software for the regional flood frequency estimation method is in the final stages of testing and will be released soon. FLIKE will be also be commercially available for a small price from TUFLOW in the near future.

Project 5- regional flood methods – stage 3 report release

In conjunction with the release of Book 3 Chapter 3 Regional Flood Frequency Estimation the Project 5 regional flood methods stage 3 report and data report by the University of Western Sydney team (lead by Dr Ataur Rahman) are being released. This report provides more detail on the method and supplements the chapter. Stage 3 is the final stage of the project which began in 2008. Thank you to all the project team, state teams and government organisations that provided data for this nationally significant project. This project is a significant advance on the techniques in ARR 1987.

PROJECT 5 VIDEO RELEASE

To accompany the release of Book 3 chapter 3 Regional Flood Frequency Estimation we are also releasing a short background video on the development and implementation of the method. The video is available on the ARR youtube station.

How to comment on ARR books and chapters

The ARR welcomes comment from industry on all the books and chapters as they are released. In order to capture all the comments we have developed a dedicated comment section on the ARR website. Please link your comment to a specific book, chapter and version to assist with addressing comments.

Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium

The 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium will be held 7-10 December 2015 in Hobart, Tasmania. This event, hosted by Engineers Australia and its National Committee on Water Engineering, is Australia’s leading symposium devoted to hydrology and water resources.

The industry launch of the revised edition of Australian Rainfall and Runoff will be held at the symposium. A session will be dedicated to ARR papers.

Call for abstracts is now open and closes on the 27th of April.

Best Practices for Use of Pre-Releasing for Flood Management

The Panel’s first presentation for 2015 is titled “Use of Pre-Releasing for Flood Management: Best Practices at Leading Dam Owners around the World” and will be given by Dr Amit Chanan.

30th April 2015
5.30 for 6pm Start

Engineers Australia Auditorium
Ground Floor, 8 Thomas St,
Chatswood NSW 2067

Pre-registration is mandatory and while the event is free for Engineers Australia members, non-members entry is $30.

Abstract

Pre-releasing is a dam operating methodology that involves releasing water prior to an expected flood event to create airspace within the dam. The airspace is created with the aim to capture the first of the floodwaters. The presentation compares flood operating procedures for major gated dams at leading dam owners in the USA, Canada, and UK, particularly focusing the role of ‘pre-releasing’ during floods.

The millennium drought was broken in the South-Eastern Australia by major floods in December 2010, followed by another significant wet season in March 2012. This period saw major flooding in the cities of Brisbane, Wagga Wagga and parts of Victoria.

Operation of dams during these floods came under heavy media scrutiny. In case of Brisbane a Commission of Inquiry investigated the operations of Wivenhoe Dam. Similarly, a Ministerial review looked at operations of Burrinjuck and Blowering dams in relation to flooding at Wagga Wagga. Victorian Government also commissioned a review of floods in that state.

Biography

Dr Amit Chanan is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. His professional career spreads over two decades within the water industry, including senior executive roles within the NSW State Government and local government. Amit is a Fellow of Engineering Australia. He is the Vice Chair of the International Water Association’s Specialist Group on Water Security and Safety Management. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of UK’s Institute of Civil Engineers’ Journal of Municipal Engineering.

In 2013, Amit was awarded with the 2013 Churchill Fellowship to study flood operations at dams in USA, Canada and Europe with particular reference to ‘pre- releasing’ of dams during flood.

Printable Flyer

A printable PDF flyer is available.

HWRS Abstracts Extended to 27th April

The HWRS team have extended the abstract submission deadline until 27th April 2015. See the attached scientific programme for full details.

2015 FMA National Conference Program Available

The 2015 Floodplain Management Association National Conference Program is now available.

Don’t forget to register prior to Friday 20^th March 2015 to receive the discounted Early Registration Rate.

Secure, online registration is available.

Please ensure that you read the Registration Conditions before you register.

Early Registration & Presenter (oral and poster) Registration closes Friday 20^th March 2015

www.floodplainconference.com

Call for Abstracts Now Available – 2015 WSUD and IECA Conference

The 9th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference and 3rd International Erosion Control Association National Conference will be held from Monday, 19th to Friday, 23rd October, 2015 at Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney, Australia.

The theme for this year’s Conference is ‘Holistic Integration: Concept, Design, Construction and Operation’. This year’s Conference will explore more effective ways of managing and integrating stormwater, from the concept and design, through to construction and into operation.

