Integrated Decision Support System

An integrated Decision Support System (DSS) will be developed for Darwin Harbour catchment to improve understanding of the effect of various processes and potential developments on water quality in the catchment. The project is part of the Darwin Harbour Water Quality Protection Plan (Phase 2). The development of the DSS is funded by the Australian Government under the ‘Caring for our Country’ program.

The DSS and its scenarios will be developed with the input of stakeholders. It will help provide information to help answer questions such as:

  1. How much pollutants come from the catchment?
  2. What effect would the development of Weddell have on parts of the Harbour?
  3. What future scenarios and trade-offs are there?
  4. What management action priorities would protect water quality? For example actions include water sensitive urban design and riparian zone protection.
  5. Where should management actions be made?
  6. How effective, and cost effective, will these management actions be?
  7. What water quality targets should be aimed for?
  8. What are the effects of the above on the Harbour?

The DSS will combine both catchment and urban modelling and harbour water quality hydrodynamic modelling to help identify actions (eg. water sensitive urban design and riparian vegetation) to help protect water quality, and to predict their effects on water quality in the Darwin Harbour.

The DSS will be available to stakeholders to assist them to help identify what, where, at what cost, trade-offs and how effective proposed management actions and scenarios would be on water quality. Training workshops and materials will be available in late 2012.

Organisations that are building components of the DSS include BMT WBM Pty Ltd, Equatica Pty Ltd, is NRM Pty Ltd, The Australian National University (ANU) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). Territory Government departments including Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport and Department of Lands and Planning are providing some of the input data. The DSS development commenced in March 2011 and will be completed by December 2012.