CWI - Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre Annual Report 2013

Never Stand Still

©2014 Connected Waters Initiative Research CentreUNSW AUSTRALIA

The Centre acknowledges the support and assistance of various funding bodies, donors and industry partners involved in our research projects including the Australian Research Council.

ADDRESSConnected Waters Initiative Research CentreThe University of New South WalesUNSW Australia NSW 2052W http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/

PRODUCTIONConnected Waters Initiative Research CentreEditors: Antonio Woo and Martin S AndersenDesigner: Heléna Brusic helena@unsw.edu.au Design Studio @ P3 UNSWCover Image: Professor Ian Acworth Images: Professor Ian Acworth, members of CWI, Australian photographers on Shutterstock.

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Installation of EXO2 probe in

streambed for investigations

of hyporheic zone processes in

the Namoi River, NSW by post-

doctoral researcher Richard

Crane and Dr Martin S. Andersen

– Andy Baker

The Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre (CWI) is UNSW’s Groundwater Research Centre.

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The Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre (CWI) is UNSW’s Groundwater Research Centre. The CWI is a cross-faculty research group, with staff based in the Schools of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; Mining Engineering; the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, and UNSW Law. As a cross-faculty centre, the CWI rotates between presiding faculties, and at the end

of 2013 the Centre rotated from Engineering to the Science Faculty.

Our research highlight for 2013 was the successful completion of the Groundwater Education Investment Fund (GEIF) infrastructure program led by Prof Ian Acworth. Funded by the Federal Government through its Super Science initiative, the CWI managed the investment of $15M of groundwater infrastructure over the period 2010 to 2013 for the establishment of long term monitoring sites for groundwater research. These sites in four states monitor a range of environmental parameters relevant to groundwater, including river and ground water levels and automatic weather stations, as well as a range of state-of-art analytical facilities, mostly hosted here at UNSW. Within NSW, research infrastructure is concentrated at the UNSW Wellington and Fowlers Gap Field Stations and in the Namoi Valley. Within the latter, the Mountain Front Hydrological Observatory was made fully operational in 2013 by CWI staff coordinated by Dr Martin Andersen with the help of Marie Curie Fellow Dr Mark Cuthbert. The observatory, funded by the Groundwater Education Investment Fund, is remotely collecting stream and recharge data from flow events in the ephemeral Middle Creek. The data will establish the importance of stream recharge in semi-arid environments. Data from all sites can be accessed via the CWI website (click on Groundwater EIF). The successful completion of the GEIF was followed by the successful award of CRIS and NCRIS funding from the Federal Government to maintain the groundwater infrastructure. A further ~ $750,000 of investment secures the maintenance of the infrastructure sites until the end of 2015.

In 2013 the CWI continued to play a major role within the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, an Australian Research Council and National Water Commission co-funded Centre of Excellence. In 2013 we remained at full staffing capacity, and we focused on the submission of research papers and delivering conference presentations on our research. Our NCGRT research was well represented at the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) Annual Congress in Perth, with three keynotes presented by Gabriel Rau, Ian Acworth and Andy Baker, and many other presentations by the CWI team. An aquitard session was convened at IAH2013 with keynote by Prof Jim Hendry, our NCGRT international scholar, and showcasing many aspects of CWI aquitards research. The CWI team was also well represented at the world’s largest geoscience conference, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

In 2013, former CWI Director Prof. Ian Acworth was presented with the IAH Presidents Award by Prof. Ken Howard for his outstanding international contributions to the development or application of groundwater science, and to furthering IAH’s mission to promote understanding and management of groundwater resource. Gregoire Mariethoz also received the prestigious 2013 Andrei Borisovich Vistelius Research Award of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences. Gregorie was invited to collect his award and give a keynote presentation at the IAMG conference. Dr Wendy Timms received the NCGRT annual award for excellence in industry engagement and training. One paper published last year by CWI researchers Adam Hartland, Wendy Timms and Andy Baker was highlighted as Editor’s Choice in Environmental Research Letters. CWI media releases in 2013 include the use of heat as a tracer, on aquitards, and on caves as observatories.

As 2013 came to an end, the CWI team were focussing on the commencement of several new major projects. Bryce Kelly is leading a major project to establish baseline water quality data in future coal seam gas development areas, funded by the Cotton RDC. Andy Baker and Martin Andersen held the first project meetings for their new ARC Linkage Project which investigates the effects of fire on karst landscapes. Andy Baker and Wendy Timms were commencing the procurement process for their ARC LIEF grant to support an organic isotope mass spectrometry facility to be housed at the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, and Cameron Holley was celebrating the successful award of an ARC DECRA.

Centre Director’s Introduction

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Key Performance Indicators for the CWI as detailed our 2012-2017 Business Plan are to: • Keep UNSW at the forefront of groundwater

research in Australia

• Raise UNSW profile by successfully maintaining long-term groundwater monitoring sites

• Increase staffing capacity in groundwater at UNSW, especially by attracting high quality PhD students, international post-doctoral researchers and international collaborators.

Summary of CWI goals and performance

Dayna McGeeney sampling pore fluids from a tracer test on an aquitard

core sample being spun in the Geo-centrifuge at the Water Research

Laboratory

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With respect to these indicators, in 2013 the CWI:

• Published one scholarly book chapter, 35 journal articles, 53 conference presentations and 1 technical report.

• Attracted international collaborators including Mark Cuthbert (EU Marie Curie fellowship) and Denis O’Carroll (Visiting Researcher).

• Successfully met NCGRT Key Performance Indicator targets.

• Maintained full NCGRT staffing.

• Continued the use of the Wellington Field Training facility for undergraduate student training.

• Successfully completed the DIISR Super Science funding program for the Groundwater Education Infrastructure Fund (GEIF).

• Did a major redevelopment of the successful CWI Website.

• CWI Successfully secured Cat 1 and Cat 2 funding: ARC linkage grant: Fire on Karst; Cotton RDC: Quantifying the uncertainty associated with predicting coal seam gas productions impacts.

In 2014, the major goals for CWI are:• To increase the portfolio of research grants,

including category 1 and 2 funding from the Government.

• Continue to meet NCGRT Key Performance Indicator targets and to finalise official NCGRT commitments on time by end of June 2014.

• To successfully maintain the GEIF groundwater infrastructure under the CRIS and NCRIS funding from the Federal Government.

• Continued use of the Wellington Field Training facility, including undergraduate field teaching in Engineering.

