Authors / CoAuthors
Telfer, A.
Abstract
The Blue Lake is a high value groundwater resource in a high risk environment. The lake has several beneficial uses. It is a water supply for the City of Mount Gambier. It is the premier tourist attraction for the City, because of its picturesque setting within a volcanic crater and its habit of changing colour from a steel grey-green in winter to an intense blue in summer. The lake also supports a considerable diversity of aquatic life, although individual numbers of any species are not abundant. The City of Mount Gambier is located on the northern flank of the volcanic complex . The complex occurs within an unconfined karstic limestone aquifer, and the lake is a window into the groundwater. Historical waste disposal practices have caused a number of point-source pollution plumes within the unconfined aquifer. Sewage and septic tank effluent routinely reached the aquifer before a sewerage system was installed in the mid 1960s. The effluent has polluted the groundwater beneath the city with nitrate. Regional hydraulic gradients show that the city is located immediately upgradient of the lake. Nitrogen levels in the lake have climbed to around 3.6 mg/L. There appears to be a relationship between extraction rate from the lake and nitrogen levels in the lake. Other pollutants are not evident in the lake. The Engineering and Water Supply Department are developing a Management Plan for the Blue Lake and the surrounding groundwaters. This Plan is being developed with the assistance of a small group from the community and with a broader community consultation program, with several benefits. These include community education about the issues and community ownership of the solutions.
Product Type
document
eCat Id
81350
Contact for the resource
Custodian
Owner
Custodian
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Keywords
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- GA PublicationJournal
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- SA
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_External
Publication Date
1993-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
Purpose
Maintenance Information
unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 14:2-3:201-206
Lineage
Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
[-38.12, -37.22, 139.99, 141.06]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information
Source data not available.