Groundwater management policy principles in Australia - quantity, quality & MAR

Transcription

1 Groundwater management policy principles in Australia - quantity, quality & MAR Peter Dillon 1 and Russell Martin 2 1 Co-chair IAH Commission on Managing Aquifer Recharge, CSIRO Honorary Fellow, Adjunct Prof Flinders University, University of Adelaide and Jinan University 2 Managing Dirctor, Aquaeon Pty Ltd, a member of MAR-Hub Water Industry Cluster pdillon500@gmail.com; russell.martin@aqueon.com.au

2 National Policy Initiatives and Objectives National Water Initiative Sharing the water resource to maximise the economic value of Australia s water resources while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders including future generations and sustaining the environment National Water Quality Management Strategy Protecting water quality to sustain all beneficial uses (environmental values)

3 National Water Initiative All water resources owned by the State Separation of land and water entitlements basin-wide water management plans developed based on science and public consultation provision of water for specific environmental outcomes, and balance in pool for consumptive use clear, nationally compatible and secure water access ENTITLEMENTS consumptive pool (fixed %) monitoring, accounting, reporting, compatible registries and public access to all information clear separate process of assignment of periodic ALLOCATIONS based on current water availability in basin to entitlement holders (variable volume) USE CONDITIONS adhered to for efficiency and environment protection integrated management of surface water and groundwater resources recognizing connectivity over-allocated systems recovered to sustainable levels of extraction open water markets for trading in water entitlements and allocations, for more productive water use and enabling more cost-effective and flexible recovery of water effective water accounting: providing information on quantity of water in any basin, where it is, who has control of it, who is using it, and what it is being used for, to support confidence about the amount of water being delivered, traded, extracted and managed

4 Water values, entitlements and allocations Entitlements are a defined share of the allocatable resource Periodic allocations are the volumes allocated to an entitlement holder based on the assessed volume of the pool available for allocation

5 Pathway for policy implementation from regulation to entitlements

6 Complementary demand management and MAR to bring an over-exploited aquifer back into equilibrium Unit cost of loss, from demand reduction or of implement ing MAR, or alternative water supply Cumulative volume saved or supplied

7 MAR Water Resources Policy Framework MAR MAR element: governance instrument: Water capture Recharge Recovery End Use Entitlement Unit share in stormwater or effluent consumptive pool, (ie. excess to environmental flows) Unit share of aquifer s finite additional storage capacity (Tradeable) extraction share which is a function of managed recharge. Governance instrument Periodic allocation Periodic allocation rules. Potential for additional stormwater or effluent offsets Annual right to raise the water table subject to ambient rainfall and total abstraction Extraction volume contingent on ambient conditions, natural recharge and spatial constraints Obligations and condition 3rd party rights of access to infrastructure for stormwater and sewage Requirement not to interfere with entitlements of other water users and water bankers Existing licence may need to be converted to compatible entitlement to extract (unit share) Water use licence subject to regional obligations and conditions, for use and disposal Ward and Dillon (2011). Robust policy design for managed aquifer recharge. NWC Waterlines #38,

8 MAR policy matrix Management Issue: Resource: Surface water Groundwater Quantity Water and Storage Entitlements and Allocation (Waterlines #38, 2011) Environmental flow requirements Water allocation plans and surface water entitlements Inter-jurisdictional agreements Groundwater plan & entitlements allocated Groundwater-dependent ecosystems Demand management Capacity and entitlement for additional storage in the aquifer Transfer of entitlements from MAR operations Inter-jurisdictional agreements Quality Human Health and Environment Protection (MAR guidelines, NWQMS #24, 2009) Catchment pollution control plan Water quality requirements for intended uses Risk management plan for water quality Groundwater quality protection plan for recharged aquifer Water quality requirements for intended uses of groundwater Risk management plan for water quality assurance beyond attenuation zone

9 Interaction between legislative frameworks to achieve groundwater quality protection (from NWQMS Groundwater protection Guidelines 2013)