• To support the development of centre staff, especially the development of NCGRT early career researchers and professional staff.

• To increase the number of new PhD students.

keep UNSW at the forefront of groundwater research in Australia

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Significant managerial or personnel changes

Through 2013 the CWI management team consisted of Andy Baker (Director) and Martin Andersen (Associate Director), with the support of Tony Woo (Manager). By the start of 2014 the presiding faculty is Science.

By the end of 2013 the Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre had the following staff make up (funding source in brackets):

Director

Professor Andy Baker (BEES)

Associate Director

Senior Lecturer Martin Andersen (CVEN)

Centre Manager

Mr Antonio Woo (Groundwater EIF, CWI)

Academics

Prof Ian Acworth (CVEN), Dr Cameron Holley (LAW), A/Prof. Bryce Kelly (BEES), Dr Gregoire Mariethoz (CVEN), Dr Wendy Timms (MINE).

Post-doctoral Researchers

Dr. Helen Rutlidge, Dr. Alessandro Comunian, Dr. Sanjeev Jha, Dr. Mark Cuthbert, Dr. Hamid Roshan, Dr. Hoori Ajami, Dr. Gabriel Rau, Dr. Catherine Jex, Dr. Andrew McCallum*, Dr. Ander Guinea, Dr. Steve Bouzalakos, Dr Esmaeilabadi Ershadi

* post-doctoral researcher that completed in 2013

Professional Staff

Mark Whelan, Dayna McGeeney, Evan Jensen, Peter Graham

Centre Affiliates

Dr. Dioni Cendón, Janice Gray, Assoc. Prof. Stuart Khan, Dr. Karina Meredith, Dr. Andrew McCallum

Record of dates and attendance of management and advisory committee

9th Management Board Meeting, 1st May 2013, BEES

Prof. Andy Baker (Director CWI), Dr Martin Andersen (Associate Director, CWI), Prof Graham Davies, Prof Merlin Crossley, Prof. Stephen Foster, A/Prof Tracey Rogers (standing in for David Cohen), Dr Bill Peirson. Apologies: None

10th Management Board Meeting, 29th October 2013, BEES

Prof. Andy Baker (Director CWI), Dr Martin Andersen (Associate Director, CWI), Prof Merlin Crossley, Prof. Stephen Foster, Prof. William Sherwin (for David Cohen), Dr Bill Peirson, Apologies: Prof. Graham Davies.

Directors End-of-2013 Report, 9th January 2014 (Meeting in correspondence in place of a Management Board Meeting)

Staff and meetings

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Teaching and research supervision carried out by the Centre on behalf of academic units

Centre staff employed by the Schools of CVEN, BEES, MENG and UNSW Law and Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre contributed the following UNSW teaching in 2013:

GEOS1111 Fundamentals of GeologyGEOS1211 Environmental Earth Science GEOS2291 Ground and Surface Water CVEN3501 Water Resources Engineering CVEN3702 Solid WasteGEOS3761 Quaternary Environments CVEN4503 Groundwater Resource Investigation CVEN4703 Advanced Water Quality CVEN4501 Catchment And Water Resources Modelling GEOS6733 Environmental GeophysicsGEOS6734 3D Geological Modelling for Groundwater, Mining, Oil and Gas CVEN9610 Surface Water HydrologyCVEN9611 Urban hydrologyCVEN9612 Catchment and Water Resources Modelling CVEN9884 Environmental Engineering Science 1 CVEN9885 Environmental Engineering Science 2 CVEN9901 Special topics in Civil and Environmental Engineering: Data Mining, inference and Prediction MINE1010 Mineral resources engineeringMINE3220 Resource estimationMINE3430 Mining systems MINE3910 Socio-environmental aspects of mining MINE8760 Mine geology and geophysicsMINE8850 Mine design and feasibility MINE8910 Mine water and waste managementLAWS3361 Environmental Law JURD7361 Environmental LawLAWS8068 Environmental Law in Australia

Finalised PhD Theses in 2013

McCallum, Andrew, M (2013) River-aquifer interactions in a semi-arid environment stressed by groundwater abstraction. Supervisors Andersen and Acworth – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Ongoing PhD Theses

Castilla, Juan R. Novel approaches to groundwater management using complex systems science and agent-based models Supervisors Mariethoz, Andersen (CVEN) and Kelly (BEES)

David, Katarina. Characterisation of low permeability strata in the Sydney Basin. Supervisors Timms, Mitra (MINE) and Baker (BEES)

Graham, Peter. Dissolved Organic Carbon in Groundwater. Supervisors McCabe (CVEN) and Baker (BEES)

Halloran, Landon. Investigation of Surface Water – Groundwater Interactions in Ephemeral Streams Using Heat as a Tracer. Supervisors Andersen and Acworth (CVEN)

Teaching

Fourth year students sampling a GEIF

observation well, during their field course

at the UNSW Wellington Research Station –

Martin S Andersen

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Hocking, Mark. Assessing the Impact of Coal Seam Gas Developments in the Condamine Catchment. Supervisor Kelly (BEES).

Keshavarzi, Mohammedreza. Geochemical and geophysical investigations of carbonate hydrogeology, SE Australia. Supervisors Baker and Kelly (BEES)

Markowska, Monika. Speleothem records of past climate and groundwater recharge in SE Australia Supervisors Baker (BEES), Treble (ANSTO) and Andersen (CVEN)

Mahmud, Kashif. Geological Texture Synthesis by Conditional Image Quilting. Supervisors Mariethoz (CVEN) and Baker (BEES)

Peterson, Mark. Interpreting fractured rock aquifers and groundwater residence time using radioisotopes. Supervisors Andersen and Acworth (CVEN)

Tadros, Carol. Geochemical signatures of past climate varaiability in speleothems from Yarrangobilly Caves. Supervisors Baker (BEES) and Treble (ANSTO)

Zainuddin, Nur S. Sources and mobility of arsenic in alluvial river sediments. Supervisors Andersen (CVEN) and Baker (BEES)

Master Theses

Islam, Mohammad Sohidul (2013) A Human Right to Water: Challenges and Opportunities for Ensuring this Right in Bangladesh. UNSW Law.

Ali, Mohammad Zulfikar (2013) How Effective are International and Domestic Laws in Protecting Workers: Occupational Health and Safety Rights in the Shipbreaking Industry of Bangladesh? What Role Could the National Court Play in Accordance with Their Constitutional. UNSW Law.

