Since passage of the Water Act 2007 (Cwlth) the Bureau of Meteorology has the task of developing a national water database. Prescribed organisations in all states are required to provide data to the Bureau in their Water Data Transfer Format (WDTF).

Reflecting — But what is the quality of the data in the national water database? Surely it is more than the Hydstra quality code?

Refining — In 2009-10, the Bureau provided funding to the NSW Office of Water to develop a suite of standards for continuous water monitoring. These new standards reflect the requirements of AS3778, and describe best practice.

Resurgence — But what if our data do not comply with the standards? Does that mean that the Bureau does not want the data? And when downstream customers access data from the national database, how do they know what standards applied and whether the data are fit for all purposes?