Journal article
Determining vertical leakage from the Great Artesian Basin, Australia, through up-scaling field estimates of phreatic evapotranspiration
JF Costelloe, V Matic, AW Western, JP Walker, M Tyler
Journal of Hydrology | ELSEVIER | Published : 2015
Abstract
Understanding the water balance of large groundwater systems is fundamental for the sustainable management of the resource. The vertical leakage (i.e. discharge to upper aquifers or the unconfined water table) component of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is an example of a poorly constrained but large component of the water balance of Australia's largest groundwater resource. Field estimates of phreatic evapotranspiration (ET) were made at discharge zones along the southwestern margin of the GAB using eddy covariance station and micro-lysimeter measurements, and inversion of chloride/isotope soil profile measurements. The field estimates were assigned to three major landforms associated with ..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
Funding for this research was provided by Australian Research Council Linkage grant LP0774814, in conjunction with industry partners BHP-Billiton, Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee, Santos Limited and the South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resource Management Board. The permission of the following landholders to conduct fieldwork is gratefully acknowledged; Robert Khan (Marree Station), George Morphett (Callanna Station), David Brook and Frank Booth (Murnpeowie Station), Reg Dodd (Finniss Springs Station), Bobby Hunter (Stuart Creek Station), Randall Crozier (Mt Anna Station), and Trevor Williams (Nilpinna Station). The fieldwork would not have been possible without the assistance of Graeme Tomlinson, Dinh Phu Nguyen, Belis Matabire, Maria Friderich, Peter Richards, Susan Hayes and Richard Evans. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive reviews that helped improve this paper.