Collaboration in water information across Australia: The National Water Account

To build an accurate and informed understanding of Australia's water resources and their status and management, information from scores of different organisations is required. To bring this understanding together and package it for the broader community, collaboration between these organisations is required. Prior to 2007, coordination of this effort had largely failed. In 2007 the Australian Government passed the Water Act 2007 (Cth) which extended the Bureau of Meteorology's (the Bureau) responsibilities to include a water information role. This included responsibility for publishing water information products, including an annual National Water Account. The legislation was a catalyst for intense collaboration with State and Territory jurisdictions, urban utilities and the greater water industry as the Bureau sought to understand for the purposes of the National Water Account, regional hydrology, water movements, entitlements, allocations, trades, losses and sources of uncertainty across the country. Organisations called upon as reporting partners were able to support the Bureau's coordination and publication of the National Water Accounts 2010 and 2011. The collaborative approach greatly enhanced the national understanding of water information and has resulted in improvements in data quality, monitoring, modelling and the development of a common water lexicon. Relationships built between organisations are foundations for future work. The ongoing challenge is to ensure that a robust and sustainable approach to collaborative is taken, taking into consideration different parties motivations and the direct and indirect benefits obtained.