Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
affected. These people might offer insight into history of water issues and
options and strategies for minimising impact. For example, consultation
about water for market gardens operated by Vietnamese-Australians in
western Sydney, Australia may consider use of an interpreter or tapping into
a particular social or religious network.
No matter what the information, it needs to be seen as credible by the
community and defensible by scientists and independent reviewers.
Box 4.7: Tailoring visual methods to interpret science to
stakeholders
Baldwin
et al.
(2012) report on a project that trialled two different visual
methods to assist communities to understand groundwater character-
istics in their areas. Visual images have been found to rapidly increase
people's environmental awareness and stimulate public engagement.
Using visualisation to portray groundwater enables users to 'see the
unseen' (ibid. 76). A preliminary stakeholder analysis revealed the
different needs of two communities.
A relatively sophisticated group of irrigators in the Central Condamine
Alluvium region in Queensland needed to accept a large reduction in
water allocation during the water planning process, which would result
in a cost to business. To build their trust and credibility in the data,
Groundwater Visualisation System software was used to develop a tool
to show a simple display of the time/space variations in groundwater
hydrology. Irrigators were given a CD and taught how to manipulate
the model image by zooming in and examining cut cross-sections of the
aquifer. The images used historical data to show the effect of extraction
on the level of the water table (Cox
et al.
2013). Participants thought it
a useful tool for presenting information to less involved stakeholders as
a stimulus to informed discussion. See Figure 4.2 in colour plates.
The second visual tool was used in advance of a water planning process
in an undeveloped groundwater area in the Tiwi Islands in Northern
Territory, Australia. Residents were unfamiliar with groundwater use.
An interactive 3D physical groundwater model was constructed in
a plexiglass box that circulated water through a cross-section of soil
to demonstrate relationships between groundwater, rainfall, aquifer
recharge, production bores, billabong, and spring flow. Being battery-
operated it could be used in remote areas. It did not rely on written
information and was a good catalyst for provoking discussion about
on-ground features. See Figure 4.3 in colour plates.
