Moving water at Sydney Uni

It has been a buzz in inland Australia: lake Eyre is filling! The ABC is making a big story about it with a story on 18 May and one today (25 May) although that one is more focussed on the organic beef producers in channel country. Overall it is recognised as a great event and a good thing for the area. I got really interested in the question how often Lake Eyre actual fills. So some real hydrology this time

One of my PhD students read last week’s blog and commented on my use of the term win-win versus win-lose from an economic perspective. Her comment was that if we would maximise utility it should be a win-win situation. I think some of this was purely in the syntax and choice of words, but it gives me a nice new topic to talk about. Maximising utility is an economic concept I have struggled with for a while and it is a constant discussion point between myself and some of my colleagues in the economic area. I will explain.

I am reading a few things at the moment and this has spurred me to dig out a topic I touched on earlier. A little while ago, Mike Young, Professor Mike Young that is, wrote another of his “droplets” and this time about changes in managing rivers in the future. I find this a fascinating topic. I also was reading a bit older paper about the connection between climate and the hydrological cycle (Chahine, 1992) and I was reading an interesting historical article about the “Australian Groundwater Controversy 1870 – 1910” (Faggion, 1994). There is an interesting link between these three written pieces which allow me to comment about how I see management of water in the future.