A New Course at UWA in 2006
Right now our water supplies are under increasing pressure from both population growth and weather changes created by global warming and climate change. To manage our current resources and plan for the future requires increasingly innovative engineering solutions to ensure adequate supplies of clean water.
There is an increased need to protect and manage water catchments and to diversify water sources, including the use of groundwater and de-salination techniques. Water providers, who in the past were primarily concerned with supply issues, are becoming leaders in both managing the demand and in educating their customers in water-wise techniques to reduce consumption. Water re-cycling, integrated urban water management, water efficient technologies and management of community response to changes in the amount of water available, are relatively new and important considerations for much of the industry.
Large scale consumers of water including the mining and agricultural communities are also investing in strategies to increase the efficiency of their water use. These industries are subject to both increases in the cost of water as well as pressure from the community and government to reduce consumption. Agriculture also faces particular challenges with the loss of productive land through salinisation. The price of water, water trading, allocation and ownership of water resources are some of the many considerations in determining water policy. Development of water policy and strategic planning is critical to the sustainable management of this most valuable of resources and offers great challenges to professionals working in the industry.
In response to these changing conditions and growing demands for specialist expertise from the water industry in Australia and overseas, a Water Resources Engineering degree is being offered for the first time in 2006. The School of Water Research at The University of Western Australia has established this new and exciting degree. The course will equip graduates with a range of technical skills as well as training in the environmental, economic and social issues, which need to be addressed to face these future challenges. Graduates will enjoy a wide range of career opportunities in an industry that must meet the challenge of sustainable water supplies for the global community.
For further information about this degree and the other programs offered by the School of Water Research visit www.cwr.uwa.edu.au or contact Kay Horn on 6488 1374, email publicity@cwr.uwa.edu.au
