The August of 2007 was a busy month for the China-Australia Center on Water Resources Research affiliated to the CAS Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research IGSNRR) in Beijing. Acting as a bridge between the countries in the field, it brought together Chinese researchers and their Australian colleagues to take part in various academic events ranging from workshops to field studies.

On August 7, a group of Australian researchers led by Prof. John Langford, vice director of the Center in Australia, visited their co-workers at  IGSNRR. They held discussions with Prof. XIA Jun, director of the Center in China, and his colleagues, and worked out an initial scheme to upgrade the research project into an international consortium.

From 8 to 10 August, the fourth Sino-Australian workshop on Sustaining Global Ecosystems convened in Beijing. The meeting is composed of five panel sessions on such topics as sustainable development for water resources, land-use, atmosphere and energy sources as well as health and the environment.

The session on water resources was jointly chaired by Prof. Xia and two well-respected Australian hydrologists Dr. Rob Vertessy and Dr. Mike Sargent. It was attended by dozens of scholars from Chinese or Australian firms, administrative agencies and universities. More than 10 keynote reports was given at the forum on the influence of the climate change and land-use on water resources, the impact of gigantic waterworks on the ecosystems in water routes, the underground water and water circulation on human health, modeling techniques in hydrology, analysis of isotopes, treatment of water-related data, their visualization and unified management of water resources. Also, the forum reached agreements on cooperation intent between two countries in climate change's impact on water safety, health of a fluvial ecosystem, interaction between underground water and surface runoff, irrigating management, and the heightening of the utilization efficiency of water resources.

On August 11 and 12, the Center rallied the experts of the two countries to make a field survey of the legendary freshwater lake Baiyangdian and Yixian County in central Hebei Province, including some experimental grounds and waterworks and facilities for the National Program for Water Diversion from Humid South to Arid North. In addition, they held talks with local officials on the hydrological conditions and issues of the water-thirsty Province.

From August 13 to 15, with joint support of the Australia-Chinese Center on Water Resources Research and the Asian-Pacific office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, a symposium on the agricultural irrigation and its modernization convened in Taiyan, capital of Shanxi Province. Experts of the two countries made a deep-going exploration of the water resources in the Province and its 11th five-year plan's scheme for the irrigation modernization.