Water Technology

Our team would like to welcome Megan Richardson to the Melbourne office

WTech — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:58:10 +0000

Megan joins Water Technology’s Spatial Team. The team aims to support the dual roles of integrating and value adding to current services and delivery of projects and leading direct spatial projects with expanded capability, experience and services. Megan has an Environmental Management background which led her to 3 years’ experience as a Spatial Information Officer working for the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management and over 18 months experience working as a GIS Consultant for the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment. She is experienced in both ArcGIS and MapInfo and has particular experience in producing high quality maps. Her experience at DSE included analysis and maintenance of core DSE data sets, the creation of the Conservation Covenant Agreement spatial layer and ongoing assistance with the Hazard Mapping Project, Vegetation Condition Assessment Project, South-West Offshore Mapping Project and the Leadbeater Possum Fire Recovery Project.

Welcome Megan!

Senior Coastal Engineer Wanted

WTech — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 07:25:49 +0000

Water Technology seeks applications from a senior coastal engineer for our Brisbane office. You will join a group with a strong commitment to delivering quality service and fostering ongoing relationships with our client base with opportunities to continue to develop and grow our coastal capabilities. Water Technology has a well-established coastal business and strong track record in coastal engineering. The successful applicant will be responsible for leading that business growth in Queensland.

Ideally, you will have 10+ years of experience in coastal engineering with local experience in coastal hazard assessments, coastal process analyses, ports & harbours and climate change impacts.

You will join a group with a strong commitment to delivering quality service and fostering ongoing relationships with our client base. As such, the role will require strong communication (both written and presentation) skills.

An attractive package will be offered commensurate with qualifications and experience for this position. To be considered for this outstanding career opportunity, please forward a written application and detailed CV to recruitment@watech.com.au quoting Ref # JA2011/08 in the subject line.

Water Technology has another two exceptional staff starting this week

WTech — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:32:26 +0000

Our team would like to welcome Rianda and Ky.

Rianda Mills has been responsible for a range of projects in both the private and public sectors over the past seven years working in the environmental services industry. For the last three years, Rianda has applied and validated three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality models for numerous reservoirs, lakes and coastal ocean domains both throughout Australia and internationally. After developing modelling scenarios in close consultation with the client, the model output and field data are used to analyse and report on environmental impacts of historical and proposed environmental and management changes for both operational and strategic planning purposes.

Key skills:

Three-dimensional hydrodynamic model application for the study of reservoir, lake,estuary andcoastal embayment hydrodynamics, water quality and sediment transport;

Configuration of modelling scenarios to investigate the impacts of actual and proposed environmental, bathymetric and operational changes to water bodies;

Data collection, processing and analysis;

Scientific report writing and reviewing; and

Project coordination and management.

Ky Tran has over seven years’ experience in stormwater drainage design and modelling. Ky has completed a Master of Engineering Science (Transport) at UNSW, a Graduate Diploma (Civil) at UWS, and a Bachelor of Science (Civil) at University of Technology, HCMC, Vietnam. Ky spent over two-years working for Wilbur Smith Associates in Vietnam as a civil engineer on the National Hwy No.1 upgrade project funded by Asian Development Bank and has more than 5 years of local work experience. Ky’s local professional experiences include WUSD, flood modelling, flood mitigation, drainage network analysis, detention basin design, stormwater harvesting using widely recognized modelling software packages such as 12D, AUTOCAD, DRAINS, TUFLOW, XPSWMM & HECRAS. Ky is experienced in resolving technical problems of urban hydrology and hydraulics.

Water Technology would like to welcome Alistair Daly

WTech — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:14:54 +0000

Alister has more than twelve (12) years professional experience in the Civil Engineering industry across Australia and has worked extensively within the water resources, flooding and drainage sectors comprising both Government and private sector areas. Alister has been actively involved in all levels of engineering consultancy comprising technical project input through to managing numerous projects as well as staff and clients in addition with business management and administration functions. Alister holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree from Monash University (Honours 1) and a Masters of Environmental Engineering from Griffith University, Brisbane. Alister is also a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland (RPEQ).

