We continue our series of talking to colleagues with contrasting yet connected roles in water management. Our next guest will take us into the world of water modelling and how it is evolving and adapting to play a role for many small and big decisions around water.

Our guest John Ruffini, the Director at Water Planning Sciences at DESI, brings a wealth of experience for the application of water modelling for decision makers. A big focus for John over the years has been around water resource planning and how model forecasts of catchment wide water budgets can be utilized and underpin the decision making roles of State Water policy colleagues. Along the way, John has seen and participated in the ongoing evolution of technical and usable aspects of models in Queensland ensuring the outputs and forecasts match the needs of various users of the information. He has also been involved in various national working groups on the use of water planning models which has enabled John to be abreast of the various approaches being developed in the water modelling sector.

In this water chat with John, themes to explore will include:

Tools and the mechanics of water modelling
Ways that water modellers adapt the application of their models, e.g. how did the Millennium drought trigger new proactive measures in data and options evaluations
Challenges of climate change

John works with a team of hydrologists, ecologists and water planners to ensure the science is sound, and that the water plans for Queensland catchments can based on their model forecasts. The models and data are all available for public use so, their activity as water professionals is very much shared and open for the broader community. Plus, let us have your questions during the chat to John so we can expand on what this role of modelling offers to you and other colleagues in this "pipeline of water management".

A few additional insights that I believe will make an interesting Water Chat are:

John has some two principles for undertaking this modelling work for water planning for the sustainable use of water, namely (i) do no harm and (ii) decisions will be made.
He also has a passion for keeping a model simple.

If you have an interest in water management, regardless of your role, this Water Chat will share some fresh perspectives as we tap into some experienced and integrated insights from John. It will be interesting!!!