Honours Theses

Cameron, Bronwyn (2013) Geophysical investigation of recharge through clayey soil. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Supervisor Dr Guinea – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Chung, Andrew (2013) Dissolved gases and geochemical tracers as early indicators of potential leakage from CSG operations. (Supervisor Dr Bouzalakos – School of Mining Engineering)

Davision, Edwina (2013) The Effects of Antecedent Climatic Conditions on Ground Water and Surface Water Interaction (Supervisor Andersen – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).

Frecker, Jonathan (2013) Comparison of Hydraulic heads, Heat and 222-Radon as Natural Tracers For Groundwater – Surface Water Interactions (Supervisors Andersen and Rau – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).

Liu, Habio (2013) Design of a low permeability barrier (LPB) to limit seepage between an open pit mine and a river. (Supervisor Dr Crane - School of Mining Engineering)

Maric, Ivona (2013) Groundwater Quality Changes in a Costal Aquifer Due to Groundwater Abstraction – A Case Study (Supervisor Andersen – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).

Nguyen, Dong Ngoc Phuong (2013) Groundwater-Surace Water Interaction During Flooding (Supervisor Andersen – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).

Rosendorff, Richard (2013) An Evaluation of Ground Penetrating Radar for Mapping Fracture Networks in the Hawkesbury Sandstone. (Supervisors Baker and Kelly – School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Walker, Alice (2013) Submarine Groundwater Discharge and its Correlations to Seagrass Meadow Distributions at Salamander Bay (Australia). (Supervisor Andersen – School of Civil and Environmental Engineering).

Zhao, David (2013) The effect of process water seepage on the hydraulic integrity of low permeability clay liners in tailings storage facilities. (Supervisor Dr Bouzalakos – School of Mining Engineering)

Zhong, Yinxia (2013) Geotechnical and geochemical stability of clayey rocks interacting with groundwater seepage to mines. (Supervisor Timms – School of Mining Engineering)

Research Thesis (Law)

Ansell, Laura (2013) Protecting the Environment of the Deep Seabed Through the Principle Of the Common Heritage of Mankind. UNSW Law.

Chen, Julia (2013) Challenges and Recommendations for Logging Practices in the Solomon Islands. UNSW Law.

Ellicott, Thomas (2013) Incentive systems to achieve beyond compliance in water management regulation. UNSW Law.

Fetchet, Jacqueline (2013) The Carbon Farming Initiative in Indigenous Communities: Enabling Access for Landholders in Northern Australia. UNSW Law.

Norquay, Melinda (2013) Public Participation in the current and new planning system – will reforms be an improvement or keep the status quo for New South Wales? UNSW Law.

Perrottet, Oliver (2013) Local Land Services: An Effective Tool For The Conservation Of Biodiversity On Private Land In NSW. UNSW Law.

PhD recruitment

Postgraduate recruitment through the UNSW International Scholarship Scheme was steady in 2013, with UNSW and NCGRT scholarships awarded to Monika Markowska and Mohammedreza Keshavarzi. Also awarded with a UNSW PhD scholarship was Carol Tadros and Katarina David.

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Wellington Karst 2013 Tracer Infiltration Experiment. Top: Ice added to the irrigation tank by Prof Andy Baker, post-

doctoral researcher Helen Rutlidge and PhD student Peter Graham. Bottom: Waiting in the cave for the infiltration water

to arrive – Martin S Andersen

CVEN, BEES, MENG and UNSW Law and Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre contributed to UNSW teaching in 2013

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Research Highlights

The CWI team does groundwater

speed dating at an UNSW

NCGRT meeting – Andy Baker

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Our research in 2013 focussed on our two largest and on-going research grants, the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training and the Groundwater Education Investment Fund.

National Centre for Groundwater Research & Training

Within the Australian Research Council and National Water Commission co-funded Centre for Excellence for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT), we maintained full staffing capacity throughout 2013. The NCGRT provided approximately $6.9M funding for the training of Honours, PhD and post-doctoral researchers from 2009 to 2014. In 2013, $1.56M of funding was available and supported our post-doctoral, PhD and Honours team. The Centre has matured significantly and is now producing a large volume of research and outreach outputs and achieved its key performance indicators for December 2013. The UNSW-NCGRT team, all based in the CWI, published many high quality papers in international peer-reviewed journals in 2013 from research funded in the NCGRT (see publication list on page 23).

In addition to the published papers, numerous presentations of research findings were given at the International Association of Hydrogeologists Congress in Perth, the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco and the International Mine Water Association (IMWA) conference in Colorado, US. The NCGRT also supported workshops at UNSW. A 4-day Solute and Reactive Transport Modelling workshop was held at the UNSW Water Research Laboratory in November with lectures given by Henning Prommer (UWA), Vincent Post (Flinders) and Jim Davis (James A Davis & Associates).

For further information see:

http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news-media-0/newshttp://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/12/cwi-agu-fall-meetinghttp://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/12/cwi-perth-iah-septemberhttp://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/12/prof-ian-acworth-receives-iah-presidents-award-perth-2013-iah-congress

NCGRT

NCGRT Centre Director Prof Craig Simmons awarding

Dr Wendy Timms the 2013 annual NCGRT award for

excellence in industry engagement and training.

the Centre has matured significantly and is now producing a large volume of research and outreach outputs

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Installation of the new Mountain Front Hydrological Observatory (MFHO) in the Maules Creek catchment in northern NSW, funded under the Groundwater Education and Infrastructure Fund (GEIF), was completed in 2013. The MFHO was installed by staff from CWI and Marie Curie Fellow Dr Mark Cuthbert from Birmingham University, UK and is designed to enable a better understanding of the interactions between surface water and groundwater in a semi-arid region where ephemeral streams are the main source of groundwater recharge. Rainfall run off from the steep Nandewar Mountains is focussed at the mountain front into a series of ephemeral creeks which leak into the underlying aquifer used extensively for cotton irrigation. The new facility includes nested piezometers installed at various depths within boreholes located at different distances from the mountain front and from Middle Creek, an ephemeral tributary of Maules Creek. All the piezometers are equipped with data loggers to automatically record the groundwater levels and, in some places, also the groundwater chemistry. A weather station has been installed alongside soil moisture probes for monitoring the background weather conditions and for estimating direct groundwater recharge by rain away from the creeks. The weather station automatically streams data back to UNSW. Probes have been

GEIF

Groundwater Education Investment Fund

installed to monitor borehole and creek water levels and water chemistry as well take water samples throughout flow events for subsequent laboratory analysis. A series of water level recorders and temperature probes have also been installed in the creek bed along a 10 km reach of the creek. Using heat as a tracer, these will enable the timing of the wetting and drying of the creek bed, as well as the rates of water exchange between the creek and the underlying alluvial aquifer, to be determined. The timing, rates and climate conditions which control the amount of recharge in these types of environments are notoriously hard to estimate and there is only a small number of field sites around the world which enable the hydrology of such systems to be studied in such detail. It is hoped that the data from the Maules Creek MFHO will enable better estimates to be made of how groundwater resources are renewed and how climate change might affect water availability in an already water-stressed area. Much of the infrastructure is telemetered and the data can be viewed online at the Super Science Initiative Namoi Groundwater Data Portal.

