Freshwater ecosystems

4.7 Linking the management of groundwater and surface water

The issue of managing surface water and interlinked groundwater in an integrated way is key to sustainable water programs. Groundwaters are fed by rain and surface waters. Ground waters ultimately discharge to surface waters or the sea. Surface waters are fed by groundwaters, and feed groundwaters. Surface and groundwaters form interlinked systems.
Most aquatic ecosystems depend, in part (and in the case of stygofauna and spring-fed ecosystems, in whole) on groundwater. Most of the time, Australian rivers are fed by surface groundwater, not by surface runoff, snowmelt, or direct rainfall (with a few exceptions in southwest Tasmania). This is obvious: we know that large Australian rivers generally flow all year round, and of those 8766-odd hours, we know that it might be raining somewhere in their catchments for maybe 400 or 800 hours, in a good year. So we know that, generally speaking, our rivers are fed by surface aquifers for most of the time.
Comparisons of annual rainfall and annual evaporation data indicate that, for the bulk of the continent, evaporation exceeds rainfall on a yearly basis. In these circumstances, permanent standing water looses more by evaporation than it gains from direct rainfall. Except for those areas of Australia with exceptionally high rainfall and surface runoff, the existence of permanent standing water indicates substantial dependence on surface groundwater inflows.
As mentioned above, prior to recent water reforms, groundwater and surface water flows were managed with little coordination, and the legacy of this mistake remains today⁵⁶. Until the new Water Management Act was passed by the Tasmanian government in 1999, groundwater and surface water flows were managed by different State government departments, under different pieces of legislation and policy, for different objectives and within different government programs.
In some locations around Australia, groundwaters have been so heavily used that springs have dried up, along with their associated local ecosystems. Where aquifers are heavily used, and these aquifers feed rivers and streams, streamflow must be affected.

Table 4.2: State comparisons; groundwater / surface water management:

State	Act	Ref:	Comments
WA	Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (modified to meet COAG agenda in 2000).	The Act does not identify the need for integrated management.	The WA WRC believes such a policy is unnecessary, as the few catchments where strong surface / groundwater links exist are already under integrated management programs (Rod Banyard, pers.comm 23/1/01).
NT	Water Act 2000	The Act does not identify the need for integrated management	22B(5)(b)"the total water use for all beneficial uses is [to be] less than the sum of the allocations to each beneficial use". The definition of 'water' includes surface and groundwater. s.22B provides an ability to develop integrated water allocation plans. However, neither the Act nor associated policy encourages the development of such plans.
Qld	Water Act 2000	s.38(6), 47(k)&(l), 60(3) & 95(2) The Act does identify the need for integrated management.	While the Act does not require that Water Resource Plans develop integrated management for surface and interlinked groundwater, according to DNR: " where [ground and surface] water resources are linked, their management will progressively be incorporated into a single Water Resource Plan covering both surface and groundwater." (DNR email 20/2/01)
NSW	Water Management Act 2000.	The Act does not identify the need for integrated management.	While the Act has little to say in this regard, the management plan framework provided by the Act clearly enables integrated plans to be prepared. Existing NSW policy promotes such integrated management, which has recently been put into practice in the Apsley area.
ACT	Water Resources Act 1998.	s.5, s.19 s.19 identifies the need for env flows in both surface and groundwaters. The Act does encourage integrated development.	Through the Act and the Water Resources Management Plan 1999, the ACT has a requirement for the integrated management of interlinked surface and groundwater. This requirement is in place for all groundwater under the control of the Territory Executive^57.
Vic	Water Act 1989, modified 1999 to meet COAG agenda.	The Act does not identify the need for integrated management	The Act does not encourage integrated management of interlinked resources. Examination of the draft Wy Yung groundwater plan 2000 suggests that no effective attempts are being made to implement integrated management (Nevill 2000d).
Tas	Water Management Act 1999.	The Act does not identify the need for integrated management	However, the provisions of the Act (eg: s.14 - scope of water management plans) can be used to develop integrated management plans. This has not yet commenced.
SA	Water Resources Act 1997.	The Act does identify the need for inter-linked management plans.	The issue of groundwater / surface water links is clearly identified in the Act, however instead of encouraging single integrated plans, the Act requires links between different plans (see s.101(6)-(7).

Integrated surface / groundwater management: summary:

The key question to ask is: do management processes reflect a commitment to integrated surface/groundwater management? Improved integration of groundwater and surface water management was advocated by ARMCANZ in 1996, and is part of the COAG water reform framework⁵⁸. Early in 2000, there was little indication of action on the part of the States. That situation, at least regarding statute and policy, has changed in the last 12 months. New South Wales⁵⁹, Queensland⁶⁰, and Western Australia⁶¹ have commenced the development of integrated plans. South Australia appears to be approaching the issue from a different angle, having legislation which forces integration between, not within, management plans, and the ACT has a progressive policy position. However, even in these States, the concept has not been widely or enthusiastically implemented at this stage. Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have been slow to act.

The issue has been recently taken up by the Commonwealth's Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality (see discussion below) and it is to be hoped that this new initiative will hasten the implementation of integrated groundwater / surface water planning.