Australian exemplars of sustainable and economic managed aquifer recharge

Vanderzalm, Joanne; Naumann, Bruce D.; Higginson, Simon; Page, Declan; Jones, Andrew; Moscovis, V.A.; Hamilton, S M; Gonzales, Dennis; Dandy, Graeme; Dillon, Karen; Dillon, Peter J.; Prommer, Henning; Donn, Mike

doi:10.21139/wej.2020.024

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…MAR with storm water began in Adelaide in the early 1990s and its use has accelerated in the last decade to reach about 23 Gl/year capacity. MAR with stormwater could be cost effectively used for drinking water supplies, and risk management costs, including treatment were significantly cheaper than supporting dual reticulation to residential areas [154]. MAR, using recycled water, has been used since 2008 at Alice Springs.…”

Section: Conjunctive Water Management and Managed Aquifer Recharge (Mar)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Impacts and Management under a Drying Climate in Southern Australia

Walker

Crosbie

Chiew

et al. 2021

Water

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The trend to a hotter and drier climate, with more extended droughts, has been observed in recent decades in southern Australia and is projected to continue under climate change. This paper reviews studies on the projected impacts of climate change on groundwater and associated environmental assets in southern Australia, and describes groundwater planning frameworks and management responses. High-risk areas are spatially patchy due to highly saline groundwater or low-transmissivity aquifers. The proportional reduction in rainfall is amplified in the groundwater recharge and some groundwater discharge fluxes. This leads to issues of deteriorating groundwater-dependent ecosystems, streamflow depletion, reduced submarine discharge, groundwater inundation and intrusion in coastal regions and reduced groundwater supply for extraction. Recent water reforms in Australia support the mitigation of these impacts, but groundwater adaptation is still at its infancy. Risk management is being incorporated in regional water and groundwater management plans to support a shift to a more sustainable level of use and more climate-resilient water resources in affected areas. The emerging strategies of groundwater trade and managed aquifer recharge are described, as is the need for a national water-focused climate change planning process.

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Section: Conjunctive Water Management and Managed Aquifer Recharge (Mar)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Impacts and Management under a Drying Climate in Southern Australia

Walker

Crosbie

Chiew

et al. 2021

Water

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“…Building on examples of local managed aquifer recharge or water banking schemes (Vanderzalm et al 2020), it seems likely that this type of active management will be run by local agencies, potentially with greater local community involvement. While this may require policy change in the long run, pilots are already possible through impact assessment processes.…”

Section: Active Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of groundwater response to a changing climate in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: potential implications for the basin system and opportunities for management

Doble,

Walker,

Crosbie

et al. 2023

Hydrogeol J

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The Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is a highly allocated and regulated, mostly semiarid basin in south-eastern Australia, where groundwater is a significant water resource. Future climate predictions for the MDB include an expansion of arid and semiarid climate zones to replace temperate areas. The impacts of climate change are already evident in declining groundwater levels and changes in the connection status between rivers and groundwater, and modelling has predicted a further reduction in future groundwater recharge and ongoing declines in groundwater levels. This is predicted to further reduce river baseflow and negatively impact groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), and these system responses to a changing climate and extreme events are complex and not always well understood. This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of groundwater response to a changing climate for the MDB, and outlines challenges and opportunities for future groundwater research and management. Opportunities for the region include improving data systems and acquisition through automation and novel data sources, and growing capability in integrated, risk-based modelling. Quantification of the groundwater/surface-water connection response to declining groundwater levels, and assessing GDE water requirements and thresholds, would enable identification of vulnerable systems and inform the development of metrics for adaptive management, improving the ability to respond to climate extremes. There is potential to adapt policy to support active management of groundwater where required, including conjunctive use and water banking. Improving knowledge sharing and water literacy, including understanding community values of groundwater and GDEs, would support future decision-making.

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“…Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a set of practices and methods used for the intentional recharge of water of various types and qualities (surface water, recycled wastewater, and even groundwater from different locations) into a given aquifer. While replenishing depleted groundwater stocks is the main objective of MAR, the numerous direct and indirect benefits associated with it have been identified in the literature (Maliva, 2014; Perrone & Rohde, 2016; Vanderzalm et al., 2015, list several examples). Dillon et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutions and the Economic Efficiency of Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Mitigation Strategy Against Drought Impacts on Irrigated Agriculture in California

Reznik

Dinar

Bresney

et al. 2022

Water Resources Research

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Managed aquifer recharge (or intentional recharge) is a purposeful human intervention designed to supplement natural enrichment processes of groundwater aquifers by various methods. It holds the potential to mitigate the impact of climate uncertainty on irrigated agriculture by restoring storage levels in depleted aquifers, the economic value of which increases during droughts. We use a high‐resolution dynamic regional hydroeconomic framework that endogenizes farming decisions in response to water quantity‐quality changes, as well as complex hydrogeological principles to analyze several institutional designs and climate scenarios applied to the Kings Groundwater Basin in California. Our analysis demonstrates that intentional recharge is of high benefit to the region, potentially increasing average groundwater levels in the region by 20% over a 20 year horizon. Additionally, we show how this practice could become the subject of second‐best arrangements among water users in the region in view of property rights to groundwater derived from recent legislation in California, thus increasing its materialization potential. However, we also find that the quantity recharged is sensitive to climate conditions and hydrological properties.

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Australian exemplars of sustainable and economic managed aquifer recharge

Cited by 5 publications

References 22 publications

Groundwater Impacts and Management under a Drying Climate in Southern Australia

Groundwater Impacts and Management under a Drying Climate in Southern Australia

An overview of groundwater response to a changing climate in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: potential implications for the basin system and opportunities for management

Institutions and the Economic Efficiency of Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Mitigation Strategy Against Drought Impacts on Irrigated Agriculture in California

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