Also completed in 2013 is the upgrade of the arid zone rainfall monitoring facilities at the UNSW Fowlers Gap Research Station in western NSW. The site now provides rainfall, video

Fowlers Gap Namoi Ti Tree Ovens

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and groundwater data feeds via the internet. Rainfall has been monitored at the 400 km2 arid zone research station at Fowlers Gap since the early 1970s. Each paddock at the research station has a representative total rain gauge that has been monitored after each rainfall event. There are 18 rainfall gauges distributed at a density of approximately 1 every 20 km2.

Now, the Fowlers Gap site is monitored using the Telstra 3G network. The 18 manual gauges have been replaced with tipping-bucket gauges linked to a data transmission network that makes it possible to view the daily data from the farm office or remotely via the web.

In 2013 CWI received additional funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) for the Groundwater Education Investment Fund (GEIF). In August, contracts were exchanged for a further $350,000 of funding to support the GEIF infrastructure over the period 1 August 2013 to 30 June 2015. While this additional funding was announced by the Treasurer in the 2013-14 Budget for the renewal of NCRIS, the details were finalised more recently. The NCRIS funding augments the earlier Collaborative Research Infrastructure

Scheme (CRIS) funding of $488,250 received at the beginning of 2013. The additional funding will support the appointment of Technical Officers at the based at Flinders University GEIF sites at Willunga and Ti Tree and the UNSW GEIF sites at Namoi, Fowlers Gap and Wellington. Evan Jensen has been appointed at UNSW under the CRIS funding. Evan has a BS Eng. (Hydrology and Water Resources) from the University of Arizona and is based at the CWI offices at Manly Vale. Evan is responsible for managing the Namoi and Wellington GEIF Sites. The funding will also cover the costs of maintenance of the GEIF for the two years ending on 30 June 2015.

Links:

http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/groundwater-eifhttp://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/11/new-mountain-front-hydrological-observatory-maules-creek-nsw http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/groundwater-eif/fowlers-gap http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/08/completion-fowlers-gap-geif-project

Basic geology at the Fowlers Gap arid-zone research station

superimposed on a Google Earth image. Groundwater bores are

shown.

Superscience Groundwater Database of data collected by groundwater monitoring infrastructure.

...weather station automatically streams data back to UNSW...

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Commissioning of the GEIF ITRAX

core-scanner, housed within

the Mark Wainwright Analytical

Centre by Dayna McGeeney,

Helen Rutlidge, Sarah Kelloway

(MWAC) with Cox Analytical staff

– Andy Baker

GEIF infrastructure: Top: Automated

camera shot during a flow event in

Middle Creek. The solar powered

huts in the foreground house auto

samplers and data loggers for

borehole and in-creek monitoring.

Middle: Peter Graham and Andy

Baker sampling borehole at the

Wellington GEIF site. Bottom: Fowlers

Gap streambed installation

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GEIF Equipment

Aqualog

Itax core scanner

Geoprobe

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Other ARC Projects

In 2013 Baker, Andersen was awarded funding for the ARC-Linkage project: “To what extent does fire affect karst processes? Burning questions for fire management”. Along with project partners NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, ANSTO, the University of Birmingham and consultancy Optimal Karst Management, the research project aims to investigate the impact of fire on infiltration water chemistry and karstification processes for the first time. By the end of the year, contracts were signed and an initial project meeting was held in December at ANSTO.

The ARC DP10 Discovery Grant investigating lipid and lignin phenol biomarkers continued in 2013. Research highlights included the establishment of the lignin phenol methodology at UNSW, and the generation of lipid GDGT and TEX86 biomarker data from soils from regional cave sites. Extensive fieldwork and associated laboratory analyses focussed on the Yarrangobilly site within the Snowy Mountains. By the end of the year, two papers were accepted for publication, reporting the lipid biomarker results, and reviewing the environmental signal contained in lignin phenols.The project concludes in 2014.

At the end of 2013, Baker, Timms were awarded an ARC LEIF (LE14) grant. The project, “A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research” has partners from across UNSW (MWAC, Ecosystem Science, CCRC) and externally (UQ, including CWI Alumni Larsen) and Monash (with NCGRT collaborator Cartwright). The mass spectrometer will be the second established by the CWI (following a successful LEIF application in 2011), and both instruments will be housed in UNSW’s MWAC.

Also in 2013 Cameron Holley (pictured left) was successful in securing an ARC DECRA award. Cameron’s project is entitled “Revitalising collaborative water governance: lessons from water planning in Australia”. Over the next 3 years, Camron will critically evaluate collaborative water planning in different Australian states. The results will provide legal and policy prescriptions to reshape water strategy, ensure meaningful collaborative community engagement and effectively and efficiently reduce the

over-allocation and overuse of surface water and ground water in Australia.

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Cotton Research and Development Corporation Projects

A new project was awarded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) in 2013: Quantifying the Uncertainty Associated with Predicting Coal Seam Gas Production Impacts. The $375,000 project, led by Associate Professor Bryce Kelly, is a collaborative project with Prof. Euan Nisbet, Dr Dave Lowry, Dr Rebecca Fisher, and Dr James France (all from Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Dioni Cendon (ANSTO) and PhD candidate Mark Hocking. This project will assess the extent of hydraulic connectivity between aquifers used for gas production from within the Walloon Coal Measures and aquifers used by farmers in the Condamine Catchment in South-East Queensland. This will be achieved by examining the chemistry of the groundwater, measuring the concentration of methane in the groundwater and air, mapping the geology of the region in 3D, analysing the historical groundwater level and chemical data sets, and examining pumping impact scenarios. Historically groundwater chemistry surveys have focused on the QLD government groundwater-monitoring network. This will be the first time that groundwater from the irrigation boreholes will be analysed in detail. The project will allow quantification of the potential long-term impacts on farmers’ access to good quality groundwater for irrigated agriculture in the Condamine Alluvium.

