Environmental Water Requirements
Abstract
A framework to assess the environmental water requirements of groundwater dependent ecosystems
Ecosystems whose function is in some way dependent on groundwater are an under-recognised, yet widely distributed and extremely diverse component of the Australian environment. Many of these are threatened by changes in their water regime associated with consumptive uses of both groundwater and surface water and by agricultural, urban and commercial land uses. Groundwater allocation processes have traditionally not considered environmental values, although this is being rectified in some states. The long-term viability of groundwater dependent ecosystems requires that they be recognised, their water requirements understood and this understanding be built into groundwater allocation processes. The paper describes a conceptual framework for addressing the water requirements of GDEs developed by the authors for the National River Health Program. It has been proposed for use by groundwater resource managers as part of a more environmentally sustainable groundwater allocation process. It is framed around the need to understand the ways in which ecological function in these ecosystems depends on groundwater and how these functions change with modified water regime. This framework, which is yet to be applied, is suited to a range of operating environments, from those that are tightly constrained by poor information and resource availability to those that are not.