David Salt

Empowering Water Decisions: Practical Guidance for Climate-Driven Hydrological Projections With climate change, water resources are under growing pressure and the need for quality and accessible modelling insights into water future conditions (or hydrological projections) has never been gre...

Empowering Water Decisions: Practical Guidance for Climate-Driven Hydrological Projections

A guide that helps in making hydrological projections more useful to multiple stakeholders.

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Dbytes #690 (8 October 2025) In this issue of Dbytes 1. Mapping Renewables for Nature: A roadmap for our energy future 2. The Planetary Health Check 2025: Our planet’s vital signs are flashing red 3. Aboriginal ponds – an arch…

Dbytes #690 (8 Oct 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Mapping Renewables for Nature
2. The Planetary Health Check 2025
3. Aboriginal ponds, implications for wetland stewardship
4. Water scarcity in the Anthropocene

And more
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Sydney’s Olympic Park was one of Australia’s biggest restoration works transforming some 800 hectares of contaminated industrial land into a set of functional, naturalistic ecosystems within an urban parkland environment. The process began before the 2000 Olympics and continues today. How can a study be designed to take into account both social and ecological systems (Image of restored wetlands adjacent to the Olympic stadia by David Salt) [See item 4] Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #689 (1 Oct 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. The fate of modern civilisation
2. Wild bird numbers freefall in the UK
3. Truck spills: A threat to aquatic life
4. Designing research for ecosystem restoration

And more
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Truck spills: A threat to aquatic life Truck spills are an important threat to aquatic ecosystems in countries all around the world, yet it’s a problem that often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Here, Valter Azevedo-Santos and P...

Truck spills: A threat to aquatic life

Truck spills are an important threat to aquatic ecosystems in countries all around the world, yet it’s a problem that often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves.

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In an era where rivers are no longer just lifelines but instruments of power, South Asia stands at the brink of a water-driven geopolitical shift. With unilateral suspension of water treaties and renewed push for mega-dam projects, the region is entering a dangerous phase of hydro-coercion — where control over water becomes a strategic weapon, threatening the stability of millions and reshaping the landscape of global water diplomacy. [See item 1] (View of Indus river near Skardu. Image by Akbar Khan Niazi, This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.) The Delta is the fortnightly newsletter of the Global Water Forum. It's free and you can sign up for it at https://globalwaterforum.org/the-delta/ and follow us on Twitter at @GWFWater or at Blue Sky at @susbites.bsky.social

The Delta #91 (25 Sep 2025)
GWF news from the wide world of water

1. Weaponizing Rivers? The Indus Water Treaty Verdict
2. Accounting for water-related ecosystem services
3. Floods in the Podgorica-Skadar Basin, Montenegro
4. Global water scarcity in the Anthropocene

and more
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Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’ Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’
The most nature depleted country in the world continues to wage a savage war against nature in pursuit of the God of more economic growth no matte what the cost
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Dbytes #688 (24 September 2025) In this issue of Dbytes 1. Public Consultation Now Open: Implementing Australia’s Strategy for Nature 2024-2030 2. Islands on fire: Fire and threatened species patterns across Australia&#8217…

Dbytes #688 (24 Sep 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Implementing Aust's Strategy for Nature
2. Fire & threatened species on Aust islands
3. Air is humming with insects but we’re blind to what’s happening to them
4. Climate risks report paints grim picture

& more
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Floods in the Podgorica-Skadar Basin, Montenegro Demir Mujević believes the topic of floods is important and appealing to geographers and hydrographers because it allows for the study of the relationship between terrain and hydrological processes, l...

Floods in the Podgorica-Skadar Basin, Montenegro

Climate change is making the future increasingly uncertain for the people living in this the Podgorica-Skadar Basin in Montenegro.

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Dbytes #687 (17 September 2025) In this issue of Dbytes 1. Opportunities and barriers to ridge-to-reef marine policy: A review and the role of natural capital accounting 2. We’re still not measuring our reliance on nature as we r…

Dbytes #687 (17 Sep 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Ridge-to-reef marine policy & natural capital accounting
2. Measuring our reliance on nature
3. Sacred Groves protecting Nature
4. Koalas on Australian Islands

And more
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Weaponizing Rivers? The Indus Water Treaty Verdict and the Limits of Power Indias’ threats to exit the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has created enormous uncertainty around the ongoing use and management of the waters of the Indus River Basin, a region that supports more than 30...

Weaponizing Rivers? The Indus Water Treaty Verdict and the Limits of Power

Indias’ threats to exit the Indus Waters Treaty has created enormous uncertainty around the use of the Indus River Basin, a region that supports more than 300 million people.

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We’re still not measuring our reliance on nature as we rush to boost productivity - Sustainability Bites Human economies are made possible through natural capital – stocks of land, fresh water, oceans, biodiversity and soils, among others. Farming isn’t possible without soil or water. Manufacturing isn’t...

