About WREMA

A senior team, built on decades of water resources experience

WREMA was formed in 2014 to provide consulting expertise in water resources and environmental management, drawing on senior engineering and hydrology experience gained across Australia and internationally.

How we work

A focused senior team that fits the engagement

WREMA was formed to provide experienced water-resources and environmental advice with direct access to the people doing and reviewing the work.

We work directly with authorities, utilities, infrastructure owners, developers and families, and can also join larger consultancy teams as a specialist subconsultant. The scope is shaped around the decision, design or approval required.

Silver Yance

Water Resources Engineer · 40+ years experience

Member, Engineers Australia
Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)

Silver Yance is a water resources engineer with 40 years of experience across the public and private sectors in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas. His technical expertise encompasses water resources management, dam spillway adequacy assessments, dam-break studies, environmental hydrology, water-supply options assessments, irrigation, hydropower, drainage design, mine water management, and the design of hydraulic structures.

Silver is a specialist adviser and practitioner in river hydraulics and river engineering, with extensive experience across fine-bed and gravel-bed river systems. His expertise includes fluvial geomorphology, sediment transport, scour assessment, flood control and flood mitigation. He has led and contributed to hydrological, hydraulic and water resources systems modelling, as well as the development of integrated water quantity and quality management strategies.

Recognised internationally as an expert in the water resources sector, Silver has served on World Bank and Asian Development Bank panels of experts for several major water infrastructure projects worldwide.

View Silver Yance on LinkedIn

Ian Varley

Hydrologist · 40+ years experience

Member, Engineers Australia
Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)

Ian Varley is a hydrologist with 40 years of experience in catchment management, environmental flows, water-supply planning and dam hydrology. He has served on several expert panels addressing these areas and co-authored the Guidelines for Low Flow Modelling for the National Water Commission, which support state agencies in developing improved water resources planning models.

Ian has contributed to water-supply strategy planning and system-yield assessments for Sydney, the Hunter and Central Coast regions, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has undertaken environmental-flow studies for the Snowy, Murrumbidgee, Hawkesbury–Nepean and Shoalhaven rivers, as well as major wetland systems, including the Lowbidgee.

He has managed water-savings studies in the Gwydir, Macquarie and Lachlan valleys, focusing on improved metering and river operations, and has contributed to studies targeting annual savings exceeding 500 GL across the Darling River Basin. Ian has also undertaken hydrological and spillway adequacy assessments for major dams, including Hume, Wyangala, Burrendong, Windamere and Keepit, and has participated in the design and safety review of numerous mining dams.