Understanding of Groundwater Recharge for Sustainable Water Resource Management in Northern Victoria: a Review
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Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review Project CMI Number: 104237 Author(s) Michael Adelana Department of Primary Industries Future Farming Systems Research Division, Cnr Midland Hwy/Taylor Street, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia © The State of Victoria, 2011 Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Acknowledgments Special thanks to Mark Reid for the efforts and time taken for the review of this report. The two consecutive reviews were thorough and his comments have greatly improved this report. Since this is one of the reviews and reports that he spent his last weeks of work with DPI on, I will like to dedicate the report entirely to his long years of profitable service ( 8, 397 working days ). “Mark thank you for being a source of encouragement to me since I joined the Department. I will not forget your selfless efforts and your encouraging words. Your retirement from DPI will leave a gap that may take a while to fill. All the best in your future endeavour.” ii Executive Summary Water resource management in the arid to semi-arid areas requires not only exploration and assessment of the available reserves, but also accurate determination of groundwater recharge in order to evaluate the sustainable yield of the resource. This report reviews and highlights some key groundwater recharge studies across Northern Victoria. Diverse methodologies have been used including: water balance, water table fluctuation method, environmental isotopic measurements and chloride mass balance techniques. The review provides information on recharge rates and the degree of understanding of recharge processes, and controls, which are critical for sustainable water development and management in any region. Recharge zones are located in topographically higher areas and where there is exposed weathered or fractured bedrock. The sources of recharge in the Campaspe and Loddon catchments and NW Victoria in general, are essentially rainfall and irrigation. Indirect recharge is episodically significant and occurs by seepage through the beds and floodplains of main rivers and streams in the area. This review forms the first phase in the proposed study on spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in northern Victoria, relating to the DPI Investment priority: Water use efficiency and whole farm impacts/responses of natural resources in the future. iii Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................6 Methods and theory of recharge estimation in semi-arid environments .....................8 Physical description and recharge characteristics ............................................................13 Physical description and recharge characteristics in the plains 14 Physical description and recharge characteristics in the upland areas ...... 15 Summary of recharge studies in northern Victoria ............................................................16 Groundwater recharge estimation in northern Victoria ....................................................19 Recharge processes and knowledge gaps ............................................................................20 Recharge processes in northern Victoria ............................................. 21 Application of isotope chemistry to determine origin and history of groundwater in northern Victoria ............................................................................... 25 Implications for sustainable resource management in northern Victoria ................27 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................28 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................30 References ...........................................................................................................................................31 Table 1 Summary of methods and estimates for groundwater recharge in Northern Victoria ........................................................................................... 38 iv Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review Blank Page v Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review Introduction Northern Victoria (Figure 1) has a semi-arid climate with an inherent variability that means rainfall tends to be unreliable from year to year. This climate variability over the years has increased stress on water resources, including groundwater, with a number of areas having to be declared as Water Supply Protection Areas under the State’s Water Management structure. With surface water almost fully committed in Northern Victoria (DWR 1992), there has been increased pressure on groundwater in meeting water supply needs of the region. In the last decade, development of groundwater resources in the region has been in response to irrigation needs for water-intensive cropping. The development of groundwater has in many instances proceeded without adequate understanding of recharge and the relationship between the exploited aquifer and water sources (e.g. rivers, lakes, etc.). The consequential risks are over-allocation and over- exploitation with impacts that may not be evident until many years later. Generally, recharge estimation is vital in resource management and often an important parameter in modelling impacts of groundwater development on the environment. Estimating recharge is essential in any analysis of groundwater systems and the impacts of withdrawing water from the aquifer. Aquifer recharge is a major component of the ground-water system and has important implications for shallow groundwater quality (Nolan et al. 2007). In water resource investigations, groundwater models are often used to simulate the flow of water in aquifers, and, when calibrated, may be used to simulate the long-term behaviour of an aquifer under various management scenarios. Without a good estimate of recharge and its spatiotemporal distribution, these models become unreliable. Thus, without a good estimate of recharge, the impacts of withdrawing groundwater from an aquifer cannot be properly assessed, and the long- term behaviour of an aquifer under various management schemes cannot be reliably estimated (Sophocleous 2005). Accurate estimates of recharge and recharge mechanisms are also necessary to assess the risk of groundwater contamination, particularly diffuse agricultural contamination (such as pesticides, nitrates and phosphates). The essence of this review is to evaluate recharge rates and various estimation methods used in northern Victoria in order to identify where the gaps are and to provide background information for the understanding of recharge mechanisms. The overall aim of the compilation of the recharge rates from different studies is to provide insights into recharge processes and emphasise the importance of it in sustainable water resource management within the context of climate and land use changes. This review represents the first phase in the stages of efforts to evaluate and collate recharge data, where available, and to apply a combination of recharge estimation methods at the local and regional scale in Victoria. It is intended to provide the basis for a proposed regional study on spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in northern Victoria, in response to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) sustainable resource management investment priority. The main objectives are: (i) to gain greater insight into the processes that control the patterns and magnitudes of recharge to the underlying aquifers (ii) examine the history of groundwater recharge and climatic changes during the past years, and (iii) to investigate patterns of groundwater recharge and seek a common method for accurate determination of recharge rates across northern Victoria based on available techniques for semi-arid environments. 6 Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review NSW T C SA A Northern Victoria 6030 0 60 Kilometers ± Figure 1a: Location of northern Victoria (Inset: the State of Victoria in Australia) NSW T C A SA Legend Recharge sites ± LGA 5025 0 50 Kilometers Figure 1b: Map of Victoria showing the location of recharge study sites within administrative Shires (north of the Great Dividing Range). 7 Understanding of groundwater recharge for sustainable water resource management in Northern Victoria: a review Methods and theory of recharge estimation in semi-arid environments There are various methods of recharge estimation with varying degrees of accuracy depending on their rigour and the type and quantity of data gathered or used. These have been described and compared by many authors internationally (e.g. Lerner & Barret 1996, Sophocleous 1996, Scanlon et al 2002,