For further information see:

http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/news/2014/01/study-assess-water-connectivity-condamine

Post Doc Fellow Dr Andrew M. McCallum funded by the CRDC (and in the first half of 2013 by GEIF) left CWI in 2013 to take up a position with the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer.

Other grants

In 2013 CWI was awarded a UNSW MREII grant to purchase 5 state-of-art EXO2 in-situ water quality probes (in collaboration with colleagues from Ecosystem Science, MWAC, BEES).

Drilling crewmen control a small

blowout at the mouth of a well for

coal seam gas

Lakeview Images / Shutterstock.com

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G@GPS Groundwater@GlobalPaleoclimatic Signals

The G@GPS project went through its second year gaining momentum particularly in the Africa region and in the coordination of research proposals within the network. The yearly continental focus established in our initial objectives has been a great achievement as it has allowed a concentration of efforts in less developed African countries. The initial contacts in Africa have started to engage providing new basins (Benin Coastal Aquifers – Benin, Maputo Basin – Mozambique, Kahe Basin – Tanzania). New samples are coming on-line from those three basins that will fill in details on palaeo-recharge of groundwater in tropical areas (Benin, Tanzania) and higher latitudes (Mozambique).

The project has members from 34 countries with a strong presence in Africa (11 countries). Over 2013 most activities have been organised by members from: Australia, Norway, Mozambique, China, Estonia and The Netherlands. However, we have funded (fully or partially) active members of the network attending our meeting from: Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania). We also have had fully self-funded active members from Denmark and USA.

For further information:

http://www.gw-gps.com/events-newsletter/

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the objective to obtain an improved and quantitative understanding of how groundwater directly influences the water quality of our river and surface water systems

IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) – Environmental isotopes to assess groundwater impacts on surface water quality

UNSW and Monash University became the offical Australian representatives for the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled “Environmental isotopes to assess groundwater impacts on surface water quality”. This international coordinated research project under the guidance of the international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was set up with “the objective to obtain an improved and quantitative understanding of how groundwater directly influences the water quality of our river and surface water systems. The CRP will test proven and novel stable and radiogenic isotopic approaches to assess and map ground- surface water connectivity, evaluate the impacts of groundwater discharge on river water flow and quality, and help inform current riverine management models. The CRP will encourage interdisciplinary nuclear technology transfer, with the aim to develop diagnostic stable and radiogenic isotopic tools that can be applied in UN Member States for the purposes of solving surface water quality issues involving rivers and streams where groundwater impacts are a factor.” In 2013, the effects of pumping near a connected stream was examined in a field experiment by monitoring radon activity, organic matter fluorescense and heat tracing as well as inorganic water quality.

Visiting Associate Professor Denis O’Carroll (University of

Western Ontario) processing anaerobic water samples for

iron, arsenic and organic matter processing at the Bellevue

site on the bank of the Namoi River, NSW – Martin S

Andersen

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Finance

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In-kind contributions including academic/other salaries, infrastructure and resources provided to the centreAcademic salaries are contributed by the Schools of BEES, CVEN, MINE and LAW; related infrastructure and resources including offices, website hosting and administration support are provided by BEES and CVEN, the latter including a base at the Water Research Laboratory, Manly Vale. From 2013 the School of Mining Engineering supports Mark Whelan’s continuing position.

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Publications

Chapter - Scholarly Research

Chivas A, García A., Cendón* D.I. (2013). Lake Carpentaria In: Geology of Queensland Ed: Jell P.A. Queensland Government, pp. 663-664. (ISBN 9781921489761).

Journal - Refereed & Scholarly Articles

Atkinson, A. P., Cartwright, I., Gilfedder, B. S., Hofmann, H., Unland, N. P., Cendón*, D. I., and Chisari, R., (2013). A multi-tracer approach to quantifying groundwater inflows to an upland river; assessing the influence of variable groundwater chemistry: Hydrological Processes, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10122

Baker*, A., Bradley, C., & Phipps, S. J. (2013). Hydrological modeling of stalagmite response to glacial-interglacial transitions. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(12), 3207-3212. doi:10.1002/grl.50555

Bertoncello, A., Sun, T., Li, H., Mariethoz*, G., & Caers, J. (2013). Conditioning Surface-Based Geological Models to Well and Thickness Data. Mathematical Geosciences, 45(7), 873-893. doi:10.1007/s11004-013-9455-4

Bouzalakos*, S., Dudeney, A. W. L., & Chan, B. K. C. (2013). Formulating and optimising the compressive strength of controlled low-strength materials containing mine tailings by mixture design and response surface methods. Minerals Engineering, 53, 48-56. doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2013.07.007

Brennan, S.T., Lowenstein, T.K., Cendón*, D.I. (2013). The major-ion composition of Cenozoic seawater: the past 36 million years from fluid inclusions in marine halite. American Journal of Science 313, 713–775.

Currell, M., Cendón*, D.I., Chen X. (2013). Analysis of environmental isotopes in groundwater to understand the responses of a vulnerable coastal aquifer to pumping. Hydrogeology Journal 21(7), 1413-1427.

Cuthbert*, M. O., Mackay, R., & Nimmo, J. R. (2013). Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17(3), 1003-1019. doi:10.5194/hess-17-1003-2013

Cuthbert*, M. O., and R. Mackay (2013). Impacts of nonuniform flow on estimates of vertical streambed flux, Water Resour. Res., 49, doi:10.1029/2011WR011587.

Cuthbert*, M. O., McMillan, L. A., Handley-Sidhu, S., Riley, M. S., Tobler, D. J., & Phoenix, V. R. (2013). A Field and Modeling Study of Fractured Rock Permeability Reduction Using Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(23), 13637-13643. doi:10.1021/es402601g

Djalante, R., Holley*, C., Thomalla, F., & Carnegie, M. (2013). Pathways for adaptive and integrated disaster resilience. Natural Hazards, 69(3), 2105-2135. doi:10.1007/s11069-013-0797-5

Domínguez-Villar, D., Fairchild, I. J., Baker*, A., Carrasco, R. M., & Pedraza, J. (2013). Reconstruction of cave air temperature based on surface atmosphere temperature and vegetation changes: Implications for speleothem palaeoclimate records. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 369-370, 158-168. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.017

Ershadi*, A., McCabe, M. F., Evans, J. P., & Walker, J. P. (2013). Effects of spatial aggregation on the multi-scale estimation of evapotranspiration. Remote Sensing of Environment, 131, 51-62. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.12.007

Ershadi*, A., McCabe, M. F., Evans, J. P., Mariethoz*, G., & Kavetski, D. (2013). A Bayesian analysis of sensible heat flux estimation: Quantifying uncertainty in meteorological forcing to improve model prediction. Water Resources Research, 49(5), 2343-2358. doi:10.1002/wrcr.20231

García-Veigas, J., Cendón*, D.I., Rosell, L., Ortí, F.,Torres, Ruiz J., Martín, J.M., Sanz, E. (2013). Salt deposition and brine evolution in the Granada Basin (Late Tortonian, SE Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 369, 452-465.

