Under the Commonwealth Water Act 2007, the role of the Bureau of Meteorology has expanded to include management of water information. The Bureau is now empowered to collect water information from a range of sources in order to publish a National Water Account and periodic reports on water resource use and availability. A major outcome of the Bureau's work will be increased transparency, confidence and understanding of water information on a national level.

The Bureau intends to publish and make water information freely available via the Australian Water Resources Information System (AWRIS) - an online information tool that is freely accessible to the public. AWRIS will deliver robust and reliable, nationwide information on water availability, water quality and water usage. It will be the authoritative repository for water data and reporting in Australia.

The Bureau will build, own and manage AWRIS. It will evolve and expand over the next 10 years to deliver more content, faster access, and more sophisticated functionality.

Currently in development, AWRIS will integrate and add value to extensive measurements of river flows, groundwater levels, reservoir storage volumes, water quality, water use, water entitlements and water trades. AWRIS will be the authoritative repository for water data and reporting in Australia.

Download the AWRIS publication