5.61 Beta Release (April 2025)
The changes in this beta will also be available in the next Source production release.
This release includes the following changes:
A summary of the Maximum Effective Allocation setting is now displayed on the Configuration tab under Resource Assessment > Annual Accounting > Account Type. The actual configuration remains on the Carryover tab to support complex setups involving multiple carryover rules.
Crops with monthly patterns can now be added to PRIDE Demand models via the drop-down list of crops within the Water User feature editor.
Fixed incorrect unit conversion when using average values over a period (e.g. mm/day) for rainfall and evaporation inputs in PRIDE demand models, which was causing incorrect order volumes.
Introduced Harvest Storage Accounting to the Water User node, enabling accurate tracking and accounting of water during floodplain harvesting events.
Extended the Time Series Demand Model with Advanced Options to support Regulated and Opportunistic Requirement forecasts and flow phase values. This enhancement reduces dependency on complex Irrigator Models and improves flexibility when testing Water User configurations, especially for floodplain harvesting scenarios.
Fixed issues in the function-based account deduction option in the Environmental Flow Node, where in some situations, when the available water in the accounts was low, the account deduction did not happen properly.
Added a new "Compress Project File" tool under the Advanced menu. This feature allows users to significantly reduce project file size by removing unnecessary database tables and data and performing Firebird backup/restore.
Spatial Data Exporter was enhanced to address two key issues:
Catchment Shapefile Export Failures Due to Long File Paths:
The exporter now handles Windows path length limits by dynamically truncating filenames when necessary. If the full export path exceeds the 260-character OS limit, the tool either shortens the file name or displays a clear error message to inform the user. This resolves previous failures where exports silently failed or used generic messages.Mismatch Between Spatial and Network Catchments:
Improved error handling now identifies specific catchment polygons (e.g., ID and name) that don’t match entries in the network model. Instead of generic errors, users receive detailed, actionable feedback, allowing them to fix geometry mismatches independently (e.g., removing unlinked polygons like “SC #123”).
Clearing overrides from the Tabular Editor now also removes associated comments, aligning behavior with the Operations Summary table.
Breakpoint names in the debugger have been updated for clarity and consistency, with shortened labels that maintain their original meanings.
Introduced the ability to monitor Trade Manager functionality within debugger breakpoints for improved traceability during simulation.
Resolved exception errors triggered when using the scrollbar in the debugger window after adding breakpoints.
Resolved an issue preventing deletion of the first scenario after copying a scenario. Users can now create new scenarios by duplicating and removing the original without save errors.
Resolved an issue where exporting files with non-unique extensions (e.g., .dat, .txt) could result in the wrong format being used. File exports now correctly match the selected format from the UI and the specified default format for the non-unique file extension using command line.
Fixed an issue where an error was shown when saving data from Data Sources with adjusted file names. Users can now save files successfully after removing invalid characters such as colons.
Enhancements to AARS plugin & UI.
Updates to the Storage Filling Curve plugin
Bivariate statistic KGE and composite bivariate statistics involving KGE (Trotter, Split Trotter and Split Trotter Weighted) are modified to avoid them becoming undefined in some edge cases (e.g., Pearson’s Coefficient becoming undefined, standard deviation of observed values becoming zero and mean of observed and modelled values becoming zero).
Other minor enhancements & bug fixes.
SWP
A summary of the Maximum Effective Allocation setting is now displayed on the Configuration tab under Resource Assessment > Annual Accounting > Account Type. The actual configuration remains on the Carryover tab to support complex setups involving multiple carryover rules.
Maximum Effective Allocation % can't be edited here. It reports the Maximum Effective Allocation % as assigned under Limit on the Carryover Tab for this Account Type. The following descriptions are possible:
an exact number e.g. 120 - visible if a Maximum Effective Allocation percentage has been assigned on the Carryover Tab
Varies, see Carryover Tab - visible if multiple Carryover configurations have been assigned, each with a unique Maximum Effective Allocation
Disabled - visible if Maximum Effective Allocation has not been assigned
Not applicable - this is a rare case. During editing, it is technically possible for the user to remove all Carryover configurations from the CarryOver tab. Source will not allow users to save the account type in this setting but the user can switch between tabs while in this state and then Maximum Effective Allocation will show "Not applicable" on the Configuration tab.
EEWD
Clearing overrides from the Tabular Editor now also removes associated comments, aligning behavior with the Operations Summary table.
Added a new "Compress Project File" tool under the Advanced menu. This feature allows users to significantly reduce project file size by removing unnecessary database tables and data and performing Firebird backup/restore.
For example, compressing the ‘RiverMurrayOps’ project reduced the database size from 520 MB to 47 MB, and the project file from 50 MB to 15 MB. Project loading time for ‘RiverMurrayOps’ project was also improved, decreasing from 35 seconds to 26 seconds after compression.
IRMU
Enhancements to Debugger -
Breakpoint names in the debugger have been updated for clarity and consistency, with shortened labels that maintain their original meanings.
Introduced the ability to monitor Trade Manager functionality within debugger breakpoints for improved traceability during simulation.
Resolved exception errors triggered when using the scrollbar in the debugger window after adding breakpoints.
Fixed issues in the function-based account deduction option in the Environmental Flow Node, where in some situations, when the available water in the accounts was low, the account deduction did not happen properly.
Enhancements to Flood plain Harvesting / Water harvesting -
The new feature called Harvest Storage Accounting added to the Water User node enables the accounting of water during a floodplain or water harvesting (FPH) event. It tracks the volume of water transferred from the Harvest Storage to On-Farm Storage (OFS) during an FPH event. Placed under the On Farm Storage in UI, the Harvest Storage Accounting feature can be used to trigger an FPH event occurrence using either a Supply Point or Expression, after enabling it. When non-exempt water (water which needs to be accounted for) volume is transferred from harvest storage to the OFS during an FPH event, the associated account is debited. This account is selected via the Debit Settings option, which allows users to specify the FPH account from those accounts defined in the Resource Assessment System (RAS). FPH rules also require that all water in harvest storage must spill after a defined number of days since the last FPH event. This condition can be configured using the Spilling of Non-Exempt Water Configuration, where the time can be set in days or defined using a function.
Addition of the above feature avoids the need for creating complex and convoluted functions to represent harvest storage debiting.
Another key enhancement delivered to support the representation of FPH is the Time Series Demand Advanced Options functionality, also added to the Water User node. Available on the right click, this functionality extends the Time Series Demand Model to include Regulated and Opportunistic Requirement forecasts, as well as flow phase values. This enhancement reduces the reliance on complex and time-consuming Irrigator Models. As a result, the Time Series Demand Model can now deliver a wider range of information and is particularly useful for testing the Water User model.
AARS
Improved the display of routing link groundwater models in the Feature Table.
Enhanced AARS UI for unitless parameters and clarified input requirements.
Renamed ‘Infiltration from the River’ to ‘Potential Infiltration from the River’.
Performed algorithm updates to constrain River Leakage by Inflow and add excess water to the river as runoff.
Reconfigured InitialSalv to be a percentage of SMalv rather than a volumetric input.
Updated UI to display units for Storage Routing Reach Length in Results Manager.
Regression Testing
There is no tolerance in our regression test suite to allow for earlier identification of results being different on different machines or versions of operating systems.
See: 5.61 Regression Test Changes
Full Release Documentation