Climate Exchange

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is sent to approximately 700 interested stakeholders, notifying them of

the update and providing them with highlights and a summary. These

700 stakeholders, primarily from the water industry, expressed their

interest in receiving these emails by subscribing through BoM’s website

and when attending workshops. Each month, senior staff members

from BoM present the National Climate and Water Briefing in the

nation’s capital, Canberra. This briefing, to senior policy and planning

managers from government agencies and other organizations, details

the latest climate and water conditions in Australia.

Users of the seasonal streamflow forecasts have a range of climate

expertise. To improve stakeholder understanding of progress

in water information and the value it brings, in November and

December 2011 Climate and Water Division staff delivered a series

of eight National Water Information (NWI) Briefings, one in each

capital city in Australia. Overall there were 1005 participants,

comprising 831 external participants and 174 BoM staff. Similar

briefings had been previously undertaken during 2007–8 and 2009.

The briefings were a mixture of plenary sessions and technical

and interactive workshops. There were three seasonal streamflow

forecasting workshops, held in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

These workshops were designed primarily to educate participants

about the seasonal streamflow forecasts and to build relationships

with more stakeholders. One of the outcomes of the

briefings was a noticeable increase in access of BoM’s

water information products.

During the NWI workshops, a number of external

stakeholders expressed their interest in being involved

in case studies, which will be conducted in 2012 and

published on BoM’s website. The aim of these case

studies will be to show how key stakeholders have

achieved a good outcome by using seasonal streamflow

forecasts to inform their decision-making processes.

Although there is a feedback form on the seasonal

streamflow forecast website, BoM has received little

direct feedback from users about the service. To help

address this, the EHP team conducted a user survey

during the first half of 2012. The objectives of this

survey include:

• Determining who is using the products, how

they are being used and how often

• Finding out whether users are satisfied with

service delivery

• Learning how users feel the current service could

be improved.

What next?

The Seasonal Streamflow Forecasting Service will be

extended to include 70 sites by December 2012, with

investigations of possible new sites currently underway.

The service could be further expanded in the future,

subject to availability of resources and suitable forecasting

sites. Some of the main challenges moving forward are:

• Finding such suitable forecasting sites in as many

different hydroclimatic regions as possible

• Trying to satisfy user needs within the constraints of

available resources.

As well as user need, in order to be considered for

inclusion in the service, forecast locations must

satisfy criteria of data availability and forecast

skill and accuracy. Progress will be reported in the

WIRADA annual report.

Principles of the Global Framework

This case study most obviously relates to the Global

Framework for Climate Services Principle 8, which

emphasizes the importance of user-provider partner-

ships. Understanding and responding to user needs

has been an essential part of the development of the

Seasonal Streamflow Forecasting Service from the very

beginning, and has continued throughout the transition

to and maintenance of an operational service. Forecasts

must ultimately lead to changes in decisions that result

in improved outcomes in water resource management

– producing skilful predictions is a necessary but insuf-

ficient requirement to satisfy customers. One aim of

stakeholder engagement is to create ownership of the

products and services within potential user segments,

but the main advantage of early user involvement is the

development of a fundamentally better service satisfy-

ing the real needs of users.

The Bureau’s Acting Director Dr Rob Vertessy presenting at the NWI Briefings (top);

and the Acting Manager of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Section Jeff Perkins,

presenting at an NWI workshop (above)

Image: BoM