WAMSI 2 - Dredging Node - Theme 1 - Review and consolidation of environmental monitoring data collected by industry

Theme 1 was designed to identify data from past large scale dredging projects that could contribute to the WAMSI DSN science goal ‘to enhance capacity within government and the private sector to predict and manage the environmental impacts of dredging in Western Australia‘, and then to disseminate the data to the relevant WAMSI researchers.

Most data was sourced from 4 capital dredging projects and from 3 proponents, Woodside Energy Limited, Chevron Australia and Rio Tinto Iron Ore. The information had been collected for the purpose of environmental impact assessment and environmental compliance against State and Commonwealth conditions of approval. This data has been key to better understanding the scale of dredging related pressures and the response of affected biota and was used to scope the laboratory and field experiments.

The creation of the WAMSI DSN, with over 50 scientists from 9 institutions committed to dredging-specific research provided the mechanism to unlock the value and then to value add. Scientists were given access to data that they would otherwise never have had permission to use, or never had the resources to collect on such an enormous scale. This led to significant co-investment from WAMSI DSN partners as the value of the data became realised. After the repurposing the data were transformed into information and from there knowledge along the information hierarchy (Ackoff 1989), increasing scientific capacity, and providing substantial benefits for government and industry with an enormous return on the initial investment.