Lake Hume is a major reservoir on the Murray River (25,000 Km) designed for flood mitigation, hydropower generation, irrigation, water supply and conservation. Algal blooms have become more frequent and persistent, with five mega-blooms occurring in the last 13 years, compared to 4 in the preceding 65 years. Lake Hume has been identified as a source of cyanobacteria in the Murray River from the dam wall to downstream. In the past HABs were associated with a dam capacity at less than 10%. However, the 2016 outbreak occurred when the dam was 37% full.

PrimeWater will deploy EO monitoring and hydro-ecological modelling tools to Lake Hume for better water quality management. To this end, PrimeWater will combine remote sensing, hyperspectral and satellite remote sensing with modelling to allow for a continuous forecast of algal growth. Based on this advanced development an operationalization of the forecast system, to be used by non-scientists and can be widely applicable to other water reservoirs in Australia.