Future demands we keep our unseen water bank solvent

Interesting read eg

Coal-seam gas extraction requires coal beds to be depressurised by bringing large volumes of gas and water to the surface, and the current wave of gas development may involve the extraction of large amounts of groundwater. There is much work still to do to better understand important environmental, regulatory and economic issues associated with coal-seam gas production.

There are many positive groundwater news stories. Australian scientists working in Adelaide, the Bowen Basin in Queensland and around Perth, have demonstrated great scope to store surplus surface water - such as city runoff - in aquifers underground, where the water undergoes a natural cleansing process.

As the recent downpours have reminded us, Australia is a land of drought and flooding rains - and if current climate predictions prove accurate, droughts could become more frequent and intense in future, as may rainfall in some areas. As our population grows its demands for water for agriculture, industry, mining, amenity and the environment will soar.

We need to start thinking now about how we will meet those water requirements in future. We need to plan how we can save surplus water in times of plenty for times of scarcity - as groundwater. The central issue in effective groundwater management is trust. We need to be able to rely upon the integrity of the data and projections of our hidden water resource, and the institutions which supply them. This is highlighted by the present debate, which is distorted by much misinformation, emotion and wild guesses.
https://www.sciencealert.com.au/opi...lert-latestnews+(ScienceAlert-Latest+Stories)

 

Yes all these things are being looked into. So is capturing stormwater for recycling (yes all those lovely chemicals that go down stormwater drains into the water supply) Interesting the word fraccing was not mentioned once in this article. It is fraccing that causes the aquifer to split and fracture and in a lot of cases rendered useless if you want to use it as a storage. In some cases it is a good idea to recharge aquifers. They've been doing it in the Burdekin for years very successfully.

Important to note that a lot of science is being funded by the mining industry. In Queensland the mining industry has seen a mass exodus of people from the Government Environmental regulator to its ranks. Why? A cynic would suggest that the best way to get around environmental laws is to employ people that know the laws back the front so that loopholes can be found. And you could fire a cannon through those laws.