Identifying potential impacts from mining and large infrastructure on water and the environment
A collaboration between CSIRO and Flinders University used ecohydrological conceptual models and impact pathway diagrams for the Braemar, Stuart Shelf and Northern Eyre regions to systematically identify potential impacts of mining on water and the environment to ensure sustainable development of these mineral resources.
Pilot study trials new method
The project used Ecohydrological Conceptual Models to inform Impact Pathway Diagrams to comprehensively and systematically identify hazards associated with different forms of mining and large infrastructure. The project used cartoon-style diagrams and a series of short factsheets, to communicate across a broad audience of proponents, regulators and other stakeholder. Pictorial models, complemented by a narrative table, summarise the geology, hydrology, land use and ecology of a region, as well as the activities needed for development.
Impact Pathway Diagrams are box-and-arrow diagrams that systematically describe the cause-and-effect relationships as a sequence from driver to activity, source, stressor and finally to receptor. The combination of these cause-and-effect relationship form a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), which allows to comprehensively and systematically identify causal pathways between drivers and receptors.
Find out more
- Goyder Institute project webpage
- Project data on CSIRO’s Data Access Portal
- Cite as: Peeters, Luk; Holland, Kate; London, Angela; Pollino, Carmel; Shanafield, Margaret; Guan, Huade; Thomas, Haylee; Werner, Adrian; Solorzano-Rivas, Cristina; & Jazayeri, Amir (2024): Ecohydrological Conceptual Models and Impact Pathway Diagrams for the Braemar, Stuart Shelf and Northern Eyre. v2. CSIRO. Data Collection. https://doi.org/10.25919/g64s-9×54
