If you’ve been wondering what the young man driving around the district in a ute with a weird antennae thing on the back is up to these past few weeks, rest assured it’s all for a good cause.

With ever-increasing pressures on Australia’s water resources, scientists are looking for ways to balance the needs of irrigators with those of the environment.

Is prescribed burning a good thing or not? How do you resolve potential conflicts between impacts on tourism and public health with its role in bushfire management and the ecological health of our forests?

Our regional railway network is in poor condition but just repairing the infrastructure (such as rail tracks) won’t fix the problem says a leading researcher who has been studying the viability of Australia’s regional freight and passenger rail network.

Mr Howard’s $10 billion National Plan for Water Security is missing two essential ingredients – details on how public participation will be achieved, and an environmental perspective, according to a Charles Sturt University professor.

A leading indicator of climate change - the total area of sea ice in the Arctic region - has been declining in recent years, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic.

The Prime Minister’s $10 billion National Water Reform Plan for the Murray Darling Basin could double the price of water recovery projects according to Water for Rivers CEO Neville Smith.

A major water conference that will look at the challenge of managing our streams and rivers for the future will be held in Albury, May 21 to 25.

Annual stream flow into the Murray-Darling Basin is likely to fall by 10 to 25% by 2050, and by 16 to 48% by 2100 according to one of Australia’s leading experts on the effects of climate change on our river systems.