The Surface Hydrology Points (Regional) dataset provides a set of related features classes to be used as the basis of the production of consistent hydrological information. This dataset contains a geometric representation of major hydrographic point elements - both natural and artificial. This dataset is the best available data supplied by Jurisdictions and aggregated by Geoscience Australia it is intended for defining hydrological features.

This report contains a data dictionary for the hydrogeology products released by the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment

Great Artesian Basin borehole porosity and permeability data from petroleum exploration wells within the GAB, quality checked by Jim Kellet (Geoscience Australia). Data is available in tabular format as a CSV file (comma delimited) and a Microsoft Excel 2010 file. This data set was produced for the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment and reported in: Section 5.5 'Hydrogeological properties' of Ransley TR and Smerdon BD (eds) (2012) Hydrostratigraphy, hydrogeology and system conceptualisation of the Great Artesian Basin. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. Section 5.3 'Hydrology' of Smerdon BD and Ransley TR (eds) (2012) Water resource assessment for the Central Eromanga region. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. Section 5.3 'Hydrology' of Smerdon BD and Ransley TR (eds) (2012) Water resource assessment for the Surat region. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. This dataset and associated metadata can be obtained from www.ga.gov.au, using catalogue number 76562.

Groundwater recharge estimates within the intake beds of the Cadna-owie - Hooray and equivalents aquifer and the Hutton Sandstone aquifer in the Great Artesian Basin. Recharge estimates are given in mm/year and are calculated using chloride mass balance method. Grid cell size (X, Y) = 0.015 DD, 0.015 DD. This GIS data set was produced for the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment and used in Figures 7.9 of Ransley TR and Smerdon BD (eds) (2012) Hydrostratigraphy, hydrogeology and system conceptualisation of the Great Artesian Basin. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. This dataset and associated metadata can be obtained from www.ga.gov.au, using catalogue number 76932. For further information, contact: Phil Davies Research Projects Officer CSIRO Land and Water Waite Road Urrbrae SA 5064

Interpreted groundwater flow divide in the Hutton Sandstone between the Surat and Clarence-Moreton basins in the Great Artesian Basin (to be used in conjunction with dataset 'Surat / Clarence-Moreton basins Hydrogeological Boundary' (GA 2013, Catalogue #75830) to define the easternmost boundary of the GAB) This data set provides an approximate location of the groundwater divide as a polygon in Shapefile format. This data set was used in: Figure 5.3 in Ransley TR and Smerdon BD (eds) (2012) Hydrostratigraphy, hydrogeology and system conceptualisation of the Great Artesian Basin. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. Figure 5.3 in Smerdon BD and Ransley TR (eds) (2012) Water resource assessment for the Surat region. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia Figure 14 in Smerdon BD, Marston FM and Ransley TR (2012) Water resource assessment for the Surat region. Summary of a report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. 16pp. This dataset and associated metadata can be obtained from www.ga.gov.au, using catalogue number 77024.

The approximate location of the Helidon Ridge (proposed name) - a basement ridge likely to define the hydrogeological boundary between the Surat and Clarence-Moreton basins in the GAB. To be used in conjunction with dataset 'Groundwater divide in the Hutton Sandstone boundary' (Geoscience Australia, Catalogue #77024, 2013) to define the easternmost boundary of the GAB. The approximate location of the Helidon ridge was interpreted from a GOCAD model layer of Base of Hutton Sandstone surface (Geoscience Australia dataset, Catalogue #76025, 2013). This data set provides an approximate location of Helidon ridge as a polygon in Shapefile format. The polygon represents the area in which the boundary is likely to be located, as the exact location is open to interpretation. Data is available in Shapefile format This data set was used in: Figure 5.3 in Ransley TR and Smerdon BD (eds) (2012) Hydrostratigraphy, hydrogeology and system conceptualisation of the Great Artesian Basin. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. Figure 5.3 in Smerdon BD and Ransley TR (eds) (2012) Water resource assessment for the Surat region. A report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia Figure 14 in Smerdon BD, Marston FM and Ransley TR (2012) Water resource assessment for the Surat region. Summary of a report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. 16pp. This dataset and associated metadata can be obtained from www.ga.gov.au, using catalogue number 75836.

