Data Delivery Overview

When does my organisation give water information?

The Water Regulations came into effect on 30 June 2008. From that time, organisations specified in the Regulations are required to begin giving specified water information to the Bureau in a staged process. The Bureau has been contacting organisations during their respective interim period to set up information transfer arrangements.

We are working with organisations named in the Regulations to ensure they are fully aware of their potential requirements and to assist them in compliing with the Regulations.

Your organisation

Named organisations are encouraged to become familiar with their requirements under the Regulations. You can use our Water Regulations online tool to generate a customised report listing your organisation's requirements, including when you first need to provide water information to the Bureau.

How does my organisation give water information?

For the time being, the Bureau of Meteorology will only require data that is available in electronic format. This does not include scanned documents.

Organisations named in the Water Regulations 2008 are being asked to complete our online Water Information Survey so we can determine the most appropriate data transfer process for each organisation. This will allow water data to be efficiently transferred from your organisation to ours as part of your organisation's requirements under the Regulations.

The Bureau of Meteorology intends to the use the data transfer methods listed below. See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or web services

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the preferred method for all ongoing water information delivery. It is the required method for the delivery of new water information, except for information on water use (category 5), information about rights, allocations and trades (category 6) and information about water restrictions (category 8). Category 5 and 6 information may also be sent to the Bureau on CD, DVD or on an external hard drive. Category 8 information may be sent by email to waterdata@bom.gov.au. The potential use of Web Services should be discussed with the Bureau.

All incoming data files, whether time series, metadata or other, must be contained in zip files for FTP transfer. Zip files should be named using only alphanumeric text, hyphens and underscores in the filename. The names should not contain spaces or metacharacters.

See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

CD, DVD or external hard drive

These media may be used to transfer historical information and also information on Water Use (category 5), information about rights, allocations and trades (category 6) and information that is only required annually.

Email

Email may be used to send information about water restrictions (category 8) only. Send this type of data directly to us via email at waterdata@bom.gov.au.

Bureau acknowledging data transfers

Acknowledging data received by FTP

When an organisation transfers data via FTP to the Bureau for the first time we will send back an email acknowledgement. The acknowledgement will be emailed within five business days of receiving the first data by FTP. The acknowledgement will be sent to the email address that has been supplied to us, therefore all data providers should nominate a primary email address to receive such a notification.

A formal acknowledgement will be sent by mail and posted within five business days of receiving the first data by FTP. The letter will be sent to the executive contact we have on our records. All data providers should nominate an executive contact and postal address.

All nominations or changes of primary email notifications and executive contact postal addresses can be emailed to waterdata@bom.gov.au.

Acknowledging data received by post in CD/DVD format or on an external storage device

An email acknowledgement will be sent within five business days of receiving the data. The acknowledgement will be emailed to the address provided by the sender and or an email address that was previously supplied. All data providers should nominate a primary email address to receive such a notification.

A formal acknowledgement will be sent by mail and posted within five business days of receiving the data. The letter will be sent to the executive contact we have on our records. All data providers should nominate an executive contact and postal address.

All nominations or changes of primary email notifications and executive contact postal addresses can be emailed to waterdata@bom.gov.au

Acknowledging data received by Email

An email acknowledgement will be emailed within five business days of receiving the data. The acknowledgement will be emailed to the address provided by the sender and or an email address that was previously supplied. All data providers should nominate a primary email address for receiving such a notification.

Regular Statement

Work is underway to produce regular periodical statements that will be posted to the executive contact we have on our records. This statement will have details of all data delivered in the period. This statement can also be emailed to nominated contacts and in future may be made available online.