A catchment-based approach to recharge estimation in the Liverpool Plains, NSW, Australia
H. Sun A B and P. S. Cornish AA University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, NSW 1797, Australia.
B Corresponding author; present address: Infrastructure Planning Branch, Water Corporation, 629 Newcastle Street, Leederville, WA 6007, Australia. Email: hua.sun@watercorporation.com.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57(3) 309-320 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04015
Submitted: 23 January 2004 Accepted: 1 August 2005 Published: 31 March 2006
Abstract
This study investigated drainage and shallow groundwater change in a headwater catchment of the Liverpool Plains in north-western New South Wales. A catchment model, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), was used to explore rain-fed drainage to shallow groundwater and its relationship to land use. Drainage was predicted along with the prediction of runoff on a catchment and land-use basis over a simulation period of 44 years. Predicted drainage in the catchment was 8 mm/year for the 44 years, which essentially matched estimates derived from bore data observed in the catchment over a 22-year period. These estimates of drainage are much lower than published estimates based on scaling up to the catchment using estimates of drainage derived from point-scale models for different land uses. Estimates of drainage for the different land uses, derived from the catchment model, were also generally lower than simulated drainages from other studies in the area using point-scale models.
The investigation demonstrates a place for catchment-based modelling for estimating drainage at the catchment scale. This is mainly because observed catchment runoff is used as an error controller in catchment recharge modelling, whereas scaled-up point-scale modelling generally does not use observed catchment runoff to derive the catchment drainage. Modelling on the Liverpool Plains catchment also suggests that some of the drainage entering the vadose zone and groundwater is later lost via evapotranspiration, a process not generally simulated in crop models, and requiring further investigation to improve understanding of recharge processes and accuracy of modelling.
Additional keywords: SWAT, crop.
Acknowledgments
This study was jointly funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the University of Western Sydney (UWS). We thank Messrs Tim Watts, Brian Parsons, Andrew Cutler, Gary Coady, Warwick Mawhinney, and Will Dorrington of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, NSW, for assisting with data acquisition and project development. We thank Patrick Hanson of UWS for assisting with instrumentation.
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