We’re still not measuring our reliance on nature as we rush to boost productivity

The government’s goals were to make the economy more productive and resilient and the budget more sustainable. The health of our natural capital underpins all of these.

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Dbytes #686 (10 September 2025) In this issue of Dbytes 1. Enhancing river flows v. environmental engineering as contrasting approaches to wetland conservation in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia 2. The merchants of doubt are …

Dbytes #686 (10 Sep 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Wetland conservation in the MDB
2. Merchants of doubt are back
3. Great Southern Reef monitoring program needed
4. Strategic management of noisy miners

And more
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The Delta #90 (9 September 2025) - The Delta In the wash up of this issue of The Delta 1.* Household misperceptions on water price threaten the effectiveness of the increasing-block water pricing policy in China 2.* The Current State of American...

The Delta #90 (9 Sep 2025)
GWF news from the wide world of water

1. The increasing-block water pricing policy in China
2. The State of American Water Infrastructure
3. Can Trust Flow Again in South Asia’s Shared Rivers?
4. Kenya hit by severe drought

and more
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Household misperceptions on water price threaten the effectiveness of the increasing-block water pricing policy in China China is facing a growing water shortage challenge. In an effort to reduce domestic water consumption, China has introduced an increasing-block water pricing policy in which consumers pay more for wat...

Household misperceptions on water price threaten the effectiveness of the increasing-block water pricing policy in China

In an effort to reduce domestic water consumption, consumers pay more for water when consumption exceeds certain thresholds

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On Monday, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder announced a pause on all environmental water flows in NSW. A member of the Macquarie Environmental Water Advisory Group says if the Macquarie Marshes does not receive its planned environmental water release, there will be damage to wetlands, wildlife and vegetation. [See item 3] [Image of a healthy Macquarie Marsh by Cameron Muir - Flickr:marshes healthy, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11273527] Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #685 (3 Sep 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Expand or better manage protected areas
2. Managing Rediscovered Species
3. Halting all environmental water flows in NSW
4. Decolonize scientific institutions

And more
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The Current State of American Water Infrastructure America’s critical infrastructure has drawn a lot of attention recently. Headlines are full of news highlighting aging and breaking systems, raising questions about the reliability of these systems. E...

The Current State of American Water Infrastructure

There’s much that is positive, but also much in need of improvement including testing, maintenance timelines, more effort on lead pipes, more monitoring technologies and an upgrading of cyber security

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The good ship ‘Environmental Reform’ has been sitting idle for decades. Now there are moves to cut red tape around development approvals and the talk is about speeding up environmental reforms. However, as Michael Vardon discusses in item 1, we need to be careful that such reforms don’t accelerate the loss of natural capital. [Image by David Salt] Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #684 (27 August 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Boost productivity but not at the cost of nature
2. Off-the-charts marine heat severely damages Ningaloo coral reefs
3. Dynamics of the polycrisis
4. Methods influence nature's values

And more
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Can Trust Flow Again in South Asia’s Shared Rivers? The nations of South Asia are facing serious water challenges that no earlier generation has ever faced. Cooperation between these countries is probably more important now than ever before given the t...

Can Trust Flow Again in South Asia’s Shared Rivers?

Rather than working to make transboundary treaty arrangements more adaptive and climate resilient, current policies appear to be using them more as political weapons.

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The Delta #89 (20 August 2025) - The Delta In the wash up of this issue of The Delta 1.* Combined Strategies to Enhance Urban Water Resilience: Evidence from Seville, Spain 2. Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely te...

The Delta #89 (20 Aug 2025)
GWF news from the wide world of water

1. Enhancing Urban Water Resilience in Seville
2. Data centers consume massive amounts of water
3. River Governance and Citizen Science
4. Colorado River slowly dries up

and more
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Despite claims last year by then-environment Minister Tanya Plibersek that she was approving wind farms at ‘the fastest rate in history’, a recent analysis published by a big law firm claims that none of the 76 renewables projects referred for EPBC approval in 2023 and 2024 across 3 states had received final approval. (Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay)(See item 3). Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #683 (20 August 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Indigenous knowledge saving great desert skink
2. Environment groups call for greater input into economic roundtable
3. Need for approvals speed
4. Global plastics treaty fail

And more
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Sustainability Bites seeks to engage you with the multiple dimensions and consequences of sustainability (and sustainable development), particularly those concerned with finding the right long-term accommodation between environment and development. We believe there is no such thing as a free lunch. Banner image: Despite claims last year by then-environment Minister Tanya Plibersek that she was approving wind farms at ‘the fastest rate in history’, a recent analysis published by a big law firm claims that none of the 76 renewables projects referred for EPBC approval in 2023 and 2024 across 3 states had received final approval. (Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay)

More need for speed: can we squeeze a little more out of the old EPBC Jalopy?

