Water Sources of Upland Swamps in Eastern Australia: Implications for System Integrity with Aquifer Interference and a Changing Climate

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) in Eastern Australia are Groundwater Dependent Terrestrial Ecosystems that occur in the headwaters of streams on low relief plateaus. Like upland swamps and peatlands globally, they provide base flow to downstream catchments. However, these swamps are subject to aquifer interference from mining and groundwater extraction and are threatened by urbanization and climate change. We collected winter and summer water samples from swamps in two highland regions of Eastern Australia. Water from the swamps was analyzed for hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes and compared with rainwater, surface water and groundwater samples from the surrounding bedrock aquifers to identify likely swamp water sources. Radon (222Rn) was used as an environmental tracer to determine whether the swamps were predominantly groundwater or rainwater fed. Four out of five swamps sampled in the Blue Mountains had greater than 30% of water derived from the surrounding bedrock aquifer, whereas swamps in the Southern Highlands received less than 15% of water from the surrounding aquifer. The water sources for swamps in both regions are controlled by catchment morphology, e.g., valley shape. Understanding water sources of these systems is critical for the determination of likely impacts on THPSS from aquifer interference activities and a changing climate.

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DETERMINATION OF WATER QUALITY OF NATURAL WATER SOURCES IN STATE PARKS AROUND THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER VALLEY

10.1130/abs/2016nc-275086 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Eric Thompson ◽

◽

Cynthia Venn ◽

Christopher P. Hallen

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Natural Water ◽

Water Sources ◽

River Valley ◽

State Parks ◽

Susquehanna River

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Determination of antimicrobial concentration and associated risk in water sources in West Bengal state of India

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-020-08801-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 193 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Najmul Haque Barbhuiya ◽

Asok Adak

Keyword(s):

West Bengal ◽

Water Sources

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Extractive spectrophotometric method for determination of cadmium(II) in different water sources

Journal of Molecular Liquids ◽

10.1016/j.molliq.2015.09.039 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 212 ◽

pp. 517-523 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

G.G. Mohamed ◽

A.A. El-Bindary ◽

M.S. Rizk ◽

M.A. Diab ◽

A.Z. El-Sonbati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spectrophotometric Method ◽

Water Sources ◽

Different Water Sources

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Comparative study of analytical methods for the determination of chromium in groundwater samples containing iron

Microchemical Journal ◽

10.1016/j.microc.2009.07.012 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 93 (2) ◽

pp. 236-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

A. Ramesh Kumar ◽

P. Riyazuddin

Keyword(s):

Comparative Study ◽

Analytical Methods ◽

Groundwater Samples

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Hydrogeologic aspects of dewatering at Welland

Canadian Geotechnical Journal ◽

10.1139/t70-025 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 194-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R. N. Farvolden ◽

J. P. Nunan

Keyword(s):

Lacustrine Sediments ◽

Contour Map ◽

Flow Equations ◽

Deep Well ◽

Piezometric Surface ◽

Excavation Work ◽

Artesian Aquifer ◽

Bedrock Aquifer ◽

Private Wells

Realignment of the Welland Canal between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and the building of underpass structures necessitated both temporary and permanent depressurizing of an artesian aquifer. The aquifer is a thin zone of fractured dolomite found immediately beneath approximately 60 to 100 ft (18 to 30 m) of poorly-permeable glacial till and lacustrine sediments. Since most of the private wells in the Welland area obtain water from the bedrock aquifer, extensive well interference problems were anticipated. Problems in connection with the dewatering and depressurizing included design of deep-well pumping systems for excavation work, prediction and monitoring of drawdown effects, and the determination of responsibility for interference in specific areas since several dewatering systems with overlapping cones-of-depression would be operating simultaneously. To overcome a problem of insufficient hydrologic data prior to the commencement of dewatering, a contour map of the original piezometric surface was constructed from drillers' records. This map showed a normal groundwater flow system where the movement of groundwater was from local upland recharge areas to local discharge areas along the Welland River and the existing canal. A contour map of the drawdown was drawn on the assumption that deviations from the reconstructed original piezometric surface were caused by dewatering. Analysis of the cone-of-depression along with analyses of pre-engineering pumping tests provided values for aquifer coefficients required for solution of the unsteady flow equations. Because the coefficients used were average values for a relatively small area extrapolated over a broad area, the predicted drawdown showed considerable variation in reliability. The work did provide, however, a check on the numerical method (Frind 1970) which takes into account local variations.

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Improving statistical forecasts of seasonal streamflows using hydrological model output

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-9-8701-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 8701-8736 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. E. Robertson ◽

P. Pokhrel ◽

Q. J. Wang

Keyword(s):

Hydrological Model ◽

Historical Record ◽

Base Flow ◽

Seasonal Forecasting ◽

Streamflow Forecasting ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

True Source ◽

Hybrid Forecasting ◽

Forecasting System ◽

Seasonal Streamflow

Abstract. Statistical methods traditionally applied for seasonal streamflow forecasting use predictors that represent the initial catchment condition and future climate influences on future streamflows. Observations of antecedent streamflows or rainfall commonly used to represent the initial catchment conditions are surrogates for the true source of predictability and can potentially have limitations. This study investigates a hybrid seasonal forecasting system that uses the simulations from a dynamic hydrological model as a predictor to represent the initial catchment condition in a statistical seasonal forecasting method. We compare the skill and reliability of forecasts made using the hybrid forecasting approach to those made using the existing operational practice of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for 21 catchments in eastern Australia. We investigate the reasons for differences. In general, the hybrid forecasting system produces forecasts that are more skilful than the existing operational practice and as reliable. The greatest increases in forecast skill tend to be (1) when the catchment is wetting up but antecedent streamflows have not responded to antecedent rainfall, (2) when the catchment is drying and the dominant source of antecedent streamflow is in transition between surface runoff and base flow, and (3) when the initial catchment condition is near saturation intermittently throughout the historical record.

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