The impact of climate change on the quality of water and the ecosystems that depend on it is the focus of a collaborative research project led by the University of Canberra. [ + ]

The International RiverFoundation has announced the finalists for the 2012 Australian Riverprize. This year’s finalists represent a diverse group of river restoration and river protection projects from across Australia. [ + ]

Wurrumiyanga residents on Bathurst Island now have a secure water supply, with the opening of a new water production and storage project last week. The Australian Government is providing $2.7 million in funding for this project - one of eight in the Northern Territory receiving a total of $20.25 million under the National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns. [ + ]

Adding nutrients to belts of mallee trees integrated into paddocks with pasture or crops can significantly increase mallee growth, according to the latest research from the Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre’s Woody Crops Program. [ + ]

On the back of its growing water business, Hyder Consulting has appointed two new Associate Business Directors for its water team - Colin Carr and Damien Abbott. [ + ]

Last week, the Clean Energy Council honoured three outstanding contributions to Australia’s clean energy industry at a gala dinner in Sydney. The Clean Energy Council Industry Awards, now in their second year, were awarded in three categories for Business Community Engagement, Innovation and Media. [ + ]

Following a tender process, the City of Sydney has selected Solgen Energy to undertake a $6 million project to fit solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to more than 30 sites over the next two years to generate 12.5% of the electricity needs of all city properties. [ + ]

Australia’s east coast urban planners and state governments need to hold their nerve on using major seawater desalination plants for effective drought‐proofing and not give in to short-term politics and vocal minorities. That’s the opinion of National Centre of Excellence in Desalination CEO Neil Palmer. [ + ]

New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is opening two funding rounds this month to promote sustainable resource use in the primary industries. MPI’s Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) provides co-funding for small to medium-scale innovation projects. [ + ]

TrustPower has appointed Siemens as its turnkey supplier to construct South Australia’s largest wind farm at Snowtown, using gearless drive wind turbine technology for the first time in Australia. [ + ]

The City of Melbourne and Sustainable Melbourne Fund have released a series of fact sheets on multimillion-dollar building retrofits funded through environmental upgrade finance. The fact sheets highlight targeted energy and emissions savings and other key project details. [ + ]

A paper by Stanford geophysicists Professor Mark Zoback and Professor Steven Gorelick has claimed that carbon capture and storage (CCS) has a high probability of triggering earthquakes where large volumes of carbon dioxide are injected into the brittle rocks commonly found in continental interiors. [ + ]

NABERS is seeking industry submissions on its proposal for how cogeneration and trigeneration systems are dealt with in the NABERS Energy rating, as outlined in a position paper released last week. [ + ]

An engineer from UNSW has been honoured at the United Nations University in Tokyo for her research into trapping and harvesting sunlight in thin-film silicon solar cells. [ + ]

The inaugural Australian Sustainability Conference & Exhibition (ASCE) is to be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre from 8 to 9 November 2012. [ + ]