Alister has significant experience in the water resources fields including flood and drainage studies, hydraulic and hydrologic investigations, stormwater quantity and quality management, infrastructure charges schedules, development assessment, project management and GIS. In addition, Alister has also had experience with civil engineering design including contract management and administration relating to water resource projects such as dams, flood mitigation, stormwater drainage, waterway rehabilitation, mining works, levee systems as well as general civil works.

Water Technology Welcomes Lauren and Georgina

WTech — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 07:02:48 +0000

As Water Technology continues to grow we have been successful in recruiting a number of additional senior staff. As with previous years, our growth is founded upon the recruitment of exceptional technical staff to service our growing client base. Recent recruits to the Melbourne office include Lauren Mittiga and Georgina Race.

Lauren has an honours degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as a degree in Environmental Science from The University of Adelaide. She has over 9 years professional experience in hydrology and water resources planning and modelling, with considerable experience in stakeholder consultation with government, community groups, academia and the private sector. Lauren has significant experience in hydrological assessment of dams across Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. She has recently returned from the UK where she provided independent review of hydrology and water resources modelling for Thames, Wessex, Bristol and Southern Water and lead stakeholder consultation on behalf of the Environment Agency in the UK and the World Bank in the Philippines. Lauren has strong project management skills and builds excellent client relationships.

Georgina is a senior consultant specialising in the application of remote sensing and GIS technologies to support natural resource management and has over fifteen years of experience in these fields. She has extensive experience in managing the design and delivery of integrated information systems, geographic information systems, mobile mapping and remote sensing technology to support natural resource management and infrastructure development projects throughout Australia and internationally.

Georgina has a track record in developing strong technical teams, alliances and client relationships for the successful delivery of spatial technical solutions and integrated NRM projects across for clients including CMAs in Victoria and New South Wales, Melbourne Water, Southern Rural Water, Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Department of Sustainability and Environment, the Bureau of Meteorology and the National Water Commission.

Water Technology welcomes both Lauren and Georgina.

Web-based flood mapping tools – from vision to reality

WTech — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:17:55 +0000

Australia has recently experienced extreme flood impacts due an extraordinarily wet spring-summer period, particularly in SE Australia. Over the September 2010 to January 2011 period Water Technology was actively involved in flood response management during the Victorian flood crisis. Working alongside the SES and other agencies has provided valuable insight for our staff on the requirements of flood intelligence systems including the prediction of flood extents, depths and timing. The ability to rapidly and conveniently communicate this information to an array of stakeholders across wide areas is a significant challenge and something that is presently available. Over the past decade Water Technology has prepared numerous flood studies across regional Australia incorporating detailed flood maps, primarily to inform the land-use planning process, although these maps are also useful for flood response when linked with appropriate flood warnings.

As a company we strongly support the development of an interactive web based system that utilises hydraulic model-derived flood extent data for the management of flood planning and response. Such a system, Floodzoom, has recently been put forward by the Victorian State Government; Victorian Government to repair and expand flood warning network.

A web based flood mapping tool such as Floodzoom would link property and inundation information to a background database which is then presented in an interactive, graphical web-page format. Such a system would aim to improve emergency response planning before a flood event, and operations during a flood event. It would be envisaged that it would enable users to visually interrogate the catalogue of study areas and associated simulations of flood events, to spatially visualise flood risk, and for distributing flood event data to users requiring more sophisticated analysis. Flood animations could be viewed to gain an insight to flood movement. The use of a web-based application interface removes the need of local installation of expensive and complex commercial software, or the need for specific software expertise. The web-based format of the interface allows access for a variety of stakeholders including relevant agencies to examine the flood movement, and can also be delivered on smart phone devices.

There are examples on how web-based flood response technologies have been used within Australia and overseas. X.H.Wang of the University of Cincinnati prepared a paper on the usefulness of such a system in 2003 ”An Internet Based Flood Warning System” whilst Water Technology and Environmental Systems Solutions were commissioned by the Victorian Government to develop FloodZone for the Shepparton-Mooroopna and Nathalia townships: http://www.watech.com.au/capbilities/floodplain-management/floodzone-web-based-flood-mapping

These prototypes have been available for some time, however there was understandable reluctance to invest in such tools during a period of extreme drought over the past decade when needs and priorities lay elsewhere. With the enormous human and financial cost of flooding fresh in the minds of the community there is an opportunity for a significant step forward in flood planning and response systems.

