For those that heard Phil’s fascinating talk at DIG on the first of February there was a lot to take in and ponder. Some observations:
- There is a lot of water passing our town underneath the Loddon River in the Guildford Deep Lead……albeit slowly!
- The depth of the aquifer ranges from about 15 metres to around 100 metres below ground surface.
- That the water in the system is quite good quality – certainly for keeping plants and grass alive.
- That there may be ~ 100 Megalitres per kilometre of aquifer length.
- That any extraction from the system should be carefully monitored over time.
Some questions still remain for discussion and consideration.
- Is it possible and sensible to extract water from the aquifer?
- What would be the sustainable annual extraction?
- How would we as a community agree on a process for allocating this water?
As we face an uncertain water future it seems reasonable to start a discussion about how Newstead as a community might tackle these and other questions.
Can we develop a WATER PLAN for our town?
Although there might be “a lot” of water in aquifiers, this, like our above ground water supplies, can run dry. We must not extract this water in an unsustainable manner as we have from our other sources. In Australia we are still consuming and wasting water at one of the highest rates in the world. We need to seriously decrease our water usage on a permanent basis before we just move on to using another water source. Do we have the knowledge and willpower to use ground water in a sustainable fashion? The answer must be yes before we start accessing it.