Greve*, A. K., Roshan*, H., Kelly*, B. F. J., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Electrical conductivity of partially saturated porous media containing clay: An improved formulation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 118(7), 3297-3303. doi:10.1002/jgrb.50270

Handley-Sidhu, S, Sham, E., Cuthbert*, M. O., Nougarol, S., Mantle, M., Johns, M. L., Macaskie, L. E., & Renshaw, J. C. (2013). Kinetics of calcite precipitation by urease active bean meal and permeability reduction of porous media evidenced by magnetic resonance imaging. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol., 10, 881–890.

Holley*, C., & Sinclair, D. (2013). Deliberative participation, environmental law and collaborative governance: Insights from surface and groundwater studies. Environmental and Planning Law Journal, 30, 32-55.

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Holley*, C., & Sinclair, D. (2013). Non-Urban Water Metering Policy: Water Users’ Views on Metering Upgrades in New South Wales, Australia. The Australasian Journal of Natural Resources Law and Policy, 16(2), 101-131.

Jex, C. N., Phipps, S. J., Baker*, A., & Bradley, C. (2013). Reducing uncertainty in the climatic interpretations of speleothem δ18O. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 2259–2264 doi:10.1002/grl.50467

Jha*, S. K., Mariethoz*, G., & Kelly*, B. F. J. (2013).Bathymetry fusion using multiple-point geostatistics: Novelty and challenges in representing non-stationary bedforms. Environmental Modelling & Software, 50, 66-76. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2013.09.001

Jiang, Z., Mariethoz*, G., Taulis, M., & Cox, M. (2013). Determination of vertical hydraulic conductivity of aquitards in a multilayered leaky system using water-level signals in adjacent aquifers. Journal of Hydrology, 500, 170-182. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.07.030

Jiang, Z., Schrank, C., Mariethoz*, G., & Cox, M. (2013). Permeability estimation conditioned to geophysical downhole log data in sandstones of the northern Galilee Basin, Queensland: Methods and application. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 93, 43-51. doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2013.03.008

Kelly*, B. F. J., Timms*, W. A., Andersen*, M. S., McCallum*, A. M., Blakers, R. S., Smith, R., Rau*, G. C., Badenhop, A., Ludowici, K., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Aquifer heterogeneity and response time: the challenge for groundwater management. Crop and Pasture Science, 64(12), 1141-1154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CP13084

Kessler, T. C., Comunian*, A., Oriani, F., Bjerg, P. L., Nilsson, B., Klint, K. E., Renard, P. (2013). Modeling fine-scale geological heterogeneity-examples of sand lenses in tills. Groundwater, 51(5), 692-705. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2012.01015.x

McCallum*, A. M., Andersen*, M. S., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). A New Method for Estimating Recharge to Unconfined Aquifers Using Differential River Gauging. Ground Water 52(2), p. 291–297. doi:10.1111/gwat.12046

McCallum*, A. M., Andersen*, M. S., Giambastiani, B. M. S., Kelly*, B. F. J., & I Acworth*, R. (2013). River-aquifer interactions in a semi-arid environment stressed by groundwater abstraction. Hydrological Processes, 27(7), 1072-1085. doi:10.1002/hyp.9229

Meerschman, E., Pirot, G., Mariethoz*, G., Straubhaar, J., Van Meirvenne, M., & Renard, P. (2013). A practical guide to performing multiple-point statistical simulations with the Direct Sampling algorithm. Computers & Geosciences, 52, 307-324. doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2012.09.019

Meredith*, K., Hollins, S., Hughes, C., Cendón*, D. I., Stone, D. (2013). The influence of groundwater/surface water exchange on stable water isotopic signatures along the Darling River, NSW, Australia. In: Ribeiro, L., Stigter, T.Y., Chambel, A., Condesso de Melo, M.T., Monteiro, J.P., Medeiros, A. (Eds.), Groundwater and Ecosystems (IAH - Selected Papers on Hydrogeology) CRC Press/Balkema, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp. 57-68. (ISBN: 978-1-138-00033-9)

Rawluk, A., Curtis, A., Sharp, E., Kelly*, B. F. J., Jakeman, A. J., Ross, A., Qureshi, M. E. (2013). Managed aquifer recharge in farming landscapes using large floods: an opportunity to improve outcomes for the Murray-Darling Basin?. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 20(1), 34-48. doi:10.1080/14486563.2012.724785

Rezaee, H., Mariethoz*, G., Koneshloo, M., & Asghari, O. (2013). Multiple-point geostatistical simulation using the bunch-pasting direct sampling method. Computers & Geosciences, 54, 293-308. doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2013.01.020

Roshan*, H., & Rahman, S. S. (2013). Effects of Ion Advection and Thermal Convection on Pore Pressure Changes in High Permeable Chemically Active Shale Formations. Petroleum Science and Technology, 31(7), 727-737. doi:10.1080/10916466.2010.531861

Roshan*, H., & Rahman, S. S. (2013). The Effect of Water Content on Stress Changes Around a Wellbore Drilled in a Chemically Active Elastoplastic Formation. Petroleum Science and Technology, 31(20), 2118-2126. doi:10.1080/10916466.2011.553649

Treble, P. C., Bradley, C., Wood, A., Baker*, A., Jex*, C. N., Fairchild, I. J., Azcurra*, C. (2013). An isotopic and modelling study of flow paths and storage in Quaternary calcarenite, SW Australia: implications for speleothem paleoclimate records. Quaternary Science Reviews, 64, 90-103. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.12.015

Turner, I. L., Rau*, G. C., Andersen*, M. S., Puleo, J. A., Austin, M. J., & Masselink, G. (2013). Coastal sand barrier hydrology - Observations from the BARDEX II prototype-scale laboratory experiment. Journal of Coastal Research, Spec. Issue 65, 1886-1891. doi:10.2112/SI65-319