New office in Horsham and expansion in Melbourne and Brisbane

WTech — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:35:36 +0000

We are pleased to announce the opening of the Water Technology Horsham office servicing western Victoria. As a company we have a commitment to the servicing of our clients in regional areas and the Horsham office complements our existing regional offices in Wangaratta and Bairnsdale. The Horsham office will provide the full range of Water Technology services with a particular focus on flood management, water sensitive urban design, waterway management and ecological assessments across the whole of Western Victoria. Over the coming months it is anticipated that the office will grow and therefore we are seeking expressions of interest from engineers wishing to join our team in Horsham.

In addition to the expansion into western Victoria Water Technology has a range of other new positions available. Due largely to the widespread and severe flooding experienced across most parts of the country over the 2010/2011 spring-summer period, we are experiencing an increased demand on our services. These additional positions include a project engineer and senior engineer in Brisbane, and a floodplain hydraulics engineer, graduate engineers and a civil design engineer in Melbourne. Details on these positions can be found on our Careers page.

Dr Andrew McCowan appointed to Coasts and Climate Change Council

WTech — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:51:55 +0000

Dr Andrew McCowan, Managing Director and founder of Water Technology, has been appointed to the federal government’s Coasts and Climate Change Council by Greg Combet, the federal Climate Change Minister.

The Council was originally established in late 2009 under the chairmanship of Professor Tim Flannery. Its purpose was to engage with communities and stakeholders and to advise the Government on key issues relating to Climate Change and the Australian coast. The Council provided its end of term report to the Minister in December 2010. The Council’s report and key recommendations can be found at: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/government/initiatives/australias-coasts-and-climate-change/adapting/coasts-and-climate-change-council.aspx

The term of the Coasts and Climate Change Council has now been extended until December 2011. Its principal focus is now on advising government to ensure progress on coastal adaptation. Professor Bruce Thom AM is the new head of the Council, and the Council’s membership includes representatives from science, local government, planning, engineering and law. This makes it well-placed to advise the Minister and the Government in action on climate change adaptation, and ensure that work is done co-operatively in adapting to climate change.

Flood planning and emergency management in Victoria.

WTech — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:03:42 +0000

Following our contributions to flood response in September and December last year, Water Technology is again assisting the Victorian SES in flood planning and emergency management for the current floods in north central and western Victoria. Staff from the Melbourne office have been located at SES control centers in Bendigo and Geelong. Water Technology staff are well placed to assist in flood response across Victoria having prepared regional flood modelling over the past 15 years for the following towns and catchments:

Yarriambiak Creek – Flow modelling project

Fly through – Glenorchy to Horsham 100 year flood event. Existing Conditions

Horsham
Dimboola
Wimmera River & Yarriambiack Creek
Jeparit
Warracknabeal & Beulah
South Warrnambool
Beaufort
Murray River (Cobram to Tocumwal, Barham to Nyah, Swan Hill, Albury)
Shepparton
Goulburn River (Eildon to Murray River)
Violet Town
Numurkah
Halls Gap
Winchelsea
Inverleigh
Port Fairy
Chiltern
Strathmerton
Traralgon
Euroa
Ballarat
Burrumbeet Creek
Barwon River at Geelong

Inundation maps prepared as part of many of these studies have assisted in the emergency response by identifying to the SES potential properties at risk, potential flood extents and flood timing.

Serious flood situation developing in SE Qld

WTech — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:36:16 +0000

Serious flooding is currently being experienced in SE Queensland with the situation expected to worsen for much of the major metropolitan areas over the next 24 to 48 hours.

Flood warnings are available for the Bureau of Meteorology’s website http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/.

Warnings specifically for the Lockyer, Bremer, Warrill, and Brisbane Rivers below Wivenhoe including Brisbane City can be found at http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDQ20805.html

For specific suburbs at risk in the Brisbane area, go to Brisbane City Council’s website http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/#maps (low band width version). Previously prepared flood maps are also available.

Tide times are available at the Bureau’s website above or alternatively go to http://tides.willyweather.com.au/qld/brisbane/brisbane-bar.html.

For an interactive map of community reports, go to http://queenslandfloods.crowdmap.com/