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Weaber Plain Hydrogeology: Preliminary Results

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Weaber Plain Hydrogeology: Preliminary Results Research Library Resource management technical reports Natural resources research 6-2011 Weaber Plain hydrogeology: preliminary results Richard J. George Dr Department of Agriculture and Food John Andrew Simons Paul Raper Robert J. Paul D L. Bennett See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/rmtr Part of the Agriculture Commons, Hydrology Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, Soil Science Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Recommended Citation George, R J, Simons, J A, Raper, P, Paul, R J, Bennett, D L, and Smith, R H. (2011), Weaber Plain hydrogeology: preliminary results. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Perth. Report 366. This report is brought to you for free and open access by the Natural resources research at Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Resource management technical reports by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Richard J. George Dr, John Andrew Simons, Paul Raper, Robert J. Paul, D L. Bennett, and Rosemary H. Smith This report is available at Research Library: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/rmtr/362 Weaber Plain hydrogeology: preliminary results RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL REPORT 366 ISSN 1039–7205 Resource Management Technical Report 366 Weaber Plain hydrogeology: preliminary results Richard George, John Simons, Paul Raper, Bob Paul, Don Bennett and Rosemary Smith June 2011 Cover picture: Drilling on the Weaber Plain, July 2010 (Photo: Dr Richard George) Disclaimer While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of the information in this document, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Agriculture and Food and its officers and the State of Western Australia accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions it may contain, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, arising from reliance on, or the use or release of, this information or any part of it. Copyright © Western Australian Agriculture Authority, 2011 Copies of this document are available in alternative formats upon request. 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6151 Tel: (08) 9368 3333 Email: [email protected] www.agric.wa.gov.au Weaber Plain hydrogeology Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. ii Summary ........................................................................................................................... iii 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 2. Background .............................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Bedrock geology ............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Physiography .................................................................................................. 7 3. Methods ................................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Drill site selection .......................................................................................... 11 3.2 Drilling methods ............................................................................................ 11 3.3 Drill samples ................................................................................................. 12 3.4 Bore construction and development ............................................................. 12 3.5 Groundwater sampling and level monitoring ................................................. 12 3.6 Groundwater level analysis ........................................................................... 13 3.7 Access and surveying ................................................................................... 13 4. Results and discussion ......................................................................................... 14 4.1 Aquifer conceptualisation and groundwater recharge ................................... 16 4.2 Location and aquifer characteristics of the palaeochannel ........................... 21 4.3 Location and characteristics of sediments at Border Creek .......................... 24 4.4 Location and characteristics of sediments in the southern Weaber Plain ..... 25 4.5 Groundwater heads ...................................................................................... 26 5. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 29 6. References .............................................................................................................. 30 Appendix A: Drill logs and bore construction diagrams ............................................. 33 Appendix B: Recharge conceptual model ..................................................................... 74 i Weaber Plain hydrogeology Acknowledgments This project was initiated in April 2010, funded in May, commenced in June and completed in October of that year. Over 150 days of field work were undertaken. As a result, the project could not have happened without the support of many people. The authors would like to thank Peter Stubbs (Department of Regional Development and Lands), Brett Chivers (Benchmark Projects), Mark Pasalich (LandCorp) and Kresho Zic and team from Kellogg Brown and Root Pty Ltd (KBR) for their project support, funding and guidance. Site access was provided by Peter Cottle and team from Northern Development Co (NDC) and surveying by Survey North (Nathan Allister). Drilling was undertaken by Direct Drilling (Andrew and Jill McWater, James Coad, Martin Kendall). All work was of a high, professional standard. Aquifer testing was conducted with support of Des Yin Foo, Anthony Knapton and staff from Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS). The project was supported by a Technical Reference Group who are thanked for their scientific review and leadership roles: Tim Croot (Community Reference Group), Ken Lawrie (Geoscience Australia), Anthony Smith (CSIRO), Tim Munday (CSIRO), Gary Humphries (Department of Water), Ryan Vogwill (Department of Environment and Conservation) and Anthony Knapton (NRETAS). Geoff Strickland (Ord Irrigation Cooperative), Dave Munday and Duncan Palmer (Department of Water) and Daryl Moncrieff (Department of Environment and Conservation) at Kununurra are also thanked for their support with licences, logistics and peer support. Staff from the Department of Agriculture and Food (Noel Wilson, Lorraine Hartle, Gae Plunckett, Tara Slaven, Francis Bright, Terry Hill, Anella Conrades, Peter Gardiner, Mark Pridham and Noel Schoknecht) are thanked for help with logistics and management. The authors acknowledge assistance of the other members of DAFWA’s Weaber Plain project team: Adam Lillicrap, Grant Stainer, Russell Speed, Henry Smolinski, Jim Dixon and Justin Laycock. We thank them for their support in preparing the data contained in this report. Lastly, thanks to Russell Speed and Grant Stainer for reviewing this report and to Angela Massenbauer for editing the final report. ii Weaber Plain hydrogeology Summary The proposed, 8000 ha, Weaber Plain (Goomig) farmlands are located north-east of the existing, 14 000 ha, Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA), 30 km from Kununurra in the East Kimberley Region of Western Australia. In 2008, the Ord Irrigation Expansion Project was approved by the Western Australian Government to develop irrigated agriculture on the Weaber Plain. Construction of the M2 supply channel connecting the ORIA and Weaber Plain, and the final period of irrigation design, environmental management and related approval processes commenced later in 2009. This process followed a protracted period of public and private industry planning and environmental assessment (Kinhill 2000). As a part of the environmental planning and approvals process, the WA Government was required to prepare a groundwater management plan and a hydrodynamic plan. These plans were to address potential issues of salinity and water quality that may result from developing the proposed farmlands and specifically address new hazard mapping derived from SkyTEM airborne electromagnetics (AEM) data by Lawrie et al. (2010). The Weaber Plain groundwater modelling report (KBR 2010) identified several options to manage watertables and salinity risk. However, both studies identified that the existing groundwater data was inadequate for the purpose of substantiating risk and quantifying the impact of options to manage shallow watertables and salinity. Soil and subsoil data was also limited, and downstream impacts required further evaluation. As a result, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) was requested to lead an investigation program to support a second phase of modelling. The project was divided into five phases: two addressing deficiencies related to groundwater, two relating to soils/subsoils and one addressing surface and groundwater quality aspects. Of the issues related to groundwater, uncertainty existed over the location, hydraulic properties and yield of the palaeochannel aquifer
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