Posted 14 April 2008
The groundwater challenge
Groundwater makes up approximately 17% of Australia's currently accessible water resources and accounts for over 30% of our total water consumption. However it is neither understood nor managed as well as it needs to be if this valuable resource is to be sustained into the future.
Continuing water scarcity and climate change are placing pressure on Australia's groundwater reserves and the security of supply. These 'hidden' reserves are increasingly being tapped to supplement declining surface water supplies. In fact, much of our groundwater is connected to surface water with consequent impacts on stream flows, aquifer recharge, groundwater dependent ecosystems, and water quality. Groundwater quality also requires careful management. Risks include uncontrolled urban and industrial discharges, the cross-contamination of aquifers, and seawater intrusion into heavily used coastal aquifers.
Groundwater and the National Water Initiative
Under the National Water Initiative (NWI) all governments of Australia have acknowledged the importance of groundwater and committed to a "whole of water cycle" approach, including the following actions:
In addition, the National Water Commission recognises that as our climate gets dryer and hotter, and evaporation further affects surface water storage, there is likely to be greater reliance on groundwater, within sustainable levels of extraction, including potential augmentation in some instances by managed aquifer recharge.
Progress on groundwater reforms
In its 2007 Biennial Assessment of Progress against the NWI, the Commission expressed considerable concern about the management of groundwater throughout Australia. The assessment identified the following areas requiring urgent additional work: over-allocation of certain groundwater resources; failure to manage groundwater and surface water as a connected resource; lack of established measurement standards and inadequate monitoring. The failure to address these issues is having a serious effect on the security of supply to consumptive users, to surface water environmental flows, and to groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
Given these findings, the National Water Commission recommended a coordinated research effort to underpin progress on agreed groundwater policy reforms. In response, the Australian Government authorised and funded a comprehensive Groundwater Action Plan that is being managed by the Commission.
National Groundwater Action Plan
Through the $82 million National Groundwater Action Plan, the National Water Commission will undertake projects to address groundwater knowledge gaps and progress the groundwater reforms agreed to under the National Water Initiative. The plan consists of three major components:
Future priorities for groundwater
To reinforce the Groundwater Action Plan, the National Water Commission has developed the following principles to guide future groundwater reform:
As the most urgent priority, concerted action must be taken to return over-allocated systems to sustainable levels. The ongoing use of groundwater for consumptive purposes from a number of stressed aquifers and connected water systems throughout the country is an unacceptable risk.
Other priorities identified by the Commission include the need for nationally harmonised groundwater measurement standards and definitions, a groundwater stocktake in Northern Australia, better understanding of groundwater dependent ecosystems, and overcoming institutional barriers to managed aquifer recharge developments.
The Commission considers groundwater to be a critical component of the water cycle that requires greater effort in the future to ensure its sustainable planning and management.
Source: National Water Commission Groundwater position statement
More information:
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