Unland, N. P., Cartwright, I., Andersen*, M. S., Rau*, G. C., Reed, J., Gilfedder, B. S., Hofmann, H. (2013). Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17(9), 3437-3453. doi:10.5194/hess-17-3437-2013

Conference Publications – Conference Papers and Abstracts

Ajami*, H., Evans, J. P., Mccabe, M. F., & Stisen, S. (2013). How Can the Required Spin-up Time of Integrated Hydrologic Models be Reduced? American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Andersen*, M. S., Cuthbert*, C. O., Rau*, G. C., Roshan*, H., Rutlidge*, H., Marjo, C., Baker*, A. (2013). A groundwater recharge experiment in karst: Wellington Caves, NSW. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Andersen*, M. S., Cuthbert*, M. O., Rau*, G. C., Baker*, A., Roshan*, H., Rutlidge*, H., Graham*, P. W. (2013). Drip-Water Temperatures in Caves: Surface Signals or Cave Processes? – Implications for Speleothem Deposits and Paleoclimate Archives. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Baker*, A. (2013). Hydrological modelling of stalagmite oxygen isotope response to glacial-interglacial transitions. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Baker*, A., Graham*, P. W., Grbich*, N., Chinu, K., & Yu, D. (2013). Organic Carbon Fluxes in a Stressed Groundwater System. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Bouzalakos*, S., Timms*, W., Chung, A., Pate, G., Crane*, R., McGeeney*, D., & Whelan*, M. (2013). Early detection of groundwater contamination through confining strata - applications in mining, CSG extraction and geological storage of CO

2 and nuclear waste.

40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Bouzalakos*, S., & Timms*, W. A. (2013). The importance of confining strata integrity in mining, coal seam gas extraction and geological storage of industrial waste (CO

2 and nuclear):

towards early detection indicators of potential groundwater contamination. In 6th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry (SDIMI). Milos island, Greece: Heliotopos Conferences.

Bouzalakos*, S., Timms*, W. A., Rahman, P. F., McGeeney*, D. E., & Whelan*, M. (2013). Geotechnical centrifuge permeameter for characterising the hydraulic integrity of partially saturated confining strata for CSG operations. In Annual International Mine Water Association Conference - Reliable Mine Water Technology (Vol II) (pp. 1193-1198). Denver, Colorado, USA.

Castilla-Rho*, J.C., Mariethoz*, G., Kelly*, B.F.J., & Andersen*, M.S. (2013): Stochastic reconstruction of paleovalley morphology using sparse datasets. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Cendón*, D.I., Meredith*, K., Hughes, C.E., Hollins, S.E., Currell, M. Markowska*, M. (2013) Groundwater in southeast Australia: Links to recharge variations and past climates. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Comunian*, A., Ajami*, H., & Kelly*, B. (2013). Quantifying groundwater recharge from floods in semi-arid environments. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Comunian*, A., King, A., Jha, S., Kelly*, B., Mariethoz*, Cox, M., Raiber, M. (2013). A comparison of two multiple-point statistics approaches for characterisation of the Cressbrook Creek alluvial aquifer, Queensland, Australia. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Crane*, R., Timms*, W. A., Bouzalakos*, S., McGeeney*, D., Whelan*, M., & Hendry, J. (2013). Accelerating solute transport experiments in a low permeability matrix. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Crane*, R., Hartland*, A., & Timms*, W. (2013). Direct measurement of pore water d2H and d18O from drill core samples via H2O(liquid) – H2O(vapour) equilibrium laser spectroscopy. Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG 10), 22 - 27th of September 2013, Budapest, Hungary.

Currell, M., Cendón*, D.I., Cheng, X. (2013). Analysis of environmental isotopes in groundwater to understand the physical and chemical responses of a coastal aquifer to pumping. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Cuthbert*, M. O. (2013). Thinking straight about groundwater recession. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Cuthbert*, M. O. (2013). Are we thinking straight about groundwater recession? American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Guinea* A, Timms* W, Acworth* I, & McGeeney* D (2013). Comparison of vertical groundwater flow through homogeneous and heterogenous clayey alluvial deposits. International Association of Hydrogeologists, 40th International Congress, Perth, Australia. 16-20th Sept 2013.

Guinea* A, Timms* W. & Acworth* I., (2013). Comparison between the hydraulic properties of two low-permeability alluvial systems supported by geophysical methods. EAGE Near Surface Geoscience 2013, 9-11 September 2013, Bochum, Germany.

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Halloran*, L. J. S., Roshan*, H., Rau*, G., McCallum*, A., Andersen*, M. S., & Acworth*, I. (2013). Effects of floods and groundwater pumping on hyporheic flows measured by coiled fibre-optic distributed temperature sensing. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Halloran*, L. J., Roshan*, H., Andersen*, M. S., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Passive Surface Water-Groundwater Interaction Investigation with Coiled Distributed Temperature Sensing: a New Analytical Approach. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Jex*, C. N., Blyth, A. J., McDonald, J., Woltering, M., Khan, S. J., & Baker*, A. (2013). Characterising the transport and preservation of microbial tetraether membrane lipids in Karst Systems. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Jex*, C. N., Phipps, S. J., Bradley, C., Treble, P. C., & Baker*, A. (2013). Reducing uncertainty in the climatic interpretations of speleothem d18O. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Jha* S.K., Comunian*, A, Mariethoz*, M., Kelly* B.F.J. (2013). Numerical 3D geological modeling using prior knowledge derived from 2D hand-drawn sketches. IAH 2013 Perth Australia, Solving the Groundwater Challenges of the 21st Century. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Kelly*, B. F., Mariethoz*, G., Comunian*, A., & Baker*, A. (2013). A multifractal analysis of laminated stalagmites. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Kelly*, B. F., Mariethoz*, G., Hellstrom, J., & Baker*, A. (2013). A 3000-year annual-resolution record of the North Atlantic Oscillation. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

King, A., Raiber, M., Cendón*, D.I., Cox, M.E. (2013). Use of multi-isotope surveys to identify bedrock-alluvium interactions, Cressbrook Creek Catchment, southeast Queensland. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Leong, S., Taplin, R. E., Hazleton, J., Timms*, W., & Laurence, D. (2013). Mining company information provision for the needs of the local community: Water usage disclosures for the Macquarie and Lachlan Catchments. In 23rd World Mining Congress: Mapping the Future – Advances in Mining Engineering. Montreal, Canada.

