Visiting Fellow
Water Resources Management
Phone:
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: ejaz.qureshi@anu.edu.au

Career Brief

Ejaz obtained his BSc and MSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad, Pakistan and came to Australia in 1993 and obtained Masters in Agricultural Economic Studies and PhD in Resource Economics and Environmental Management from the University of Queensland, Brisbane. During his doctoral program he also lectured and tutored at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels along with working as a Research Officer in an ARC funded project until the end of 1999. In 2000, he joined James Cook University in Townsville and worked as an Agricultural and Resource Economist with CRC Sustainable Sugar Production. After a few years, he moved to Canberra and joined ABARE as a Principal Research Economist. Since April 2004, Ejaz has been working as a Senior Economist and Policy Analyst in CSIRO first in the Division of land and Water and now in the Division of Sustainable Ecosystems.

Professional Activities

Ejaz's research interests centre around integrated modelling of biophysical and economic impacts of natural resource management decisions, economic instruments and regulatory approaches in natural resources management, computable general equilibrium modelling in examining impacts of natural resource management policies, mathematical modelling in water allocation decisions including conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water, asset fixity issues and optimal investment in agricultural industries as well as multi-criteria evaluation in natural resource management. Ejaz's current research is focussed on economics of environmental flows and assessment of reduced water allocations in the Murray-Darling Basin along with a project on urban water supply in the ACT. In one of the projects' he developed an integrated biophysical and economic model and assessed impacts of various water policy options, including water charges, water markets and trade and costs of environmental flows. He also completed a project on regional economic modelling of economy-environment interactions and policy implications using a computable general equilibrium modelling and assessed impacts of increased demand and reduced water supply  in the future on sectoral, regional, state and national productivity. In the past, his research focussed on groundwater management, sugarcane profitability, land management, water charges and optimal water allocation in Queensland. He also worked in or led projects investigating hydrologic and economic impacts of water resources and other natural recourses management policy options in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wale. He also worked in a project on institutions and policies for improving water allocation and management in the Yellow River Basin of China; supervised a postdoctoral project on water policy institutions in Australia and comparison with India and master dissertation on irrigation salinity management in pakistan. Ejaz was the recipient of 2007 CSIRO Strategic Excellence Look Out Award and 2007 CSIRO Land and Water Chief's High Impact Studies Award.

Selected Publications

Qureshi M, E. Connor, J. Kirby, M and Mainuddin, M. (2007) Economic assessment of environmental flows in the Murray Basin, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 51(3): 283-303.

Qureshi, M.E, Qureshi, S.E., Bajracharya, K. and Kirby, M. (2007), Integrated biophysical and economic modelling framework to assess impacts of alternative groundwater management options, Water Resources Management, DOI 10.1007/s11269-007-9164-1.

Qureshi, M.E., Bajracharya, K., Qureshi, S.E. and Kirby M. (2007) Assessment of alternative groundwater management options in sugarcane growing area in the Burdekin Delta, Australian Journal of Water Resources, 11(2): 207-220.

Mainuddin, M., Kirby, M. and Qureshi, M.E. (2007), Integrated hydrologic-economic modelling for analyzing water acquisition strategies of the Murray River Basin. Agricultural Water Management, 93(1): 123-135.

Qureshi, M.E. (2007) Institutional Reforms in Indian Irrigation by Ashok Gulati, Ruth Meinzen-Dick and K.V. Raju, Published by SAGE Publications, New Delhi, India, 2005, pp. 322, ISBN 0 7619 3311 5(Hb), Rs 595, Book Reviewed, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 51(2): 216-219.

Qureshi, M.E., Qureshi, S.E. and Wegener, M.K. (2007), Economic implications of alternative mill mud management options in the Australian sugar industry, Agricultural Economics, 36(1): 111-120.

Qureshi, M. E., Qureshi, S.E., Goesch, T. and Hafi, A. (2006) Preliminary Economic Assessment of Groundwater Extraction Rules, Economic Papers 25(1): 41-67.

Kirby, M., Qureshi, M.E.., Mainuddin, M. and Dyack, B. (2006) Catchment behavior and countercyclical water trade: An integrated model, Natural Resource Modelling, 19(4): 483-510.

Qureshi, M.E. and Harrison, S.R.  (2003), Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Riparian Revegetation Policy Options, Small-scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy, 2(3): 441-458.

Qureshi, M.E and Harrison, S.R. (2002), Economic Instruments and Regulatory Approaches in Implementation of Riparian Revegetation Options: Observations of the Queensland System, Australian Journal of Environmental Management, 9(2): 89-98.

Qureshi, M.E. and Harrison, S.R (2001), A Decision Support Process to Compare Riparian Revegetation Options in the Scheu Creek Catchment in North Queensland, Journal of Environmental Management, 62(1): 101-112.

Harrison, S.R. and Qureshi, M.E. (2000), Choice of Stakeholder Groups and Members in Multicriteria Decision Models, Natural Resources Forum 24(1): 11-19.

Qureshi, M.E., Harrison, S.R. and Wegener, M.K (1999), Validation of Multicriteria Analysis Models, Agricultural Systems 62(2): 105-116.

Young, M.D. Proctor, W., Qureshi, M.E. and Wittwer, G. (2006), Without water: The economics of supplying water to 5 million more Australians, Policy and Economic Research Unit, CSIRO Land and Water and Centre of Policy Studies, Monash University, ISBN 0 643 09340 0.

Qureshi, M.E. and Harrison, S.R., (2006), Comparing Riparian Revegetation Policy Options using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, in Herath, G. and Prato, T. eds., Using Multi-criteria Decision analysis for Natural Resource Management: Empirical Applications, Chapter 4, Ashgate, Hampshire.

Qureshi, M.E., W. Proctor and M. Young (2005) Economic Impacts of Water Resources Management in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia, in Mathur, G.N. and Chawla, A.S. eds., XII World Water Congress, Water for Sustainable Development –Towards Innovative Solutions, Central Board of Irrigation and Power, New Delhi.

Beare, S., Bell, R., Gooday, P., Heaney, A., Hooper, S., Langenkamp, D., Love, G., Mues, C., Qureshi, M.E., and Riley, C. (2003), Natural Resource Management in the Burdekin River Catchment: Integrated Assessment of Resource Management at the Catchment Scale – A Case Study, ABARE eReport 03.18, Canberra.

Goesch, T., Qureshi M.E. and Hafi, A. (2003), Groundwater allocation policies to maximise viticultural benefits from groundwater use, ABARE Report to the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, ABARE eReport, Canberra.