Measuring, modelling, & managing water
“Catchment modelling is a world of crazy acronyms and high powered number crunching,” says Dr Chris Tanner, Science Leader in Aquatic Pollution at NIWA. “But at its heart is the drive to understand the complexities of natural cycles, and seek ways to mitigate the impacts of increasingly intensive use of land and water resources on these cycles.”
Many of the answers to key questions surrounding water resource management lie in developing models of catchment processes; processes such as the flux of water, nutrients, and sediments as they move from the land to streams, rivers, lakes and beyond.
“Catchment modelling can help answer questions like: how much water do we have, what is the quality of that water, and how will the quantity and quality of our water resources change in future?” says Chris.
“We use long-term climate, hydrology, and water quality data from extensive monitoring networks around New Zealand, and are integrating these with information from field studies of biophysical processes. From here we can develop powerful models to predict catchment-to-national-scale responses to land-use change.”
The Foundation for Research, Science & Technology funds much of the NIWA’s catchment modelling programme. NIWA collaborates with many other research and local government organisations in carrying out the research.