Town/City:

Canberra

State/Province:

Australian Capital Territory

Country:

Australia

Latitude/Longitude:

35S 149E

Information supplied by

Gerry Jacobson

GJACOBSO@AGSO.GOV.AU

AGSO, Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

Dated Fri Jan 12 10:35:48 1996

Information Topics:

City Description:

Population 0.3 million, city centre at 149 deg 10 min E, 35 deg 15 min S, totally planned city, national capital, growth rate 3%, light industry, offices and residential development.

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Climate:

Annual rainfall 650 mm, evenly spread. Evaporation 1500 mm mainly in summer months.

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Basic Hydrogeology:

Fractured rock aquifers (Silurian sandstone, limestone) with bore yields commonly 1-3 L/s, and salinity 300-2000 mg/L. Recharge from infiltrating rainfall is seasonal, in colder months, May to October. Local flow systems discharge to rivers, providing baseflow, and to seasonal springs and swamps at foot of slopes.

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Water Use:

The municipal water supply is derived from surface water storages. Groundwater (about 3 million cubic metres per year) is used by a number of institutions privately, mainly for irrigation of sports fields.

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Groundwater Issues:

There is a marked seasonal variation in potentiometric level. Chemistry of fractured rock aquifers is variable on a local scale.

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Groundwater Problems:

Local hill and valley flow systems commonly have high potentiometric surface on lower slopes with drainage problems affecting residential development. There are a number of groundwater pollution problems from hydrocarbons and industrial effluent. At present there is no regulation of groundwater abstraction.

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Solutions:

Groundwater is now regarded as a useful, if supplementary, local water source, and measures for regulating abstraction may be introduced in the near future.

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References and Other Author(s):

1. Jacobson, G., 1982, Groundwater in fractured rock aquifers of the Australian Capital Territory - a valuable resource... or a major problem? Papers, Groundwater in Fractured Rock Conference, Australian Water Resources Council, Conference Series 5, 109-118.

2. Jacobson, G., 1983, Pollution of a fractured rock aquifer by petrol - a case study, BMR Journal of Australian Geology & Geophysics, 8, 313-322.

3. Evans, W.R., 1987, Hydrogeology of the Australian Capital Territory and Environs, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Report 263.

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Contacts:

Gerry Jacobson, Australian Geological Survey Organisation (ph: +61-61-499758) can provide more information.

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