The Gnangara Groundwater System meets about 50% of all water needs for the Perth–Peel region of Western Australia (population 1.7 million). Much of the water is contained in an unconfined aquifer which occurs in coastal sand dunes and supports ecologically-important throughflow wetlands. The system has been subject to significant climate change since about 1975, although the persistent and unidirectional nature of the change was not recognised for some time. As well as climate, groundwater levels are affected by land use (e.g. plantation forestry, urbanisation) and land management (e.g. how plantations and stormwater are managed) as well as by the amount of groundwater abstraction from each of several inter-connected aquifers. Land, water and forests are managed by different government agencies with their own policy objectives. Maintaining groundwater levels within an agreed range of values to protect the wetlands requires informed and early adaptation by these agencies as well as a supportive community. Adaptation was hampered because there was little or no experience of managing groundwater for climate change and the causes of declining levels were neither clear nor agreed. Even when target water level decisions were agreed, their achievement required the cooperation of parties with different priorities. This paper examines some of the lessons learned from this experience and the current approach to manage the land, water and forest resources to meet multiple objectives in a system that is undergoing transitional change rather than reaching a new equilibrium. Climate change impacts have been progressive and the concept of a system that can respond in a resilient manner after a temporary perturbation is not an appropriate concept in this example. Climate adaptation involves significant social and institutional change as well as biophysical changes to make the most of a changing system.
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Research Article|
May 01 2012
Managing groundwater levels in the face of uncertainty and change: a case study from Gnangara Available to Purchase
Don McFarlane;
1CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5 Wembley 6913, Floreat, WA Australia; formerly, Department of Environment, Western Australia, Australia
E-mail: [email protected]
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Melanie Strawbridge;
Melanie Strawbridge
2Department of Water, PO Box K822 Perth, Western Australia 6842, Australia
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Roy Stone;
Roy Stone
2Department of Water, PO Box K822 Perth, Western Australia 6842, Australia
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Andrew Paton
Andrew Paton
2Department of Water, PO Box K822 Perth, Western Australia 6842, Australia
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Water Supply (2012) 12 (3): 321–328.
Article history
Received:
October 05 2011
Accepted:
December 12 2011
Citation
Don McFarlane, Melanie Strawbridge, Roy Stone, Andrew Paton; Managing groundwater levels in the face of uncertainty and change: a case study from Gnangara. Water Supply 1 May 2012; 12 (3): 321–328. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2011.137
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