Modelled groundwater levels from 2010 to 2070 used to estimate the impact of climate change and future groundwater resource development on groundwater levels in the GAB. The modelling considered different scenarios of climate and groundwater development: Scenario A (historical climate and current development); Scenario C (future climate and current development) and Scenario D (future climate and future development). The future climate scenarios included the wet extreme (wet), the median (mid) and the dry extreme (dry). The raster grids "Ddry.grd", "Dmid.grd" and "Dwet.grd" show predicted hydraulic head for the year 2070 based on projections of future climate and future development. The grids "Ddry-Base.grd", "Dmid-Base.grd" and "Dwet-Base.grd" represent predicted differences between the hydraulic heads produced by Scenario D at 2070, and the modelled spatial distributions of hydraulic head for the year 2010 (Base scenario). The grid "Dmid-Cmid.grd" represents the difference between the 2070 spatial distributions of hydraulic head that were produced by Scenario D (mid) and Scenario C (mid) 'No data' value is 1e30 Cell size is 5000m x 5000m This data and metadata were produced by CSIRO for the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment. For more information, please refer to Welsh WD, Moore CR, Turnadge CJ, Smith AJ and Barr TM (2012) "Modelling of climate and groundwater development. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Assessment ". CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, Australia. Projection is Albers equal area conic, with central meridian 143 degrees longitude, standard parallels at -21 and -29 degrees latitude and latitude of projection's origin at -25.

