Hydrology of the Murray–Darling Basin

Stewardson, Michael J.; Walker, Glen; Coleman, Matthew

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818152-2.00003-6

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Groundwater systems across the MDB can be subdivided into four major aquifer types comprising fractured rock outcropping mainly along the eastern boundary of the basin, alluvial aquifers associated with major rivers, tertiary limestone aquifers in the western Murray Basin [10,28,29], and sediments associated with the Great Artesian Basin in the northern sub-basin [29]. This study is limited to the eight large alluvial aquifer systems (Figure 1) within the MDB for reasons discussed in Section 2.1.…”

Section: Groundwater Extraction Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Groundwater Levels: A Case Study of Alluvial Aquifers in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Fu,

Clark,

Gonzalez

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Understanding the temporal patterns in groundwater levels and their spatial distributions is essential for quantifying the natural and anthropogenic impacts on groundwater resources for better management and planning decisions. The two most popular clustering analysis methods in the literature, hierarchical clustering analysis and self-organizing maps, were used in this study to investigate the temporal patterns of groundwater levels from a dataset with 910 observation bores in the largest river system in Australia. Results showed the following: (1) Six dominant cluster patterns were found that could explain the temporal groundwater trends in the Murray–Darling Basin. Interpretation of each of these patterns indicated how groundwater in each cluster behaved before, during, and after the Millennium Drought. (2) The two methods produced similar results, indicating the robustness of the six dominant patterns that were identified. (3) The Millennium Drought, from 1997 to 2009, had a clear impact on groundwater level temporal variability and trends. An example causal attribution analysis based on the clustering results (using a neural network model to represent groundwater level dynamics) is introduced and will be expanded in future work to identify drivers of temporal and spatial changes in groundwater level for each of the dominant patterns, leading to possibilities for better water resource understanding and management.

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Section: Groundwater Extraction Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Groundwater Levels: A Case Study of Alluvial Aquifers in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Fu,

Clark,

Gonzalez

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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“…Groundwater systems across the MDB can be subdivided into three major provinces [13,[29][30][31][32] (Figure 1): (i) fractured rock aquifers contained in the Mt Lofty/Flinders Ranges in South Australia, and in the Great Dividing Range, which forms the eastern and south-eastern margins of the Basin; (ii) alluvial aquifers contained in major river valley deposits, where river leakage and flood events are major sources of recharge and most of the irrigated agriculture in the MDB is located; and (iii) tertiary limestone of the western Murray Basin where groundwater is primarily saline with areas of good quality groundwater. Stewardson et al [30] acknowledge a fourth province associated with the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) sediments, located in the northern MDB sub-basin. Most of this province in the MDB consists of recharging/intake beds or confining sediments (at the surface) to the underlying main (deeper and confined) GAB aquifers.…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of this province in the MDB consists of recharging/intake beds or confining sediments (at the surface) to the underlying main (deeper and confined) GAB aquifers. This province is not included in this analysis as the GAB aquifers show limited connection and flow exchanges with surface alluvial aquifers [30].…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Groundwater Levels in Alluvial Aquifers of the Murray–Darling Basin and Their Attributions

Rojas

Gonzalez

2022

Water

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Groundwater levels represent the aggregation of different hydrological processes acting at multiple spatial and temporal scales within aquifer systems. Analyzing trends in groundwater levels is therefore essential to quantify available groundwater resources for beneficial use, and to devise plans/policies to better manage these resources. In this work, three trend analysis methods are employed to detect long-term (1971–2021) trends in annual mean/minimum/maximum depth to water table (DTW) at 910 bores. This analysis is performed in eight main alluvial systems in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia, which concentrate nearly 75% of groundwater use. The results show: (a) an overall increasing trend in DTW across alluvial aquifers attributable to changes in recharge from rainfall and groundwater extraction; (b) the analysis methods employed show similar statistical significances and magnitudes, but differences exist; (c) the annual minimum DTW has a smaller trend magnitude than annual mean DTW, and the annual maximum DTW has a larger trend magnitude than mean DTW; (d) trends in annual rainfall and potential evaporation, and cumulative number of production bores, are consistent with the groundwater trends; (e) irrigation is responsible for some of the decreasing trend in groundwater level. These results could be used to target further research and monitoring programs, and inform groundwater resource management decisions in the MDB.

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“…This section briefly describes the surface and groundwater hydrology of the MDB; history of groundwater management changes; the implementation of the Plan; and environmental water strategies. More comprehensive descriptions of the MDB are available [39][40][41][42].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Potential Approach of Reporting Risk to Baseflow from Increased Groundwater Extraction in the Murray-Darling Basin, South-Eastern Australia

Walker¹

2022

Water

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An approach of reporting long-term trends in groundwater extraction and baseflow impacts in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in south-eastern Australia was developed and tested. The principal aim of the framework was to provide early warning of any potential adverse impacts from groundwater extraction on environmental releases of surface water for baseflow, support adaptive management of these impacts, and highlight those areas which may benefit from conjunctive water management. The analysis showed that there is no current decadal trend in the annual aggregate groundwater extraction volumes or stream impact across the non-Victorian MDB, with much of the interannual variability being related to rainfall. Despite this, increasing volumes of environmental releases of water for baseflows in some river valleys are being required to replace the stream depletion caused by historical patterns of groundwater extraction established before 2003. Two valleys were identified for which there may be insufficient surface water storage to release water to substitute stream losses to groundwater and still support ecosystems during dry periods. The increasing trend in extraction since 2003 in one of the units has significantly increased the risk in that valley. The reporting framework was shown to be effective for alluvial groundwater systems connected to regulated rivers.

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Hydrology of the Murray–Darling Basin

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Groundwater Levels: A Case Study of Alluvial Aquifers in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Groundwater Levels: A Case Study of Alluvial Aquifers in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Trends in Groundwater Levels in Alluvial Aquifers of the Murray–Darling Basin and Their Attributions

A Potential Approach of Reporting Risk to Baseflow from Increased Groundwater Extraction in the Murray-Darling Basin, South-Eastern Australia

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