Our research

Research to unlock Australia’s groundwater secrets

Groundwater research in Australia is entering an exciting new era. The Commonwealth and State governments have come together around the National Water Initiative. Groundwater investigations are highlighted in the National Groundwater Assessment Initiative which targets gaps in our knowledge about groundwater.

Now, we have the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT). For the first time researchers and professionals from many disciplines are pooling their expertise in five major research programs to unlock the secrets of Australia’s sub surface water systems. These programs reflect extensive consultations with state governments and industry: those who manage our water and the technologies and systems that are required to deliver it to users.

Groundwater is often called the forgotten resource. Despite the fact that groundwater accounts for over 30 per cent of Australia’s water consumption, we simply do not know enough about this vital water resource, and how to manage it.

With severe droughts and climate change placing extreme pressure on existing water supplies, there is an urgent need to expand this knowledge base.

The NCGRT will coordinate the efforts of nearly 200 Australian and international researchers – many of whom are internationally recognised as leaders in their fields.

Using the latest technology and infrastructure, our researchers are pioneering new hydrogeological research methods to investigate pressing questions relating to aquifers and aquitards; water flows in complex subterranean systems; and the largely unexplored link between surface water and groundwater.

NCGRT research teams are studying groundwater-dependent ecosystems and the potential impact of climate change, while legal and policy experts are examining the highly complex area of socio-economics, policy-making and management.

Some of the challenges facing our researchers are unique to Australia. They have to contend with:

• wide ranging climates from arid to tropical
• topography that is mostly flat, which means that groundwater moves very slowly
• wetlands and rivers that often disappear in summer
• high levels of salinity
• extensive periods of drought.

Through its major training and capacity building program, the NCGRT will deliver an understanding of our groundwater systems that will be critical for Australia’s future water security.

Our Research Programs explore the key questions from the basic understanding of groundwater origins and processes, through groundwater interactions with surface water, vegetation, and the environment, to the decisions we are taking about the management of this resource.