A National Atlas of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

April 20th, 2018

The Challenge

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are aquatic and terrestrial regions whose ecological components rely on groundwater for at least some period of time over the course of their life history. A substantial number of small scale field studies across Australia indicate that reduction of groundwater through extraction and drought has negative impacts on both aquatic and terrestrial vegetation. With increasing pressure on water resources, more and more groundwater is being extracted to meet consumer needs, with little understanding of the impact on GDEs. The potential increase in national groundwater consumption to meet water requirements, stimulated the need for a national online tool that would provide an indication of where GDEs are potentially located across Australia.

areal view of Lake Eyre

River channels leading into Lake Eyre in South Australia. The vegetation depend on groundwater during non-flood periods. PHOTO: Tanya Doody

Our response

The Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Atlas (GDE Atlas) is an award winning online platform that was developed to help guide water resource management and protection of GDEs.

Our capability

CSIRO were critical to providing a multi-disciplinary team to provide remote sensing solutions that underpinned the development of the Atlas. Our ability to manage large data quickly was important to deliver the results on time and provided an economical solution to a difficult and laborious task.

Science and Innovation

New innovative remote sensing techniques were developed during the project, to demonstrate the presence of groundwater dependent ecosystems at 25 m scale across the entire Nation. Additional innovative spatial data was created to supplement analysis and provide rigour and confidence to the final online mapping tool that demonstrates the location of three classes of GDEs. The online Atlas itself is a highly innovative solution to provision of large data, nationally.

3 spoonbills flying away from a wetland

At times water birds such as spoonbills (shown) are dependent on groundwater fed wetlands. PHOTO: Tanya Doody

Results

The GDE Atlas remains critical to provide locations and characteristics of groundwater dependent ecosystems in locations which might be potentially impacted by groundwater extraction. The Atlas is the ‘default’ go-to place to get information about ecosystems that are likely to be groundwater dependent. The online maps are widely used in environmental impact assessments, water management planning and research. In the Murray-Darling Basin, the Atlas is used to assess the risk to GDEs with altered surface water and groundwater flow regimes, by pinpointing GDE location. Rising saline groundwater tables are also monitored in the vicinity of GDEs to determine when environmental flows are required to provide a freshened groundwater lens to support the GDEs.

The Atlas is important to private industries such as mining and agriculture. GDEs in the vicinity of declining water table levels related to agricultural extraction, require monitoring and protection. In the mining industry the Atlas is vital to quantitatively understand potential impacts of the mining to groundwater resources and GDEs. The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining, have prepared Explanatory Notes which emphasise the importance of the Atlas to coal mining development environmental impact assessments. Currently, the Office of Water Science access the Atlas 2-3 times a week in relation to GDEs and coal mining development.

The importance of the online Atlas to water resource management is demonstrated by being accessed on average 400 times a month by Government Departments, private industries, researchers, and consultants looking to understand if GDEs exist in their area of interest in relation to groundwater extraction (for example). The value of the Atlas was enhanced mid-2017, with significant independent investment by the Bureau of Meteorology to update the online data delivered, to present the newest GDE mapping available, with significant improvements to the web delivery platform. Access to the Atlas has averaged 520 times per month since July 2017 reflecting the importance of the new data that was added. A Reference Group has recently been established, with CSIRO representation, to ensure that this water management tool is keep as current as possible and addresses current knowledge gaps with future science. The novelty of the Atlas was recognised in 2012 with a National and International Award spatial science award.

An open access journal article is available to explain the methods undertaken to develop the Altas.

Contact Person

Dr Tanya Doody

Additional information