NSW groundwater quality and coastal groundwater-dependent ecosystems
Project details
| Objective: | To advance current understanding of impacts of groundwater pumping in coastal and alluvial aquifers. |
| Funding: | $960,000 plus GST |
| Jurisdiction: | New South Wales |
| Commenced: | April 2009 |
| Completion: | 2011 |
About the project
Conducted by the New South Wales Department of Water and Energy, this project will improve understanding of how pumping and tidal patterns in coastal sand and alluvial aquifers affect groundwater quality and dependent ecosystems.
The project will model how groundwater and the ocean interact in a number of coastal aquifers. A field program will sample groundwater quality, conduct geophysical surveys during a tidal cycle, and identify vegetation that depends on groundwater.
Project benefits
The project will improve understanding of coastal aquifers and how changes in groundwater quality and use can affect estuarine and marine groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Models developed will also be applied to other settings on the New South Wales coast to assist with the implementation of water-sharing plans for coastal sand and alluvial aquifer systems.
By the end of the project, New South Wales will have an improved understanding of how its estuarine and marine ecosystems depend on groundwater and where its estuarine and marine ecosystems are located.