WaterConnect

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will you tell the council about the awards won by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources for its innovative water management websites?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:41): What an excellent question from the honourable member; I thank him for it. This government is very proud of the work it is doing in securing reliable water for this state. The millennium drought and years of overallocation by upstream states of Murray River water prompted us to undertake a series of important policies and reforms. These include:

standing up with all South Australians to fight the federal government for the River Murray, resulting in a final basin plan to ensure the health of the river;

our Water for Good plan, released in 2009, which has seen South Australia become a leader in stormwater harvesting;

the 100-gigalitre Adelaide desalination plant;

our water-sensitive urban design policy that promotes the integration of the water cycle into our urban design; and finally

our urban water blueprint, designed to provide a more integrated approach to urban water management and identify opportunities and a vision for Adelaide's urban water environment.

These initiatives have secured a water supply for our growing economy and population without placing an additional burden on our existing resources. Importantly, it has also allowed the return of water for environmental purposes.

The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has played a central role in this work. One of the many important tasks the department undertakes is designing and making available necessary, useful and easy to navigate information to both industry and the general public. I am very pleased to report that the department has been recognised by the iAwards for its WaterConnect website.

The iAwards have been acknowledging excellence and innovation in the ICT sector for 20 years. The awards honour organisations and initiatives in both the public and private sectors that are judged to be particularly innovative and at the cutting edge of technology. Most importantly, the iAwards recognise the achievements of Australian innovators that have a positive impact on our community. The host partners of the iAwards are the Australian Computer Society, Australian Information Industry Association and the Pearcey Foundation. Each of these partners advocates the important contribution the ICT sector makes to Australia through innovation and productivity gains.

My department has been honoured for its work on the South Australian government's open data water portal WaterConnect, which can be found at www.waterconnect.sa.gov.au. This innovative website took out the 2014 Sustainability iAward for South Australia and received a merit certificate in the government category. WaterConnect is a comprehensive website that provides important and essential information on water. The website is a great example of the state's open data agenda. It provides free access to water information. This includes ground and surface water data in respect to river flows, levels, qualities, salinity and rainfall, and does this in near real time.

WaterConnect is the result of an extensive collaboration led by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources together with the EPA, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, the former department for manufacturing, innovation, trade, resources and energy, the Goyder Institute for Water Research, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, SA Water and the Bureau of Meteorology. This is an impressive list of partners and it illustrates just how important this information is considered by the sector.

The website serves a range of industries, researchers and community groups seeking evidence-based information and data relating to South Australia's water resources. The data and information available through the WaterConnect website can be freely integrated into other sites and systems, providing direct, accurate and timely access to relevant authoritative data. The website has been designed to be easy to use and allows visitors to search by geographical location or region. It offers a comprehensive text search, and quick links to common topics of interest.

More and more these days people expect access to a large and diverse amount of specific information related to water resources to build up their own knowledge and inform local decision-making, and it is the government's job to provide this information. The WaterConnect website is now eligible to compete in the same categories for the national awards that are due to be announced in August, and I wish the department luck in these awards. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the staff of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, all of them involved in designing and maintaining the website, as well as all the partner organisations.