MD-WERP Annual Symposium 2023

On 19-20 July 2023, the Murray–Darling Water & Environment Program held its second annual symposium at the Canberra Rex Hotel, and what a great event!

The symposium brought together nearly 180 (130 in person and nearly 50 online) scientists, researchers, government and end-users to exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences of science in the Basin.



Building on the momentum of last year's inaugural symposium, and in response to feedback from that event, the 2023 symposium delved deeper into the research projects. It provided an important platform to discuss the significance of new science in shaping water policy decisions. There was key a focus on sharing research results and hosting discussions on how findings might be adopted for the benefit of the Basin and its communities.

To better understand how MD–WERP research outputs fit into the wider water reform journey, Authority Chair, Sir Angus Houston, addressed the symposium to outline the Roadmap to the 2026 Basin Plan Review. Attendees also heard about government priorities from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s water policy division and First Nations water policy branch.

MDBA Chief Executive, Andrew McConville, chaired a great MD–WERP Governing Panel Q&A session where he put them through their paces with questions from the audience on topics such as:

  • understanding and explaining the relationship between MD–WERP research and future policy decisions
  • challenges around sharing and communicating research outputs and datasets with government stakeholders and members of the community
  • bringing together the outputs and findings from the 4 strategic research themes to collaborate on the large-scale problems we are trying to solve.

Strategic research interactive poster sessions

A key focus of this year’s symposium was the interactive poster sessions which enabled attendees to engage with individual research projects and researchers. Across the 2 days, 25 research projects presented information and initial findings, grouped under the program’s strategic research themes:

  • climate adaptation
  • hydrology
  • environmental outcomes
  • social, economic, and cultural outcomes.

The sessions enabled attendees to engage with individual research projects and to look for opportunities and barriers to adopting the research outputs in their work. Based on feedback most people found this structure very useful, although some wished for more time to delve further into the projects.

Tactical research projects

Two recently completed tactical research projects were showcased through presentations on Day 2:

  • Waterbird Foraging Habitats Identification & Prioritisation
  • Synthesis of Blue-green algae bloom knowledge & analysis of recent trends in the Murray-Darling Basin

The presentations were followed by a collective Q&A session that was very engaging and showed high levels of interest in the projects.

Next steps

Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive. Researchers and end-users across all themes enjoyed the opportunities to collaborate, network and share knowledge, and stated that the symposium helped improve their understanding of the range of MD-WERP research projects.

Over the next 2 years we will see more than 100 deliverables finalised across the program, meaning a lot of important research will be developed and shared with end users and the wider public.

Visit and register to Stay Informed about our progress on the main program webpage (getinvolved.mdba.gov.au/md-werp).

For more information or questions, email mdwerp@mdba.gov.au.

On 19-20 July 2023, the Murray–Darling Water & Environment Program held its second annual symposium at the Canberra Rex Hotel, and what a great event!

The symposium brought together nearly 180 (130 in person and nearly 50 online) scientists, researchers, government and end-users to exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences of science in the Basin.



Building on the momentum of last year's inaugural symposium, and in response to feedback from that event, the 2023 symposium delved deeper into the research projects. It provided an important platform to discuss the significance of new science in shaping water policy decisions. There was key a focus on sharing research results and hosting discussions on how findings might be adopted for the benefit of the Basin and its communities.

To better understand how MD–WERP research outputs fit into the wider water reform journey, Authority Chair, Sir Angus Houston, addressed the symposium to outline the Roadmap to the 2026 Basin Plan Review. Attendees also heard about government priorities from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s water policy division and First Nations water policy branch.

MDBA Chief Executive, Andrew McConville, chaired a great MD–WERP Governing Panel Q&A session where he put them through their paces with questions from the audience on topics such as:

  • understanding and explaining the relationship between MD–WERP research and future policy decisions
  • challenges around sharing and communicating research outputs and datasets with government stakeholders and members of the community
  • bringing together the outputs and findings from the 4 strategic research themes to collaborate on the large-scale problems we are trying to solve.

Strategic research interactive poster sessions

A key focus of this year’s symposium was the interactive poster sessions which enabled attendees to engage with individual research projects and researchers. Across the 2 days, 25 research projects presented information and initial findings, grouped under the program’s strategic research themes:

  • climate adaptation
  • hydrology
  • environmental outcomes
  • social, economic, and cultural outcomes.

The sessions enabled attendees to engage with individual research projects and to look for opportunities and barriers to adopting the research outputs in their work. Based on feedback most people found this structure very useful, although some wished for more time to delve further into the projects.

Tactical research projects

Two recently completed tactical research projects were showcased through presentations on Day 2:

  • Waterbird Foraging Habitats Identification & Prioritisation
  • Synthesis of Blue-green algae bloom knowledge & analysis of recent trends in the Murray-Darling Basin

The presentations were followed by a collective Q&A session that was very engaging and showed high levels of interest in the projects.

Next steps

Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive. Researchers and end-users across all themes enjoyed the opportunities to collaborate, network and share knowledge, and stated that the symposium helped improve their understanding of the range of MD-WERP research projects.

Over the next 2 years we will see more than 100 deliverables finalised across the program, meaning a lot of important research will be developed and shared with end users and the wider public.

Visit and register to Stay Informed about our progress on the main program webpage (getinvolved.mdba.gov.au/md-werp).

For more information or questions, email mdwerp@mdba.gov.au.

Page last updated: 08 Jan 2024, 02:33 PM