Adapting to Climate Change Through Water, Soil, and Biological Systems
Climate change and water scarcity are no longer future risks; they are present realities that demand practical, system-level responses. This article explores…
Queensland Water Restrictions: Why an Arid Climate Needs Arid Solutions
South East Queensland is often described as being in water crisis, yet the real issue is not a lack of rainfall but…
Climate Change, Drought and Water Supply
With dam levels falling and water security under threat, many people are asking whether current shortages are simply part of Australia’s natural…
An Independent Water Think Tank: Innovation, Creativity, and the Future of Water
This page introduces an independent water “think tank” focused on innovation rather than politics or commercial interests. It explains why water management…
Watropy: The Paradigm Shift in Water Thinking
Watropy is a simple but powerful idea: water has value not only by volume, but by how long it stays useful. In…
The Phantom Water Crisis
“The Phantom Water Crisis” argues that the so-called water crisis is not mainly caused by a lack of rain, but by how…
Irrigation Publications and Technical Guides
This downloads page provides access to key Waterright resources on water, irrigation efficiency, and practical solutions for growing food with limited water.…
How Microflood Improves Flood Irrigation Efficiency and Crop Yield
Microflood is a practical irrigation upgrade that turns traditional flood irrigation into a far more efficient system. It was recognised internationally with…
Solving the Water Crisis Video Series
The “Solving the Water Crisis” video series shares Colin Austin’s search for practical answers to the global water crisis. What began as…
Water Wit and Wisdom: How Innovation Can Solve Australia’s Water Crisis
Water Wit and Wisdom steps back from technical debates about water and instead examines how we think about water. It explores why…
The Waterright Philosophy 1: Soil Regeneration Through Water and Biology
The Waterright philosophy grew from practical experience rather than theory. Faced with severely degraded soil on an old goat farm, Colin Austin…
Water for Food: How Wicking Beds Build Climate-Resilient Agriculture With Less Water
Water for food is one of the defining challenges of a warming world. The wicking bed system appears simple, yet it represents…
Droughtproofing in Ethiopia: Low-Cost Irrigation Lessons for a Water-Scarce World
This article describes a practical droughtproofing project developed in Ethiopia to address food insecurity during severe drought. Invited by World Vision to…
Micro Flood Irrigation: A Low-Cost Manual For Using Water Better
Micro flood irrigation is a simple, low-cost way to deliver water to plants without chronic under-watering or over-watering. It was designed to…
Making the Most of Water: How Irrigation Scheduling Improves Crop Growth and Saves Water
Making the most of water is not about applying more or less by guesswork. It is about understanding how plants respond to…
Irrigation Scheduling: Measure Water Use, Control Irrigation Depth, Grow Better Crops
Irrigation scheduling is one of the cheapest ways to save water and improve plant growth. It is not just about avoiding wilt.…
WaterRight Irrigation Scheduling: Use Irrigation Depth and Evaporation to Save Water
WaterRight is a practical way to schedule irrigation using two simple measurements: how far water penetrates into the soil (irrigation depth) and…
Adaptive Irrigation Scheduling: An Easy Way to Stop Wasting Water
Poor irrigation scheduling is one of the biggest drivers of wasted water, and it can also cause environmental harm. Traditional “scientific” methods…
Anticipatory Irrigation Scheduling: Using Evaporation, Soil Depth, and Rainfall to Save Water
Anticipatory irrigation is a practical and commonsense way to use water better by working with rainfall, evaporation, and soil behaviour rather than…
The Gbiota Philosophy 2: Irrigation Scheduling That Saves Water
Poor irrigation scheduling is one of the biggest hidden causes of wasted water and reduced plant growth. Many growers apply too much…
The Gbiota Philosophy 4: Local Water Harvesting in Australia
Australia is often described as a dry continent facing inevitable water shortages, yet the reality is far more complex. On a per-person…
Irrigation Scheduling Using Crop Factors and Soil Water Holding Capacity
Good irrigation is not guesswork. It is about matching water supply to what your plants actually use, and what your soil can…
Soil Maker: A Practical System for Rapid Soil Regeneration Using Biology and Water
Healthy soil is the foundation of food, nutrition, and long-term resilience. Yet much of the world’s soil is being degraded faster than…
Water Salinity Solutions For Australia: Flushing Salt, Smarter Irrigation, Better Policy
Australia’s water debate is not only about drought. It is also about salt. Each year, millions of tonnes of salt are mobilised…
