Stream-aquifer interactions in the Maules Creek catchment, Namoi Valley, New South Wales, Australia

Andersen, MartinS.; Acworth, R.I.

Stream-aquifer interactions in the Maules Creek catchment, Namoi Valley, New South Wales, Australia | Interactions cours d’eau-aquifère sur le bassin versant de Maules Creek, vallée Namoi, Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, Australie Interacciones entre el acuífero y los cursos de agua en la cuenca del Maules Creek, Valle de Namoi, Nueva Gales del Sur, Australia 澳大利亚新南威尔士州Namoi谷地Maules Creek 流域的地表水-含水层相互作用 Interacções rio-aquífero na bacia do Rio Maules, Vale de Namoi, Nova Gales do Sul, Austrália

2009

Andersen, MartinS. | Acworth, R.I.

The interaction between surface-water streams and groundwater in the Maules Creek catchment of northern New South Wales, Australia has been investigated using a wide range of techniques. Zones of groundwater discharge were mapped by measuring the temperature and fluid electrical-conductivity distribution in bores and surface water. Zones where surface water appears to be recharging the aquifer were investigated by measuring the vertical head gradient between the stream and adjacent bores and by estimates of the decreasing surface flow. Geological heterogeneity appears to be the most significant factor in controlling exchange. Lithological information was assembled using geophysical logging of existing bores, supplemented by the results of electrical resistivity imaging. A preliminary water balance was assembled from the available State records of groundwater abstraction for irrigation, rainfall, evapotranspiration and flow gauging in Maules Creek and the adjacent Namoi River. The analysis has demonstrated the complexity of these coupled systems and gives an indication of the most efficient techniques to be deployed in the field to investigate these complex but important systems.

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