Water – or lack of it – has become one of the hottest issues in Australia. Some regional towns are running out of water and emergency measures are being taken to ensure supplies, while The World Wide Fund for Nature ranked the Murray Darling as the eighth most damaged river system in the world in a report released on 20 March.
World Water Day on Thursday 22 March draws attention to the world’s most valuable natural resource and the research on how to best use and protect it.
Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) has a number of expert commentators who can discuss the environmental, economic and social aspects of water, including:
- Professor Allan Curtis, ILWS director, on the social values of water in regional areas;
- Professor John Blackwell on innovative water technologies and engineering solutions;
- Professor Shahbaz Khan on the need to balance environment and consumption, for example irrigation agriculture and industry;
- Professor Kath Bowmer on water policy issues in the Murray Darling basin;
- Associate Professor Robyn Watts on the challenges of restoring our rivers and the environmental and social benefits of restoration programs;
- Dr Paul Humphries on the way we manage our rivers, and the threats to iconic river fish species, such as the Murray Cod;
- Dr Skye Wassens on management of wetlands for endangered species; and,
- Daryl McGregor on environmental and economic benefits of using waste water wisely.
These researchers are based on the University’s Wagga Wagga or Albury-Wodonga campuses. For interviews, contact ILWS communications co-ordinator Margrit Beemster on telephone 02 6051 9653 or send an email, or contact CSU Media.
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