Micro-Flood Irrigation: A Low-Cost Way to Use Water Better
Micro Flood looks like old-fashioned flood irrigation, yet it can behave very differently. By splitting a long bay into short “micro blocks”…
Solving the Water Crisis: Why Australia Has Plenty of Rain but Still Runs Out of Water
This article introduces the Solving the Water Crisis DVD series, a practical and challenging exploration of how we think about water in…
Water, Salinity, and Irrigation Reform in Australia: Technology, Policy, and the Missing Link
This article explains why Australia’s real water crisis is not only drought, but salinity and soil sodification caused by how irrigation water…
Lessons for Australia: Rethinking Irrigation, Water Efficiency, and Basin Rehabilitation
Australia faces many of the same water challenges seen in parts of Africa, including unreliable rainfall, water scarcity, and recurring drought. This…
Sustainable Irrigation and Salinity: How Water Management Can Secure Our Future
This summary draws on lessons from the long history of irrigation to explain why many irrigation societies have failed and what can…
Innovative Solutions to the Water Crisis
This article explores a practical, innovation-led approach to solving water scarcity. It traces how unconventional research methods led from early engineering work…
Innovative Water-Saving Technologies: A Practical Path Beyond Dams and Drought
This article summarises Colin Austin’s practical, innovation-driven approach to Australia’s water challenge. It explains why “competence research” often produces incremental gains, while…
Reaping the Benefits of Water-Saving Irrigation Technology in Australia
This article draws together long-term research into irrigation efficiency, salt balance, and soil water management to explain how Australia can grow food…
The Doctor And The Water Crisis: Why Dams Fail And Decentralised Water Wins
This story uses humour and a sci-fi lens to make a serious point: Australia does not mainly suffer from a lack of…
Make the Most of Water: Practical Irrigation Methods for Maximum Growth
Water is often the limiting factor in growing food, especially in dry regions and disadvantaged communities. This article explains a simple, practical…
Watropy: A New Way to Think About Water Scarcity in Australia
Australia’s water problem is not simply “not enough rain”. It is that much of our rainfall has a very short useful life…
Alternative Water Resources for Australia: Water-Harvesting for the Future
Australia receives vast amounts of rainfall each year, far more than our population actually needs. Yet chronic water shortages persist. This article…
The Gbiota Philosophy: Local Water Harvesting in a Dry Land
Australia is often described as a country facing severe water shortages, yet the total volume of rainfall far exceeds what we actually…
Community Action on Water: Why Harvesting Small Rains Matters
Australia does not suffer from a lack of rainfall. What we suffer from is a failure to capture it. Most rain falls…
Harvesting Smaller Rains: Water Storage, Wicking Beds, and Anticipatory Irrigation
Droughts are part of Australia’s natural cycle, but we still waste the water that falls in the smaller rains. The volume is…
How Water Moves in Soil: Gravity, Flow & Biology
While the physical construction of the bed may not be so important it is essential to follow certain rules to ensure the…
Secure Water in the Murray–Darling Basin: The Facts and the Hard Choices
The Murray–Darling system has been over-allocated for years, and there is simply not enough water to satisfy every user and still protect…
“We’re Not Running Out of Water?” — Politics and Queensland’s Drying Future
This article examines the tension between political reassurance and scientific reality in Queensland’s water debate. While confident public statements may calm concern…
Why Water Tanks Matter: Rethinking the Marsden Report and Short-Term Water Policy
The debate over water security often suffers from short-term economic thinking that ignores long-term risk, climate change, and system resilience. The discussion…
The Howard Turnbull Water Plan
This article reflects on the Howard Turnbull Water Plan for the Murray–Darling Basin and places it in the wider context of Australia’s…
Queensland’s Water Crisis and the 2006 State Election
In the lead-up to the 2006 Queensland State Election, water emerged as one of the biggest public concerns. This short update explains…
The Doctor and the Water Crisis: How Local Solutions Can End a Man-Made Shortage
This article explains why the so-called water crisis is largely man-made and how communities can manage water successfully using simple, local technologies.…
Dear Malcolm: Proposal to Help Solve Australia’s Water Crisis
This short letter sets out a straightforward problem and a practical next step. Australia receives an enormous volume of rainfall overall, yet…