Sustainable management of groundwater extraction: An Australian perspective on current challenges

Cook, Peter; Shanafield, Margaret; Andersen, Martin S.; Bourke, Sarah A.; Cartwright, Ian; Cleverly, Jamie; Currell, Matthew; Doody, Tanya M.; Hofmann, Harald; Hugmann, Rui; Irvine, Dylan J.; Jakeman, Anthony; McKay, Jennifer; Nelson, Rebecca; Werner, Adrian D.

doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2022.101262

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Considering the complex and layered management of groundwater in Australia and the USA, inadequate governance frameworks could also prove to be an issue for EBM of GDEs. Recently, groundwater experts across Australia listed determining groundwater requirements for the environment as a significant challenge in GDE management (Cook et al 2022), despite published methodologies (Eamus et al 2006), suggesting funding and research constraints as limiting factors. Another major challenge to the use of EBM in the GDE space is that groundwater is largely unregulated across the globe and establishing ecosystem requirements within existing sustainable groundwater management laws can be limited (Rohde et al 2017).…”

Section: Opportunities and Challenges Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal Groundwater‐Dependent Ecosystems are Falling Through Policy Gaps

Dyring,

Rohde,

Froend

et al. 2023

Groundwater

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Coastal groundwater‐dependent ecosystems (GDEs), such as wetlands, estuaries and nearshore marine habitats, are biodiversity hotspots that provide valuable ecosystem services to society. However, coastal groundwater and associated ecosystems are under threat from groundwater exploitation and depletion, as well as climate change impacts from sea‐level rise and extreme flood and drought events. Despite many well‐intentioned policies focused on sustainable groundwater use and species protection, coastal GDEs are falling through gaps generated by siloed policies and as a result, are declining in extent and ecological function. This study summarized then examined policies related to the management of coastal groundwater and connected ecosystems in two key case study areas: Queensland (Australia) and California (USA). Despite both areas being regarded as having progressive groundwater policy, our analysis revealed three universal policy gaps, including (1) a lack of recognition of the underlying groundwater system, (2) fragmented policies and complex governance structures that limit coordination, and (3) inadequate guidance for coastal GDE management. Overall, our analysis revealed that coastal GDE conservation relied heavily on inclusion within protected areas or was motivated by species recovery, meaning supporting groundwater systems remained underprotected and outside the remit of conservation efforts. To close these gaps, we consider the adoption of ecosystem‐based management principles to foster integrated governance between disparate agencies and consider management tools that bridge traditional conservation realms. Our findings advocate for comprehensive policy frameworks that holistically address the complexities of coastal GDEs across the land‐sea continuum to foster their long‐term sustainability and conservation.

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Section: Opportunities and Challenges Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal Groundwater‐Dependent Ecosystems are Falling Through Policy Gaps

Dyring,

Rohde,

Froend

et al. 2023

Groundwater

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“…Porous rock aquifers are located within the arid and semiarid western Murray Basin (Fig. 1a), where stored groundwater is thought to be a result of paleorecharge from an era when the climate was wetter (Commander 2004). Water resources are generally saline in the central and western parts of the Murray Geological Basin, with fresher areas in the eastern region closer to recharge Dryland salinity is an issue in the fractured rock and upper alluvium aquifers in NSW and Victoria and the Murray Basin in South Australia and Victoria (Hart et al 2020;Walker and Prosser 2021).…”

Section: Site Description and Historical Groundwater Management In Th...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several papers that outline risks and challenges related to surface water and groundwater in the Murray-Darling Basin or Southern Australia (Cook et al 2022;Ross et al 2022;Simmons et al 2019;Van Dijk et al 2006). Van Dijk et al (2006) noted groundwater extraction as one of the six key risks to the shared water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin: that extraction of groundwater can reduce streamflow through the reduction of baseflow or inducing local recharge from streams.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They made recommendations for future research and assessment, which included: increasing data acquisition to improve estimates of fluxes between rivers and groundwater; stating uncertainty bounds in recharge estimates and groundwater modelling; developing groundwater management tools that consider the effects of extraction on GDEs and surface-water resources; and including socio-economic assessments in groundwater management modelling. Cook et al (2022) identified 18 current challenges to groundwater extraction, which were prioritised by surveys of representatives from the Australian groundwater community: government, research institutions and private industry. Despite increasing use of adaptive management and risk-based limits to extraction, they noted that one of the greatest perceived challenges for groundwater management in Australia was determining regional-scale groundwater extraction limits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…Groundwater extraction in Australia has doubled in the past 40 years (Cook et al, 2022), yet how groundwater extraction affects GDEs is poorly understood, particularly in areas of Australia away from population centres (e.g., Brim Box et al, 2022). To fill this information gap Davis et al sampled fish populations in an area of northern Australia undergoing development of multiple and largescale groundwater-intensive industries.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Threatened aquatic gems: freshwater springs and groundwater-dependent ecosystems

Brim Box,

Davis,

Howard

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Editorial on the Research Topic Threatened aquatic gems: freshwater springs and groundwaterdependent ecosystems Groundwater constitutes the Earth's largest liquid freshwater reserve (Stephens et al., 2020). Although awareness is growing that human water demands threaten finite groundwater resources worldwide (Bierkens and Wada, 2019), there remains a dearth of information on how those water demands impact terrestrial and aquatic groundwaterdependent ecosystems (GDEs), including springs. Groundwater withdrawals have reduced inputs to GDEs even in high rainfall areas (Work, 2020), but the threat of groundwater extraction on GDE persistence and condition is especially acute in arid zones where globally, groundwater extraction already exceeds recharge (Aeschback-Hertig and Gleeson, 2012). Worldwide, springs often contain high endemism and can be biodiversity hotspots that contribute to regional biodiversity disproportionate to their size, so ecological consequences of groundwater extraction are potentially severe (Davis et al., 2017).The Research Topic "Threatened Aquatic Gems: Freshwater Springs and Groundwaterdependent Ecosystems" advances our knowledge of the critical role that GDEs play in maintaining biodiversity, and highlights research and conservation strategies needed to protect GDEs, especially in a warming climate.Arid-zone springs have been called "precious jewels of the desert", a reflection of their vulnerability and ecologic importance (Box et al., 2008). The arid spring ecosystems investigated by Fensham et al. in Australia, the southwestern US and Mexico exemplify this vulnerability, as they harbor some of the highest documented concentrations of endemic species in the world. The high endemism of these systems highlights the importance of stability and permanence over evolutionary timescales (up to 47 MYA, Murphy et al., 2015) in producing and maintaining biodiversity. To preserve these biodiversity hotspots will require recognition of their importance and the specific land and water uses that affect their persistence.Globally, climate change will significantly stress GDE health, in part due to groundwater recharge reductions in regions with annual rainfall declines (Wu et al., 2020;Schenk and Stevens, 2022). An investigation of Copepoda from karst springs in Italy by Cerasoli et al.

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Sustainable management of groundwater extraction: An Australian perspective on current challenges

Cited by 7 publications

References 98 publications

Coastal Groundwater‐Dependent Ecosystems are Falling Through Policy Gaps

Coastal Groundwater‐Dependent Ecosystems are Falling Through Policy Gaps

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

Editorial: Threatened aquatic gems: freshwater springs and groundwater-dependent ecosystems

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