This Conference effectively unites three organisations that are all in the business of managing stormwater quality and quantity at various stages of development. Importantly, it adds the construction-phase into the conversation on designing and managing Water Sensitive Urban Design. With better integration of stormwater management at ALL stages, we will hopefully see an end to operational water quality advances being effectively undone by excess pollution during the construction stage.

This year’s Conference is sure to be a thought-provoking event that will challenge delegates’ thinking and knowledge while expanding their views on holistic water management.

We invite all stormwater professionals to submit an abstract for consideration in the 2015 Conference program.

CALL FOR CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

The Conference Committee would like to invite academics, stormwater practitioners and related stakeholders to submit abstracts on topics related to the stormwater discipline.

We are particularly seeking submissions that encourage debate and will allow participants to explore new ideas that challenge existing paradigms and engage participants in collaborative discussion.

Water Leadership Event

A Water Leadership Event has been organised for Wednesday 4th March at the Sydney Water Auditorium, from the brochure:

This is an interactive workshop featuring Kevin Young, Managing Director of Sydney Water, speaking about his personal leadership experience and Dr André Taylor, Leadership Specialist with the International Water Centre, who will share with you some tips on how to network and exert influence.

Full details, including registraion information, can be found in the PDF flyer.

HWRS 2015 First Announcement

Update 2015-01-17: I’ve changed some of the dates to match the official website which differs slightly from the PDF attached to this post.

The first announcement for the 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium is now out in PDF format. Briefly though the current schedule is:

28 January: Abstract submission opens
9 March: Abstract submission closes
17 April: Abstract notification
June: Early bird registration opens
29 June: Full paper deadline
16 August: Reviewer comments sent
21 September: Full paper deadline
7 December: ARR Workshops
8-10 December: Conference itself

They have a website at: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/hwrs-2015.

ARR Workshops Now With Stand-Alone Pricing

Stand-Alone Pricing

We had previously announced that the workshops could only be booked as part of a conference package. Now, however, that ARR team have announced stand-alone pricing of: $195 for each workshop.

Australian Rainfall and Runoff Climate Change Guidelines Launch

Speaker: Bryson Bates
Wednesday 26 November 2014, 4-5.30pm
Australian Rainfall and Runoff will be launching its Interim Climate Change Guidelines at the Engineers Australia National Convention 2014. These guidelines were lead by Dr Bryson Bates from CSIRO. This draft discussion paper draws on the most recent climate science, particularly the release of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on the Physical Science Basis in September 2013 (IPCC, 2013) as well as the new climate change projections for Australia (CSIRO and BoM, 2014), and outlines an approach to address the risks from climate change in projects and decisions that involve estimation of design flood characteristics. For consistency with the revised IFD design estimates for Australia, the Interim Guideline is intended to be applied to current-day rainfall intensities with a probability of one exceedance per year or annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) from 50% to 1%.

Australian Rainfall and Runoff Revision Project 18 – Interaction of Coastal Processes and Severe Weather Events

Speaker: Seth Westra, Michael Leonard
Thursday 27 November 2014, 3.30-5 pm
Australian Rainfall and Runoff Revision Project 18 focused on the Interaction of Coastal Processes and Severe Weather Events. This session will include an overview of the methodology and a demonstration of the software developed by the University of Adelaide. This project will address the current short coming in estimating flood behaviour in the estuarine zone for current and future climate conditions.

To register please go to the Convention Website. Follow the normal registration process for the Convention. The system asks you to choose what you want to attend to calculate the fee to be charged. While the Convention has a number of workshops running the registration page is only showing them as ‘Wednesday Workshop’ and ‘Thursday Workshop.’ So depending upon the day you want to attend, you can register for one or both. Registration costs $195 per workshop.

ARR November 2014 Update

ARR is running two workshops at the Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference as part of the Engineers Australia Convention 2014.

Australian Rainfall and Runoff Climate Change Guidelines Launch

Australian Rainfall and Runoff Revision Project 18 – Interaction of Coastal Processes and Severe Weather Events

To register please go to the Convention Website

Duncan McLuckie Added to Climate Change Q&A Panel

We are pleased to announce that Duncan McLuckie, Principal Flood Specialist from the Office of Environment and Heritage, has been added to the upcoming Climate Change Q&A.

Also, registrations are filling fast and while the event is free, registration is mandatory.

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