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Source

The hydrologic modeling is the tool from with the NSW government analyses, review, approve and implement policies and regulation about water management resources in the state, including water available, irrigation demands and analysis of severe environmental events. 

These modeling processes have been used for more than 20 years as a way to inform the status of potential scenarios like assessment potential doughts, meteorological incidences (el Nino variation, evaporation, etc), and water demands from licensed irrigations properties, from 14 different hydrological valleys. 

The system, called IQQM (Integrated Quantity and Quality model) a number of limitations, including very old and inefficient programming language, and inconsistent time-series between state to state (i.e the granularity of series and final results in NWS is produce daily and other states use hourly-based scenarios). 

The aim objective of this project is to build 14 new hydrologic models using tools and model programming languages ensuring resulting integrity (i.e old modeling can be reproduced identical as the new ones), enhancing new functions (i.e better granularity of results) and represent in better details the supply-demand factors.     

As of today, 5 new hydrology models have been completed and submitted to the relevant authority (https://www.mdba.gov.au/) using a new platform or programming language called "Source", that specialized in reproducing Australian hydrologic conditions.  

Each model requires at least 4 different phases: 

Conceptualization Backbone of the modeling and restrictions (i.e do we use 10.000 years of weather data or only 5000).

Calibration: Analysis of inflows from both headwaters and reaches in a river 

Demand Modeling: Analysis of historic demands including new properties, water licenses, irrigation conditions. 

Reporting: Running the modeling and reporting results to be submitted to the authority   

Each one of the new models (or projects) has had a number of challenges 

1. Namoi Valley didn't have adequate data from irrigations, 

2. Murrumbidgee region didn't have adequate climate data, 

3. Macquarie calibration changed significantly from the old models resulting in no correlation between new and old models

4. Tuross didn't have enough people and no one really understands the results from the final model. 

This is is just a very superficial explanation of how daily issues in any project occurs. In reality, phases can be overlapping not only in phases but also with valleys not to mention contractors, outsourcing teams and temps.  

Don't try something new for 30 day only.

I usually deeply engage with Ted Talks conferences,  they are very informative and funny at the same time. However, when I listening to talks about personal growth, like explaining how you can write a novel in 30 days or hike mount Kilimanjaro in about the same time of period (or even better write a novel in 30 days after you have climbed the highest Africa mountain) my attention fades out and my deep thoughts control my questions superseding my attention.

Unfortunately, this was the very first podcast I listened to for this task. I stopped paying attention to his words, while at the same time wandering my internal thoughts about the argumentation process, even thinking about whether if am too cynical to using a pop culture icon to deliver fallacies or arguable statements at the least.

I decided to listen again this podcast, this time with the benefit of my new passion to play a new musical instrument and the result was very similar. The argument about statistics and how to become a novelist by "only" write 1.667 words a day (50.000 words a month) is again difficult to understand and difficult to compel.

In comparison, I have been studying my clarinet for several months and my progress is very limited at best, I haven't approached this new skill by training a number of hours per day or learning a new scale every week. I simply do it because I like it, there is no point to use a magic number or a cooking recipe to learn new skills if you don't really love it and finding out that you love it may take a long or a short time, nobody actually knows. 

In my case, learning new skills is usually hard, full of demotivation and blocking processes, and also the silverlings pleasure of finding out things no matter how much time has invested.

This timeframe applies also to re-learning my second language  (English)  after my stroke. Yes, there may be a bit of passion for learning, but clearly, the necessity to returns to my normal activities as in my pre-stroke activities (work, social life, etc.) in ultimate motivation.  At this moment, I don't know whether my recovery will finalize in 30 days or not ( I really don't think so)  and  I prefer not to think about that either.