This report presents key results of groundwater level interpretations from the Upper Burdekin Groundwater Project in North Queensland, conducted as part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and information acquisition program focused on better understanding the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources across Australia. The Upper Burdekin Groundwater Project is a collaborative study between Geoscience Australia and the Queensland Government. It focuses on basalt groundwater resources in two geographically separate areas: the Nulla Basalt Province (NBP) in the south and the McBride Basalt Province (MBP) in the north. This report interprets groundwater levels measured in both provinces by Geoscience Australia and the Queensland Government to provide recommendations for resource management. The NBP and MBP basalt aquifers are heterogeneous, fractured, vesicular systems. Several lava flows are mapped at surface in both provinces, and the degree of hydraulic connectivity between these flows is unclear. Although there was some uncertainty due to monitoring well construction issues, barometric efficiency analyses from supporting project documents suggest that the basalts of the NBP and MBP were unconfined where monitored during the EFTF project. That finding generally matches observations presented here. Longer term groundwater hydrographs suggest that groundwater levels have been declining in the NBP and MBP following major flooding in 2010-2011 related to one of the strongest La Niña events on record. Groundwater levels are yet to decline to pre-flood elevations in places. Importantly, these longer term hydrographs set the project in context: the EFTF monitoring period is only a small fraction of a much longer-functioning, dynamic groundwater system. Nulla Basalt Province The NBP is elongated east-west, and is situated entirely within the Burdekin River catchment. Volcanic vents in the west identify that area as the main extrusive centre. Regionally, groundwater migrates through the basalts of the NBP from the western high ground towards the Burdekin River in the east. Although lava flows of the NBP reach the Burdekin River, direct groundwater discharge in this area has not yet been proven. However, groundwater does discharge to various springs and surface watercourses in the NBP that are known tributaries of the Burdekin River. Despite the presence of many registered extraction bores, no clear signs of pumping were observed in groundwater hydrographs from the NBP during the EFTF monitoring period. Water levels in many bores responded to major rainfall events, ranging from a simple change in declining hydrograph slope to a water level increase of ~6.8 m in the central west. While some responses could have been induced by loading, electrical conductivity loggers and the extent of water level rise showed that many were clearly caused by recharge. At nested monitoring locations, groundwater levels remained commensurate with downward flow potentials throughout the EFTF monitoring period. McBride Basalt Province The MBP is approximately circular in plan, with volcanic vents present in a north-northeast trending band through the province centre. Lava flows extend away from the high ground of the province centre towards lower ground near the edges. In part due to its geometry, the MBP is situated within four river catchments; only surface water landing in the east flows into the Burdekin River. Regionally, groundwater migrates through the basalts of the MBP from the central high ground radially towards the edges. Direct groundwater discharge from the MBP basalts into the Burdekin River has been shown in this project. Similarly to the NBP, groundwater is also known to discharge to numerous springs and surface watercourses in the MBP. Water levels in many bores responded to major rainfall events. Responses ranged from a change in declining hydrograph slope to a water level increase of ~6.8 m in the southeast. While some responses could have been induced by loading, the extent of water level rise showed that others were clearly caused by recharge. No nested monitoring locations were installed for the EFTF project, so vertical head gradients are currently unknown. Although there are numerous registered extraction bores in the MBP, groundwater level response to pumping was only definitively identified in the east in bore RN12010016. However, several registered bores with high estimated yields have been installed in the northeast since EFTF fieldwork completion. It is possible that these higher yielding extraction bores may induce visible drawdown in monitoring bores in the future. Their high estimated yields may be associated with lava tubes; features not reported in the literature reviewed for this project for the NBP, but identified at surface and potentially in several Queensland Government bores drilled in the MBP. Conclusions and recommendations The Upper Burdekin Groundwater Project has provided abundant information on various aspects of the hydrogeology of the Nulla and McBride basalt provinces. General groundwater flow processes are understood at a regional scale for the EFTF monitoring period, but more detailed investigations and longer term monitoring are required to fully evaluate local conditions. One of the main observations of this study are the long term groundwater level declines in both the NBP and MBP following the 2010-2011 La Niña-associated floods. Groundwater levels are yet to reduce to pre-flood elevations in places, showing that the EFTF monitoring period represents only a small fraction of a much longer-functioning, dynamic groundwater system. It is unclear what, if any, contribution groundwater extraction has made to regional water level declines. Numerous correlations were assessed between groundwater hydrograph characteristics and potentially influencing factors, but the results were mostly inconclusive. There is uncertainty in hydraulic connectivity across lava flow boundaries and between intra-lava flow aquifers. Although interesting groundwater processes were identified at many bores, at the current bore spacing it is not generally possible to interpolate between locations with any certainty. Knowledge gaps and suggestions for further investigation are recorded in Section 5 of the report. The gaps identified should assist planning of future work to inform: - Further characterisation of groundwater resources. - Protection of groundwater dependent ecosystems. - Appropriate groundwater resource management.

Freshwater coastal aquifers provide an important resource for irrigated agriculture, human consumption and the natural environment. Approximately 18 million people live within 50 km of the coast in Australia, and many coastal communities are reliant on groundwater. These coastal aquifers are vulnerable to seawater intrusion (SWI) - the landward encroachment of seawater - due to their close proximity to the ocean. To assess the threat of SWI in Australia, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken with input from state/territory agencies. The literature review, in combination with contributions from stakeholders, identified sites within each of the states and the Northern Territory where SWI had been reported or where it was considered to be a serious threat. International Association of Hydrogeologists 2013 Congress poster

This data release contains accurate positional data for groundwater boreholes in terms of horizontal location as well as elevation of the top of casing protectors. Twenty-four boreholes located in the Nulla and McBride basalt provinces have had DGPS survey results compiled and are presented. Using 95% confidence intervals, the horizontal uncertainties are less than 1.2m and vertical uncertainties less than 0.9m. These results are a substantial improvement, particularly on the uncertainty of elevations, and as such allow water levels need to be compared between bores on a comparable datum, to enable a regional hydrogeological understanding. Quantifying the uncertainties in elevation data adds robustness to the analysis of water levels across the region rather than detracting from it.