Posted 17 June 2009
NCGRT logo
The new National Centre for Groundwater Research and training (NCGRT) is set to commence operations this month (June 2009).
The Commonwealth will fund the NCGRT for an initial five years. Under a new arrangement which the ARC is rolling out for Centres of Excellence, 75% of the annual funding will be paid in advance. The remaining 25% of annual funding will be paid retrospectively, subject to the NCGRT achieving its KPIs (assessed annually). The 'guaranteed' Commonwealth funding is $22,125,000, and the '25%' funding is $7,375,000. Partner cash contributions total $10,120,770. In addition, the Centre will receive an additional $15M from NCRIS, announced via the May 2009 Federal Budget. The NCRIS funding is likely to be administered by the University of New South Wales.
The successful application for funding to establish this Centre was developed by Professor Craig Simmons of Flinders University. Engaging the top 35 groundwater researchers in Australia, and representing 20 institutions in SA, the ACT, NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA, this Centre has the potential to transform the discipline and the industry. It will train the next generation of groundwater specialists in Australia. The Centre will commence operations in June 2009. The Centre's cash funding base as at this date is around $54M, which includes Partner cash contributions.
Proposed governance structure for the NCGRT.
The Centre is also tasked to broaden its collaborator base and intensify activity across the States.
The Centre's goals will be pursued through five research programs:
| Program | Leader | Institution |
| P1 - Innovative Characterisation of Aquifers and Aquitards | Professor Ian Acworth | UNSW |
| P2 - Hydrodynamics and Modelling of Complex Groundwater Systems | Professor Craig Simmons Program Leader and Centre Director | Flinders |
| P3 - Surface Water-Groundwater Interactions | Professor Peter Cook | CSIRO/Flinders |
| P4 - Groundwater-Vegetation-Atmosphere Interactions | Professor David Lockington | UQ |
| P5 - Integrating Socioeconomics, Policy and Decision Support | Professor Tony Jakeman | ANU |
The partners with Flinders University in the NCGRT are
Australian National University (ANU)
Charles Sturt University (CSU)
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Geoscience Australia (GA)
James Cook University (JCU)
La Trobe University (LTU)
Monash University (MU)
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
University of New South Wales (UNSW)
University of Queensland (UQ)
University of South Australia (UniSA)
University of Western Australia (UWA)
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (DWLBC)
NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI)
United Water
SA Water
Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM)
Aquaterra Consulting Pty Ltd
NCGRT Governance Structure
Links:
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