Author(s): J. F. Costelloe; V. Matic; A. W. Western
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Keywords: Great Artesian Basin; Interpolation; Vertical leakage
Abstract: Along the arid south-western margin of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB), estimates of steady-state evaporative discharge from upward leaking artesian groundwater are required to constrain the water balance. This is required to balance the use of the GAB resource for pastoral and mining operations with maintaining flow to environmentally important springs. Point-based field estimates of evaporative discharge were collected during 2007-2009 using a range of techniques, including microlysimeters and soil profile modelling. We investigate the relationship between the measured evaporative discharge and the depth to the unconfined water table as a means of scaling the point-based field measurements to regional estimates of evaporative groundwater flux. We identify and discuss the various uncertainties associated with this method; including uncertainties around the field evaporative measurements, extrapolating depths to the unconfined water table and the use of an power function to describe the relationship between discharge and depth to groundwater.
Year: 2011