Authors / CoAuthors
Buckerfield, S. | McPherson, A. | Tan, K. | Kilgour, P. | Buchanan, S.
Abstract
Communities and ecosystems along the Darling River face critical water shortages and water quality issues including high salinity and algal blooms due to a reliance on declining surface water flows, which are impacted by extraction and drought, exacerbated by increases in temperature driven by climate change. The Darling River, characterised by highly variable flows, is the primary water source for the region and our understanding of the spatial extent and character of lower salinity groundwater within the surrounding Darling Alluvium, which could provide an alternative water source, is limited. Scientific understanding of the highly variable groundwater-surface water system dynamics of the Darling River is also an integral part of the evidence base required to manage the water resources of the wider Murray-Darling Basin, which has experienced critical water shortages for domestic and agricultural consumptive use and serious ecological decline due to reduced flows. Other relevant groundwater systems in the study area include aquifers of the underlying Eromanga and Surat Basins in the north, aquifers of the Murray Basin in the south, and fractured rock aquifers of the Darling Basin in the south-central area. Understanding of connectivity between these systems and the groundwater systems within the Darling Alluvium, and surface water of the Darling River, is also limited. Here we present the findings of a desktop analysis combining previous research with new analysis on water level, hydrochemistry, and Airborne Electromagnetic depth sections. This integration suggests that basement geometry and hydrostratigraphy within the Darling Alluvium are key structural controls on surface-groundwater connectivity, and the occurrence of a saline groundwater system within the lower part of the alluvium which impacts the quality of surface water and shallow alluvial groundwater resources. Further data acquisition and integrated analysis are planned to test these relationships as part of the Upper Darling Floodplain project. <b>Citation:</b> Buckerfield S., McPherson A., Tan K. P., Kilgour P. & Buchanan S., 2022. From Upper Darling Floodplain groundwater resource assessment. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/146847
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document
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146847
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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- EARTH SCIENCES
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- EFTF
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- Exploring For The Future
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- Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian
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- Published_External
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2022-08-07T23:01:41
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EFTF Abstract for Upper Darling Floodplain project
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This publication was produced as part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future Program. It was presented at the Exploring for the Future 2022 Showcase.
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