Aquifer storage hopes for Murray water supplies
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Scientists say there is growing interest from industry and governments in proposals for aquifer storages, as a way to ensure Australia’s future water security.
Four rivers in three states have been identified as having the potential to test the concept of underground storage.
Principal investigator with the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, Alan Curtis, said the Murray-Darling Basin was losing about 4,000 gigalitres annually to evaporation and another 1,000 GL dried up from dams on private properties.
He said, to put that loss in context, a city the size of Adelaide drew about 250 GL annually from the Murray.
Mr Curtis said potential aquifers for storage had been identified along the Murray-Darling system, including in northern Victoria, where shallow storage could minimise the costs of pumping water in and retrieving it later.
He said there was also great storage potential from boosting the connections between wetlands and aquifers.
The scientists are keen for wider research to be done.
They say there are also issues to be resolved over such things as ensuring farmers retain rights to their unused water after its storage and retrieval from an aquifer.
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