A Guide To Regional Groundwater Flow In Fractured Rock Aquifers

CSIRO Land and Water, 2003. – 115 pp., ISBN 1 74008 233 8 The purpose of this guidebook is to describe field methods that can be used for characterising groundwater flow in fractured rocks, and to discuss some of the problems inherent with several of the traditional techniques that are routinely applied in porous media aquifers. Much of there search into groundwater flow in fractured rocks has been focused on the contaminant-remediation and nuclear-waste-disposal industries. In contrast, this book concentrates on characterisation of groundwater flow for regional groundwater resource assessment, which has received relatively little attention. The book also focuses on groundwater quantity, and does not discuss water quality or hydrochemistry, except where this can be used to quantify groundwater flows or aquifer recharge rates. The book draws heavily on the results of three recent studies into groundwater quantity sustainability in fractured rock aquifers in Australia. These studies, in part funded by Land and Water Australia, took place in the Clare Valley, South Australia, Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, and Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The studies provided an opportunity to develop and test various methods for characterizing groundwater flow in fractured rock systems. However, this book is not limited to these studies, but also includes examples from a number of studies carried out in different parts of the world. In the interests of readability, we have not included a complete and in-depth discussion of any of the techniques that are presented. Instead, we refer the reader to other reports and papers for this information. Our intended audience is practising hydrogeologists in government agencies and private consulting firms, who are required to conduct studies on fractured rock systems. The book is thus a practical guide, and not a theoretical treatment of the topic. It also assumes that the reader is familiar with methods for estimating groundwater flow in porous media. This book describes field methods for measuring rates of groundwater flow in fractured rock aquifers and draws heavily on results of three recent studies in the Clare Valley, South Australia; Atherton Tablelands, Queensland; and Wagga Wagga, NSW