Use EPBC powers to appoint commissioners to assess proposed renewable energy projects by inquiry

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Combined Strategies to Enhance Urban Water Resilience: Evidence from Seville, Spain How do you reduce demand on urban water resources? Three common polices involve fixing leaks, raising awareness among consumers and putting up the price of water. How do you evaluate the effectiveness...

Combined Strategies to Enhance Urban Water Resilience in Seville

3 common polices involve fixing leaks, raising awareness among consumers & putting up prices. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of such policies, especially when they interact?

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People’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800. Levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless there are far-reaching policy and societal changes – with introducing children to nature at a young age and radically greening urban environments the most effective interventions. [See item 1] Pictured are visitors enjoying nature’s splendor at Edith Falls on the Edith River in the Nitmiluk National Park, Northern Territory (Image by David Salt) Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #682 (13 August 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Human connection to nature declines
2. The perfect toolbox
3. Extreme heat wiping out tropical birds
4. Murray–Darling Basin Plan Evaluation

And more
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Sustainability Bites seeks to engage you with the multiple dimensions and consequences of sustainability (and sustainable development), particularly those concerned with finding the right long-term accommodation between environment and development. We believe there is no such thing as a free lunch. Banner image: Next time you decide to build a toolbox for your home or design a food system to feed humanity, be careful aiming for perfection via the pathway of efficiency. You might be optimal for a little while, but then the world turns and you’ll discover you’ve naively placed all your eggs in one basket. (Image by VintageSnipsAndClips from Pixabay)

The perfect toolbox (doesn’t exist)

Next time you decide to build a toolbox for your home or design a food system to feed humanity, be careful aiming for perfection via the pathway of efficiency. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket.

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River Governance and Citizen Science: Towards a New Cartography of Urban Rivers Urban rivers everywhere are in trouble. Many have been canalized, polluted, occupied by informal settlements, or simply forgotten by urban planning. Nathalia Alvarado-Arias and colleagues recently pre...

River Governance and Citizen Science: Towards a New Cartography of Urban Rivers

A theoretical and methodological approach to urban water management that emphasizes citizen science and community engagement

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A Wallum sedge frog (Litoria olongburensis) from south-east Queensland, a species not known to be impacted by chytrid fungus, but which has suffered declines during periods of severe drought. (Image credit: Geoffrey Heard, see item 1) Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #681 (7 August 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. A Threatened Frog Index for Australia
2. Sharp decline in Great Barrier Reef after heatwave
3. Earth’s Wetlands Are Disappearing
4. Giant cuttlefish aggregation at risk from algal bloom

And more
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Our image: A Fleay’s barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi) from the Springbrook plateau, south-east Queensland. Populations of this species have grown markedly over the past two decades, and the species has even recolonised locations from which it was extirpated by the chytrid fungus. (Image credit: Geoffrey Heard.) The Delta is the fortnightly newsletter of the Global Water Forum. It's free and you can sign up for it at https://globalwaterforum.org/the-delta/ and follow us on Twitter at @GWFWater or at Blue Sky at @susbites.bsky.social

The Delta #88 (6 Aug 2025)
GWF news from the wide world of water

1. A Threatened Frog Index for Australia
2. Unprecedented loss of freshwater across the planet
3. Combatting Groundwater Overdraft in China
4. Water Justice Day 2025

and more
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Water Justice Day 2025 The world is not on track to deliver its water targets by 2030 defined by Sustainable Development Goal 6. Indeed, it will never achieve ‘water for all’ without tackling power imbalances that mean the ...

Water Justice Day 2025

The change that is desperately needed is active listening to communities so that prioritisation of investments and water allocations do not happen without affected communities having their voices heard

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During a recent assessment of the conservation status of Australian reptiles, one in five threatened species were not represented in a single protected area, with many threatened species restricted to private property in agricultural landscapes or known only from single locations. One approach to countering the negative impacts of agricultural expansion and intensification is through ecological restoration. However, reptiles are rarely considered in restoration programs. See item 1 (Image by David Salt). Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.

Dbytes #680 (30 July 2025)
News in environmental decision making

1. Conserving reptiles in Aust agricultural landscapes
2. Let’s TOC - Less Theory, More Change
3. Africa’s freshwater fish face a crisis
4. Conservation auctions for landscape-scale environmental management

And more
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Let’s TOC - Less Theory, More Change, Better Democracy - Sustainability Bites Quentin Grafton responds to the question, what is your Theory of Change (TOC) in terms of shifting away from the current business-as-usual trajectory of ever rising greenhouse gas emissions? While ack...

Let’s TOC - Less Theory, More Change, Better Democracy

Some believe TOC is a distraction to efforts to change how democracy is practiced if we are to effectively mitigate climate change

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