Project Portals

Our research team is building a 3D model of the Howard East Aquifer

The Howard East borefield relies on groundwater supplies to satisfy rural and urban residential, horticultural and commercial needs. However, despite recent and significant growth, there is no regional water plan currently in place to ensure that this resource is managed sustainably for future generations.

To assist future water planning, Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK), Griffith University, and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers are developing a 3D model of the Howard East Aquifer.

Much of TRaCK research is focussed on relationships between flow and ecological structure and function of rivers and estuaries.

The Environmental Flow Tools project is designed to distill the findings from flow-related TRaCK research for water managers and planners.
The project offers three forms of access and engagement:

• Getting the research findings from the researchers in general language as a “flow principle”
• Getting feedback from agency endusers on the most useful ways the research findings can be delivered
• Delivering the research findings by 3 means: general models of how tropical rivers and estuaries function (usually conceptual diagrams), spatial database to show where TRaCK data has been collected and who by (so managers can follow up in more detail directly with researchers), and the “flow principles” which are essentially the simplified research findings from the flow projects.