Groundwater interaction with surface drains in the Ord River Irrigation Area, northern Australia: investigation by multiple methods

Following 35 years of persistent groundwater rise beneath northern Ivanhoe Plain in the Ord River Irrigation Area, northern Australia, the water table appears to have stabilized near the base of the irrigation surface-drain network. Hydrometric evidence indicates that intersection of the deepest surface drains by the rising water table simultaneously reduced aquifer recharge from surface-water infiltration and increased aquifer discharge by groundwater exfiltration. Water-table analysis supports the working hypothesis that the largest irrigation drain D4 on north Ivanhoe Plain has been receiving a significant amount of groundwater discharge since the mid-1990s. The rate of groundwater discharge to surface drains on north Ivanhoe Plain was estimated to be around 15–20 million (M)L/day based on groundwater-flow modelling. Groundwater tracing using radon and electrical conductivity indicated that groundwater discharge to drain D4 was ∼6–12 ML/day in August 2007. The rate of groundwater discharge was significantly larger where the drain traverses a very-permeable sand and gravel palaeochannel. Relatively modest exfiltration rates of order of magnitude tens to hundreds of mm/day into the drain were estimated to mitigate 0.5 m/year groundwater accretion for a land area of order of magnitude hundreds to thousands of ha.