10 National Water Quality Management Strategy Augmentation of Drinking Water Supplies (2008) Managed Aquifer Recharge (2009) Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse (2009) Water Recycling Phase 2 Water Recycling - Phase 1 (2006) Drinking Water (2004, 2011, 2016) Fresh and Marine Water Quality (2000) Groundwater Protection (1995, 2013) Water Quality Monitoring (2000) Policies and Principles (1994)

11 Underlying Principles for Water Quality Guidelines (NWQMS Groundwater protection Guidelines (2013) Protection or enhancement of a specified Environmental Value ie differential protection policy based on ambient groundwater quality Ecologically Sustainable Development Use of a risk-based approach Polluter pays principle Intergenerational equity Precautionary principle

12 Elements of the risk management framework for water quality and use

13 MAR Guidelines health and environment protection NRMMC, EPHC, NHMRC (2009). Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling, Managing Health and Environmental Risks- Managed Aquifer Recharge. NWQMS Document 24, 237p. Page, D., Dillon, P., Vanderzalm, J., Bekele, E., Barry, K., Miotlinski, K. and Levett, K. (2010). Managed aquifer recharge case study risk assessments. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Report, Dec 2010, 144p /wfhc-MAR-case-study-risk-assessments.pdf

14 MAR Guidelines 1. Purpose and Scope 2. MAR definitions 3. Risk Management Framework 4. Stages of MAR project development 5. Hazard identification and preventive measures 6. Operational issues and their management 7. Monitoring Appendices

15 Confined Aquifer aquifer storage and recovery

16 Unconfined Aquifer soil aquifer treatment

17 Water treatment depends on end use of recovered water for any source of recharged water * * * typical

18 Stages in project development and risk assessment

19 Key hazards in source water, groundwater and aquifer materials for MAR projects Guidelines Hazard 5.1 Pathogens 5.2 Inorganic chemicals 5.3 Salinity and sodicity 5.4 Nutrients 5.5 Organic chemicals 5.6 Turbidity/particulates 5.7 Radionuclides 5.8 Pressure, flow rates, volumes and levels 5.9 Contaminant migration in fractured rock & karstic aquifers 5.10 Aquifer dissolution and aquitard and well stability 5.11 Impacts on groundwater (dependent) ecosystems 5.12 Greenhouse gases

20 For each hazard, MAR guidelines document : Effect of hazard on public health and environment Source or cause of hazard Management of hazard Tables of : Acceptance criteria at each stage of risk assessment Preventive measures Validation monitoring Verification monitoring Operational monitoring Note MAR guidelines account for water quality changes in aquifers both attenuation and increase in contaminants due to biogeochemical processes

21 References : MAR NRM policy and water quality guidance NRM Policy Dillon, P., Fernandez, E.E. and Tuinhof, A. (2012). Management of aquifer recharge and discharge processes and aquifer storage equilibrium. IAH contribution to GEF-FAO Groundwater Governance Thematic Paper 4, 49p. Ward, J. and Dillon, P. (2011). Robust policy design for managed aquifer recharge. Waterlines Report Series No 38, January 2011, 28p. Water Quality Guidelines NRMMC, EPHC, NHMRC (2009). Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling, Managing Health and Environmental Risks, Volume 2C - Managed Aquifer Recharge. Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, Environment Protection and Heritage Council National Health and Medical Research Council, Jul 2009, 237p. Page, D., Dillon, P., Vanderzalm, J., Bekele, E., Barry, K., Miotlinski, K. and Levett, K. (2010). Managed aquifer recharge case study risk assessments. CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship Report, Dec 2010, 144p. Dillon, P., Vanderzalm, J., Sidhu, J., Page, D., Chadha, D. (2014). A Water Quality Guide to Managed Aquifer Recharge in India. CSIRO Land and Water and UNESCO Report of AusAID PSLP Project ROU