How is ARR used?

With national applicability, balancing the varied climates of Australia, the information and the approaches presented in Australian Rainfall and Runoff are essential for policy decisions and projects involving:

• infrastructure such as roads, rail, airports, bridges, dams, stormwater and sewer systems;
• town planning;
• mining;
• developing flood management plans for urban and rural communities;
• flood warnings and flood emergency management;
• operation of regulated river systems; and
• estimation of extreme flood levels.

What is new in ARR 2019?

Geoscience Australia, on behalf of the Australian Government, asked the National Committee on Water Engineers (NCWE) - a specialist committee of Engineers Australia - to continue overseeing the technical direction of ARR. ARR's success comes from practitioners and researchers driving its development; and the NCWE is the appropriate organisation to oversee this work. The NCWE has formed a sub-committee to lead the ongoing management and development of ARR for the benefit of the Australian community and the profession. The current membership of the ARR management subcommittee includes Mark Babister, Robin Connolly, Rory Nathan and Bill Weeks.

Following the 2016 release, the team received a lot of feedback from industry and practitioners, ranging from substantial feedback to minor typographical errors. Much of this feedback was addressed and where a decision has been made not to address the feedback, advice has been provided as to why this was the case.

A new version of the ARR was released at the Floodplain Management Association Meeting in May 2019. ARR 2019 was a result of extensive consultation and feedback from practitioners. Noteworthy updates include the completion of Book 9, reflection of current climate change practice and improvements to user experience, including the availability of the document as a PDF.

Recognising this effort, Engineers Australia’s National President awarded the Australian Rainfall and Runoff editors and technical committee the Presidents Prize at the National Congress and National Awards Dinner on 18th November 2019 in Melbourne. Congratulations were extended to the ARR team: Mark Babister, Rory Nathan, Erwin Weinmann, Bill Weeks, Monique Retallick, Martin Lambert, George Kuczera, James Ball, Isabelle Testoni, Peter Coombes, Michael Leonard, Bryson Bates, Steve Finlay, Ashish Sharma and Steve Roso. The team gave thanks to everyone who have made contributions over many years in developing, reviewing, testing and publishing the ARR which is now a free and open resource. Particular mention is made to Engineers Australia National Committee on Water Engineering.

Key updates in ARR 2019

What was new in ARR 2016?

ARR was previously accessible only as a book on a fee for access basis. It is now publicly available online and free of charge.

Data standards are now established to provide a consistent approach to collecting, analysing and managing flood information.

Terminology for concepts, measurements, methodologies and products for flood studies is now standardised.

Previous versions of ARR were developed when computer technology was emerging and calculations were often done by hand. Since the last update in 1987, there have been many developments in the understanding of rainfall-runoff processes and many new tools available for catchment simulation. ARR 2016 takes advantage of the significant advancements in computer technology, techniques and understanding of rainfall-runoff processes since 1987 and introduces changes to current practice. It is also based on Australian data, when previously it was based on USA data.

Key changes in ARR 2016