There are two areas of information acquisition in the decision making process. The initial phase of information acquisition is structured around the problem identification and is essentially the information required to identify the problem that the DSS will need to support (cf. Figure 1). The second phase of information acquisition falls within the problem-structuring phase of decision-making process and is the information required to help the decision maker in formulating a decision.

The information required to define the problem in this study was obtained from the NWA (1998) and the SEA principals and practice. In this project it is necessary to identify the generic decisions supported by the DSS in order to create the computer software necessary to fulfil these needs. In terms of the SEA, the generic level has already been defined as a DSS needed to support the CMAs in developing their CMS and assessing individual licensing applications.

In the initial phase of information acquisition it is also necessary for the users of the DSS to identify specific problem areas in the catchment under investigation and include these in the scenarios that will need to be tested using the DSS. The information collected in this phase could be demographic data and developmental goals for the region as well as planned projects. Public surveys could also be carried out to identify pressing needs and concern within communities in the region. Environmental organisations could also be approached to identify some of the more critical environmental concerns that could exist in the catchment. These aspects could hence be structured in the decision making process which would be supported by the DSS.

Information acquisition in the initial phase is extremely broad and leads to development of scenarios that will need testing. As each catchment will have unique problems that need to be addressed it is not in the scope of this project to identify all the different possibilities that could exist in any catchment. In the design phase it is necessary to identify the majority of generic issues that will need to be addressed by CMAs and provide a framework to support the decisions that they will need to make.