NCGRT Newsletter | Q2 2022
New government's plans for water
The newly elected Federal government has announced 'A Plan to Future-Proof Australia's Water Resources' by establishing a National Water Commission and broadening the National Water Grid Investment Framework. This is an important development of relevance to the groundwater community.
Further information can be found here>.
Registrations closing soon - Australian Groundwater School - Online, 4 - 8 July 2022
Groundwater makes up about 17% of Australia’s accessible water resources, and up to 30% of our water consumption in certain regions. Droughts and climate change place pressure on critical groundwater reserves; it is therefore important that Australia has a well-informed workforce that is ready to tackle these challenges.
WHY IS THE COURSE IMPORTANT?
The Australian Groundwater School is vital for professionals working with groundwater. Our flagship course, and the premier course of its type in Australasia, the Australian Groundwater School provides participants with a broad but rigorous introduction to groundwater.
The Australian Groundwater School is a topic of the Flinders University Postgraduate Graduate Certificate, Diploma and Masters of Science (Groundwater Hydrology) for those seeking accreditation.
Research Spotlight
Managed Aquifer Recharge research at the Centre
NCGRT has a number of research projects being undertaken by PhD students and researchers around the country to investigate the potential of managed aquifer recharge in urban, agricultural and mining environments. This research is being conducted through partners at ANU, UWA, CSIRO, and Flinders University. To find out more about our activity click below.
Recharge estimator using the chloride mass balance method
The chloride mass balance (CMB) method is the most widely used method to estimate long-term rates of groundwater recharge in Australia. A recent paper in Groundwater by Dr Dylan Irvine (Charles Darwin University) and Prof Ian Cartwright (Monash University) presents the Chloride Mass Balance Estimator of Australian Recharge (CMBEAR), a Jupyter (Python) Notebook that is set up to rapidly apply the CMB method using gridded maps of chloride deposition rates across the Australian continent.
CMBEAR requires only a spreadsheet with the groundwater chloride concentration, the latitude and longitude of the sample location, and some simple user inputs. CMBEAR provides a fast, simple, and fully reproducible approach to estimates recharge (with uncertainty).
CMBEAR is freely available at: https://www.hydroshare.org/resource/c8463260fe214b25b159b7979e42434d/
The paper can be made available by contacting Dylan (dylan.irvine@cdu.edu.au)
Register your interest for GDE's panel discussion
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem panel discussion coming soon...
NCGRT in collaboration with the IAH Australian Chapter will present a panel discussion on GDE's. The discussion will focus on how we map GDE's, what management tools are currently in use to protect GDE's and we will explore the major challenges for GDE's into the future. We are currently finalising dates, likely to occur in July. Click to register your interest.
Completing PhD Students
Robin Kegan - Treloar
Flinders University
Completion Sept 2022
Thesis: Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring discharge in a semi-arid and remote setting.
Career Aspirations:
Government or Industry
Read more>
Jason Thomann
Flinders University
Completion Nov 2022
Thesis: Adaptive groundwater management: An assessment of techniques, tools and challenges.
Career Aspirations:
Government, Industry or Research
Read more>
Groundwater News
Indigenous knowledge and groundwater in Australia.
Kamilaroi Water Scientist, Assoc Prof Brad Moggridge, University of Canberra speaks on Season 2 - Water Underground Talks.
Groundwater makes it's way into the Academy of Science!
We extend to our sincerest congratulations to NCGRT's founding Director, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor of Hydrogeology, Craig Simmons who has recently been made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. 👏
Read more>
Image Credit: Randy Larcombe
Publication Spotlight
Greenhouse gases - organic matter in groundwater
Published in The Conversation.
Read more>
ANSTO Research Scientist, Liza McDonough and co-authors including NCGRT members Andy Baker and Martin Anderson from UNSW have recently published their findings on organic matter in groundwater in the Nature Communications Journal. "A new conceptual framework for the transformation of groundwater dissolved organic matter" is open access and you can read it here.
More groundwater news and updates....
- Out of sight is out of mind for precious groundwater (Farmonline National)
- ONE Basin CRC secures Federal Government funding
- Disagreement over new groundwater plan to minimise climate change effects on Perth and Peel. Video - Disagreement over WA groundwater plan
- Indigenous Yuelamu community facing water crisis as aquifer dries up
- Conversation Articles on Groundwater
Check out the GMDSI website for the latest releases!
Read more>
Upcoming Events
IAH Congress | 18-23 September 2022 | Wuhan, China - Hybrid Event
15th Australasian Environmental Isotope Conference | 13-17 November 2022 |Ballina, Australia
Australasian Groundwater Conference| 21-23 November 2022 | Perth, Australia
AGU Fall Meeting | 12-16 December 2022 | Chicago, USA
Australasian Groundwater Conference
Key Dates
Abstracts and Registration:
NOW OPEN
Abstract Submissions Close:
Friday 29 July 2022
Author Notifications:
Expected Thursday 8 September 2022
Early Bird Registration Deadline:
Thursday 22 September 2022
Conference Dates:
21 – 23 November 2022
AGC 2022 - Submit your Abstract
The Scientific Committee for the upcoming Australasian Groundwater Conference are pleased to invite abstract submissions for inclusion in the 2022 program. Abstracts are open until Friday 29th July 2022. Submit here>
Jobs
CSIRO postdoctoral fellow/early career recruitment program
CSIRO’s ‘Impossible without you’ recruitment program is looking for talented postdocs and early career researchers. The program is CSIRO-wide and will support the five CSIRO Missions, including the Drought Resilience.
Groundwater research is likely to play a key role in developing these areas, and talented early career researchers are sought to help shape future thinking. Interested to know more? Click below.
Applications close:
19 June 2022
