Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods. This project aims to develop state-of-the-art conceptual and numerical models of river-soil-groundwater interactions to address complex and persistent questions on water sustainability in the Lower Burdekin Delta, Queensland, where groundwater pumping to irrigate sugarcane has been supplemented by artificial recharge for over 50 years. This project expects to deliver new knowledge of critical aquifer processes to inform the scheme ope ....Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods. This project aims to develop state-of-the-art conceptual and numerical models of river-soil-groundwater interactions to address complex and persistent questions on water sustainability in the Lower Burdekin Delta, Queensland, where groundwater pumping to irrigate sugarcane has been supplemented by artificial recharge for over 50 years. This project expects to deliver new knowledge of critical aquifer processes to inform the scheme operation, the largest in the country. Expected outcomes include ground-breaking management plans for the aquifer-replenishment scheme. Anticipated benefits involve balancing the needs of agriculture and the protection of pristine environments, including groundwater discharge to the Great Barrier Reef.
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What is 'natural'?: Locating and deciphering pre-human records of vegetation from northern Australian savannahs. The nature and magnitude of the environmental impact of human colonisation of Australia are fundamental issues in Australian prehistory and ecology. The project will locate and develop archives of environmental change from sinkholes in the Northern Territory that date back to the Last interglacial - a period which had a similar climate to the present day, but was before humans arrived ....What is 'natural'?: Locating and deciphering pre-human records of vegetation from northern Australian savannahs. The nature and magnitude of the environmental impact of human colonisation of Australia are fundamental issues in Australian prehistory and ecology. The project will locate and develop archives of environmental change from sinkholes in the Northern Territory that date back to the Last interglacial - a period which had a similar climate to the present day, but was before humans arrived.Read moreRead less
Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will appl ....Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will apply novel hydrogeophysical and hydrochemical methods, and computer modelling, to investigate the source aquifer of, and fate of discharge from the Doongmabulla Springs Complex (DSC), located in an area of future development. Project results will inform spring vulnerability to development pressures and climate effects.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the parti ....Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the participatory mapping with a subsurface component will then support the conceptualisation and development of a numerical model of the island's groundwater system. The predictive model and community engagement processes are expected to provide a more robust methodology for evaluating future water management plans. The project outcomes will contribute to solving water supply problems in remote communities in Australia, and overseas.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100852
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$455,766.00
Summary
Breathing streams: integrating aquatic emissions into carbon budgets. This project aims to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by small streams across the Australian tropics, a potential hotspot for emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. The project expects to investigate the controls on gaseous emissions from stream to regional scales using a novel combination of gas tracer experiments, remote sensing techniques and machine learning algorithms. Expected outcomes include the devel ....Breathing streams: integrating aquatic emissions into carbon budgets. This project aims to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by small streams across the Australian tropics, a potential hotspot for emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. The project expects to investigate the controls on gaseous emissions from stream to regional scales using a novel combination of gas tracer experiments, remote sensing techniques and machine learning algorithms. Expected outcomes include the development of a predictive model of gas exchange and the first estimate of gaseous emissions from the Australian tropics. This should provide significant benefits such as reducing uncertainties on the national carbon budget and avoiding misalignment of greenhouse gas abatement policies.Read moreRead less
Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the fin ....Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the findings.Read moreRead less