The Connected Water website
Surface water and groundwater are parts of the hydrological cycle. Water is dynamic and moves between surface water features and groundwater systems. This interaction can take place in different ways and in different settings. For example, streams can lose water to underlying alluvial sediments, and lakes can receive groundwater from aquifers. These interactions can have significant implications for both water quantity and quality. Seepage of fresh groundwater into a river can be important in maintaining flows during extended dry periods. This can be critical for both surface water users such as irrigators as well as for aquatic ecosystems. Pumping from an aquifer near a river can dramatically change the amount of this base flow to the river. In contrast, if the groundwater is salty or contaminated, increased groundwater discharge can have a negative effect on river water quality. Hence, effective management of water quantity and quality issues requires an understanding of these surface water-groundwater interactions.
In this context, a connected water resource is the combination of surface water feature(s), such as river or wetland, and the groundwater system(s) that interact. A conjunctive water management approach is taken where surface water and groundwater resources are understood and managed in a coordinated way. Managing streams, wetlands and reservoirs seamlessly with their connected aquifers is important when dealing with the critical water issues facing Australia today. There are many opportunities in Australia to manage our surface water and groundwater as a single resource. Issues such as water availability, stream salinity and environmental flows can benefit from such an approach.
This website has been developed to progress an integrated approach to surface water and groundwater management. It presents an overview of the land and water issues where such an approach is useful and some of the types of surface water-groundwater interactions in the Australian landscape. It provides a toolkit of methods that can be used to assess the extent and nature of the connectivity of surface water features and groundwater systems in your catchment. It also provides some of the management and policy options useful in taking a conjunctive management perspective.
What are connected water resources?
What is conjunctive water management?