Increased and competing demands for water to support new or expanding industries, communities and the environment, as well as the complex nature of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) groundwater systems are key challenges in effective long-term management of the basin’s groundwater resources. Quantification of recharge processes, aquifer compartmentalisation and interconnectivity, along with that the influence of geological structures and geodynamics on regional-scale groundwater flow are only broadly understood.
The GAB Groundwater Project (2019-2022) aims to demonstrate how new geoscience data and approaches can improve groundwater system understanding by developing new tools using satellite measurements to remotely map spatial and temporal groundwater storage changes. The project will be conducted by Geoscience Australia in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, State and NT government water agencies and academia.
Two pilot studies will be investigated, one in the complex, data-rich Surat Basin aquifer system, the other in a simple and data-sparse aquifer system. New geoscience data in conjunction with the integration of multidisciplinary science approaches like recharge and discharge studies, groundwater geodynamics and basin analysis aims to advance the regional groundwater systems understanding. Water balance estimations obtained from an updated hydrogeological conceptualisation of the Surat Basin will be evaluated against groundwater storage change estimates obtained using satellite-based Landsat, InSAR and GRACE/GRACE-FO.
Insights obtained in the pilot studies will be used to develop, calibrate and apply new tools to monitor the status of groundwater resources in the entire GAB. The new satellite-based monitoring approach has the potential to provide an ongoing, low-cost, evidence-based decision-making tool that can: i) identify regional-scale changes in groundwater in a timely manner, ii) identify areas of high priority, and iii) provide focus for more detailed studies and management intervention. This information could also be used to support the draft GAB Strategic Management Plan.