Collaborative monitoring for sustainable water management in a Mountainous Region in Australia

Much of the world's population, as well as sensitive ecosystems, are dependent on groundwater systems recharged from adjacent mountain ranges. Despite this dependency on groundwater, our understanding of the processes controlling groundwater flow, including recharge, discharge, and storage in mountainous areas, is very limited. In addition, while uptake of groundwater by deep-rooted plants is potentially a significant groundwater discharge pathway, this process represents another large gap in our knowledge about groundwater in mountainous areas.

At Springbrook, in the Gold Coast hinterland, Australia, commercial water extraction is occurring next to a UNESCO World Heritage Listed rainforest, and the local community relies on groundwater for domestic supply. Yet, there is very minimal monitoring data that can be used to assess water availability and sustainably manage this resource. To address this data gap, a water monitoring network has been set up in close collaboration with the local community, First Nations representatives and government collaborators. Monitoring at Springbrook has provided insights into interactions between springs, groundwater, local creeks and deep-rooted vegetation. These insights are informing changes in water management policy.

We are now scaling up the water monitoring network to develop an integrated monitoring network which includes climate, soils, water, vegetation and endangered species monitoring over an altitudinal gradient. The monitoring network is currently being used to support environmental science teaching activities. A visualisation platform has been developed to share information about the monitoring more widely and to help support community engagement and science to policy translation.