Leong, S., Taplin, R. E., Timms*, W., Laurence, D., & Hazleton, J. (2013). Mining company sustainability reporting in the Macquarie and Lachlan catchments, NSW, Australia: Usability for local community needs. In SDIMI2013 (Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry). Milos, Greece.

Mahmud*, K., Mariethoz*, G., & Baker*, A. (2013). Integrating Multiple Scales of Hydraulic Conductivity Measurements in Training Image-Based Stochastic Models. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Markowska*, M., Treble, P., Baker*, A. & Andersen*, M.S. (2013): Monitoring infiltration water at Yarrangobilly Caves, NSW: Implications for past recharge and speleothem paleoclimate reconstructions. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Markowska*, M., Baker*, A., Treble, P., Andersen*, M.S., Hankin, S. (2013): Speleothems as paleoclimate archives: opportunies and challenges. INQUA Early Career Researcher inter-congress meeting December 2nd – 6th, 2013, Wollongong University, New South Wales, Australia.

McCallum*, A. M., Cuthbert*, M. O., Roshan*, H., Rau*, G. C., Andersen*, M. S., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Estimating surface water goundwater intercations using temperature time series for non-uniform and transient conditions. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Meredith*, K., Cendón*, D.I., Hollins, S.E. Pigois, J.P., Schafer, D., Koomberi, H. (2013). Groundwater isotopic signals in the Perth Basin: links to recharge variations and climatic conditions for Western Australia. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Peterson*, M.A., Cendón*, D.I., Hankin, S., Chisari, R. (2013). Discrete interval groundwater samples from uncased boreholes in the Hawkesbury Sandstone, NSW, Australia, reveal mixed results. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Raiber, M., Cox, M.E., Cendón*, D.I., Feitz, A.J. (2013). Groundwater chemistry baseline of the Walloon Coal Measures in the Clarence-Moreton and Surat basins, Queensland, Australia. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Raiber, M., Cox, M.E., Cendón*, D.I., Hartland*, A., James, A. (2013). Isoscapes: a 3D visualisation approach to study aquifer connectivity during drought and flood, Lockyer Valley, southeast Queensland, Australia, 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Rau*, G. C., Andersen*, M. S., McCallum*, A. M., Roshan*, H., Cuthbert*, M. O., & Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Heat as a Tracer of Groundwater Flow: Recent Advances and Future Challenges. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Roshan*, H., & Acworth*. (2013). Pressure transmission test to measure thermo-osmotic conductivity in clay-rich rocks: concept and analytical solution. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Roshan*, H., Cuthbert*, M., Andersen*, M.S., & Acworth*, I. (2013). Validity of the local thermal equilibrium assumption in sediments: implications for the use of heat as a tracer. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Roshan*, H., Young, M., Andersen*, M. S., Halloran*, L., McCallum*, A. M., Rau*, G. C., Acworth*, R. I. (2013). Evaluating thermal response of Fiber Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Rutlidge*, H., Baker*, A., Marjo, C., Andersen*, M. S., Graham*, P. W., Cuthbert*, M. O., Kelloway, S. (2013). Infiltration water organic matter and trace element geochemistry in a semi-arid karst environment: implications for speleothem paleoclimatology. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Saydam, S., Daly, C., Raval, S., & Timms*, W. (2013). Using Moodle As An Open Source Learning Management System in Mining Engineering Education. In The 24th Annual General Meeting of Society of Mining Professors. Milos, Greece.

Saydam, S., Timms*, W., Raval, S., & Daly, C. (2013). Using Moodle - An Open Source Learning Management System in Australian Mining. Engineering Education. In Proceedings INDICON 2013: Impact of Engineering on Global Sustainability. India.

Sharma, A., Khan, U., Tuteja, N. K., & Ajami*, H. (2013). Equivalent Cross Sections - A computationally efficient alternative for distributed hydrological modelling. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December, San Francisco, California, USA.

Sormaz, K, Cohen D.R. and Kelly*, B.F. ‘In-situ measurements of soil helium to detect leakage patterns through transported regolith’, 26th Internal Applied Geochem Symp, Rotorua, 18-22 November 2013.

Timms*, W. A. (2013). Groundwater resources in relation to CSG production. CSG and risks to water catchments and supply. Presentation to NSW Chief Scientist.

Timms*, W. A., Liu, H., & Laurence, D. (2013). Design of a low permeability barrier (LPB) to limit seepage between a mine and a river. In AusIMM (Ed.), Proceedings Water in Mining 2013. AusIMM Water in MIning.

Timms*, W., S. Bouzalakos*, B. Kelly*, R. Crane*, A. Guinea*, I. Acworth*, & David, K. (2013). When is an aquitard an aquiclude? Evaluating the integrity of low permeability strata for mining and CSG developments. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Timms*, W, Leong, S., Taplin, R, Hazelton, J., & Laurence D. (2013). Mine site water information disclosures in the context of watersheds and reporting frameworks, Eastern Australia. In: Brown, A., Figueroa, L., Wolkersdorfer, C. (Eds) Reliable Mine Water Technology, Proceedings of the International Mine Water Association Annual Conference, 5-9 August 2013, Golden, Colorado.

Unland, N.P., Cartwright, I., Cendón*, D.I., Chisari, R. (2013). Tracing the age, origins and hydrodynamics of groundwater and surface water exchange in river banks. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Zoorabadi, M., Saydam, S., Timms*, W. A., & Hebblewhite, B. (2013). Semi-analytical procedure for considering roughness effect on hydraulic properties of standard JRC profiles. In L. J. Pyrak-Nolte (Ed.), 47th US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium 2013. San Francisco, California, USA: The American Rock Mechanics Association.

Zoorabadi, M., Saydam, S., Timms*, W., & Hebblewhite, B. (2013). Development of new test setup to study effect of roughness on water flow through rock joints. 40th IAH Congress. September, Perth, WA, Australia.

Technical Report

Ward, C., & Kelly*, B. F. J. (2013). Background Paper on New South Wales Geology: with a focus on basins containing coal seam gas resources. The University of New South Wales: UNSW Global. Retrieved from http://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/coal-seam-gas-review/csg-background-papers

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PhD student Mohammedreza Keshavarzi, (Reza) and honours

student Richard Rosendorff testing Ground penetrating

Radar equipment (GPR) at Royal National Park – Andy Baker