From good to great: How the updated eFlow Projector transforms environmental water planning

If you’ve used eFlow Projector in the past, you already know the value of having a clear, consistent way to assess environmental flow performance.

For many water planners, it replaced ad-hoc, subjective reviews with a reliable and repeatable framework. It helped clarify how well environmental water delivery aligned with ecological objectives, and it supported conversations across teams and agencies with a common language.

But good tools evolve — especially when they’re used more widely and in more complex ways than originally imagined.

Over the last few years, users of the original eFlow Projector have been asking more of it:

• Can we assess results partway through the year?
• Can we get more detailed results?
• Can we run more scenarios, faster?
• Can we easily share and compare results across multiple systems or sites?
• Can we reduce duplication and manual work?

The answer is yes. eFlow Projector has been rebuilt from the ground up to address these very needs — and more.

More powerful, flexible and intuitive

We took everything that made the original eFlow Projector successful and reimagined how it could work better. Here’s how:

1. Cleaner separation of data and rules

In the original version, every scenario combined rules and data — meaning that to change one part, you often had to duplicate the whole thing. In the new version, rules are defined individually and are independent to the data they use. This means you can update the data in one place and all affected rules will utilise the latest data. Additionally, you can quickly create and run individual rules before grouping them in compliance reports. This reduces duplication and simplifies version control.

2. Live data connections

No more downloading flow data, reformatting it, and uploading it into the system. The gauged data feature in eFlow Projector has been improved with additional sources and better data handling (such as data preview features). This makes keeping data up-to-date straightforward — especially useful for mid-season assessments or rapid re-runs.

3. Enhanced feedback and transparency

Users asked for better visibility into why a rule was scored the way it was. The new version allows you to explore each rule’s result in detail, from overall summary results right down to daily scores for individual rule components delivered though an intuitive heatmap visualisation.

4. Partial success scoring

Not every rule needs to be all-or-nothing. Partial success remains a core reporting function for eFlow Projector and has been extended to the timing component of rules through a seasonal partial score approach. More than ever, ecological targets that were partially met can be reflected accurately in overall performance summaries.

5. Geographic context

Results are now viewable on an interactive map. This means that ecological flow outcomes can be interpreted spatially — essential for catchment-scale planning, regional summaries, or site-specific reporting.

6. Built for scale

The computation has been re-designed as a highly scalable queue-based service. This enables you to compute hundreds to rules simultaneously, essential for climate-change modelling.

7. Modern user experience

We’ve rebuilt the interface to be faster, more intuitive, and more visually consistent. From navigation to report generation, it’s easier to use and requires less training — making it easier for more people in your team to get involved.

8. Share your results with stakeholders

We’ve added functionality that allows you to share your results online with non-users of the tool. Anyone with the shared link can view and interact with the explore page of a rule or compliance report, perfect for demos and stakeholder meetings.

Why this matters?

Environmental water planning benefits from being able to be increasingly dynamic. Decisions can be made more frequently, with more data, and under greater scrutiny. eFlow Projector gives practitioners a smarter, faster, and more flexible way to assess performance — not just at the end of the year, but throughout the planning cycle.

It supports transparency, improves collaboration, and ultimately helps ensure that water is being used to achieve the best possible outcomes for rivers, wetlands, and the species that depend on them.