Assessment of Permits for water Extraction Establishment of Managed Aquifer recover (MAR) System
1. Introduction 2.1. Managed Aquifer Recovery Systems
As reported by the South Australian local government of Charles Sturt (2012), Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) or Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is essentially the deliberate storage of surface water (i.e. in the form of stormwater, treated effluent etc) within aquifers. This process is used where water is pumped into aquifers for future usage. Furthermore, MAR systems avoid the need for expensive above ground water tanks, or reservoirs which are subject to significant water evaporation (Charles Sturt, 2012).
As reported by the …show more content…
The initial water balance suggests that the water balance for the river (i.e. the net change in water in storage) was 8890 ML / Year, and one of the proposed industrial plants is seeking a permit to extract 730 ML / Year from the river.
We can see that the figures above are yield a decrease in the net change in water volume in storage in the river, however there is still a significant amount of water in the river throughout the year (8160 ML/Yr). This license/ permit proposal seems appropriate assuming there are no other planned / existing major consumers of water that are unknown at the time of this study.
3. Gaps in Data/Knowledge
At present there is a lack of information upon the hydrogelogical system whin the Study Area. The following is a list of the unknown factors within this system: * There is no detail as to whether or not the 3 aquifers are hydraulically connected to one another or the river and reservoir within the Study Area; * There is no information as to the position and interaction with the Freshwater Saltwater Interface (FWSWI); * While there are 34 monitoring wells, these only target the primary aquifer with only one borehole penetrating the tertiary and secondary aquifers; * There is no ongoing monitoring program, and no planned water quality and water level monitoring program established (including trigger wells etc)