Huge scope to store water underground
"Managed aquifer recharge could help secure the nation's water supplies for an uncertain future." Image: Trout55/iStockphoto There is potential to store large volumes of Australia’s precious fresh water underground, to offset climate change, avoid evaporation losses and meet national water needs into the future, leading water scientists say.Following a major national scientific workshop in Canberra, researchers in the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) say that managed aquifer recharge – the injection or infiltration of excess surface water into underground aquifers – could help secure the nation’s water supplies for an uncertain future.With bigger droughts and floods forecast under climate change, along with rapidly rising demand from growing cities and industries, managing water wisely will be central to the nation’s future prosperity and sustainability, says Professor Tony Jakeman of NCGRT and the Australian National University.A workshop of leading groundwater experts convened by NCGRT last week identified twelve different sources of...