2022 news
Progress on recent developments in SSD modeling (Aug 2022)
The collaboration between Australian and Canadian water quality scientists (see Previous News, Nov 2019 and Jan 2021) has culminated in a report assessing the ssdtools SSD software against the ANZG Burrlioz, as well as other technical issues. The report, authored by David Fox, Rebecca Fisher, Joe Thorley and Carl Schwarz, can be found here. This report is currently being used to determine if the ANZG Guidelines should transition from Burrlioz to ssdtools. More information on this will be coming soon.
2021 news
New publication on recent developments in SSD modeling (Jan 2021)
On the back of the ongoing collaboration between Australian and Canadian water quality scientists (see Previous News, Nov 2019), we are pleased to have published a paper titled "Recent developments in species sensitivity distribution modeling". Amongst other things, the paper describes a promising model averaging approach to SSDs and deriving water quality guideline values. The paper can be found here. Hope you enjoy the read,
Previous NEWS
Species sensitivity distributions - joint Aust/Canada workshop, Nov 2019
Species sensitivity distributions - joint Aust/Canada workshop, Nov 2019
Species sensitivity distributions - joint Aust/Canada workshop, Nov 2019
In November 2019, a joint Australia - British Columbia (BC) - Canada workshop was held to discuss and refine BC's new 'ssdtools Shiny App' species sensitivity distribution fitting software for deriving water quality guideline values. This tool or a version thereof may eventually be considered for use in Australia. The Australian contingent was led by Prof David Fox (Environmetrics Australia) and included Dr Graeme Batley (CSIRO), Dr Rebecca Fisher (AIMS) and myself. We have just submitted a paper for publication - more details if/once it gets accepted and published.
Guideline value derivation methods workshop report
Species sensitivity distributions - joint Aust/Canada workshop, Nov 2019
Species sensitivity distributions - joint Aust/Canada workshop, Nov 2019
The workshop report from the March workshop on GV derivation methods, held at AIMS, Townsville (see related News story from earlier in the year), has finally been finalised and published. You can download a copy here.
New guidance on local water quality guideline values
New guidance on local water quality guideline values
New guidance on local water quality guideline values
It's exciting to finally have published this paper, which took several years to complete. The paper will hopefully be of value to anyone looking to derive a local guideline value or to evaluate the appropriateness of one that has already been derived. It should be of use to industry, regulators and consultants alike. Thanks to some support from the Supervising Scientist Branch, it is available as Open Access, here.
Darwin ANZG WQGs workshop, 9 July 2019
New guidance on local water quality guideline values
New guidance on local water quality guideline values
The Darwin Water Quality Guidelines Workshop was run within the SETAC Australasia biennial conference in Darwin, on 9 July. We had a great attendance with between 50 to 70 conference attendees sitting in throughout the day. Presenters at this workshop were Chris Humphrey, John Bennett, Julia Fortune (NT Govt) and myself. We are now working with SETAC AU towards workshops in other major cites, both in Australia and New Zealand.
Melbourne ANZG WQGs workshop, 16 May 2019
Melbourne ANZG WQGs workshop, 16 May 2019
Melbourne ANZG WQGs workshop, 16 May 2019
The Melbourne Water Quality Guidelines workshop was a big success, with approximately 120 attendees, and a diverse mix of presenters, including Victorian EPA staff providing local regulatory context, Bradley Moggridge presenting on cultural and spiritual values, and Graeme Batley, John Bennett and myself (pictured) detailing other key features of the revised Guidelines.
Sydney ANZG WQGs workshop, 20 March 2019
Melbourne ANZG WQGs workshop, 16 May 2019
Melbourne ANZG WQGs workshop, 16 May 2019
On 20 March, we finally held the first of the SETAC AU workshops on the revised Aust/NZ Water Quality Guidelines. The event was sponsored by Sydney Water and attended by more than 100 "watery" people. Pictured are the Sydney Water organisers with the three presenters. (Photo courtesy of Sydney Water).
Guideline value derivation workshop, AIMS, 27-29 March 2019
Guideline value derivation workshop, AIMS, 27-29 March 2019
Guideline value derivation workshop, AIMS, 27-29 March 2019
From 27-29 March, a group of 14 researchers (most pictured here at AIMS' SeaSim facility) gathered at AIMS near Townsville to discuss what the future of guideline value derivation methods might look like. The workshop was fully funded by a “community of practice” grant from AIMS, and was one of the more productive such meetings I've attended. Thanks to Dr Rebecca Fisher for her motivation to get this off the ground. (Photo courtesy of AIMS).
Tropical v temperate sensitivity
Guideline value derivation workshop, AIMS, 27-29 March 2019
Guideline value derivation workshop, AIMS, 27-29 March 2019
Tom Mooney's recent paper busts the 'tropical v temperate sensitivity differences' myth, well, for ammonia anyway: "...differences in chronic toxicity observed between tropical and temperate species were likely due to the low ionic strength of the waters to which tropical species were exposed, rather than any inherent physiological differences between species from tropical and temperate regions.". Go to https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.4313 for full details.