Potential Impacts of reducing groundwater abstraction from the Southwestern Great Artesian Basin: Modelled Aquifer Pressure and Spring Flow Response
The Goyder Institute for Water Research has conducted a Northern Waters Supply project that has completed a gap analysis and conducted modelling scenarios to assess the effects of reduced water extractions on aquifer pressure in the Great Artesian Basin near mound springs.
The project was delivered in partnership with Infrastructure SA and funded by the South Australian Government.
The research team included Daniel Partington and Andy Love (both Flinders University), Daniel Wohling (Innovative Groundwater Solutions) and Mark Keppel (SA Department for Environment and Water). The study examined the likely impact that a reduction in groundwater abstraction from the main aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) will have on hydraulic head of the aquifer and spring flow rates.
A numerical groundwater flow model developed by the SA Department for Environment and Water (DEW) for the southwest region of the GAB (Far North model) was used to simulate six groundwater abstraction scenarios and subsequently assess aquifer (hydraulic head or pressure) and spring discharge responses over a hundred- year period.
The study found that that a reduction in pumping from the GAB aquifer at the two case study wellfields will result in an increase of aquifer head pressure. However, this does not automatically mean that this modelled increase in pressure head in the aquifer will be transferred to an increase in spring flow.
Six key recommendations were proposed in the report which can be downloaded here>
