Groundwater Assessment and Protection

Human consumption of clean, fresh water is steadily increasing and ecosystems are coming under increasing stress. Groundwater is often a key component of these systems and protecting groundwater resources forms a core activity for Earth Systems. We evaluate the risk to, and provide advice on mitigating against, adverse impacts to groundwater quality and quantity as well as providing expert advice on groundwater supply, water treatment and hydroecology.

Earth Systems has specialist expertise in the area of groundwater assessment, management and protection including specific skills in hydrogeology, geo and hydrochemistry, sub-surface mapping (including non-invasive sub-surface mapping) as well as assessment management and treatment of groundwater quality. We provide advice at both the local and catchment scales and on the area of surface water/groundwater interaction. Our solutions are pragmatic and address the real issues. Specific groundwater services include:

Services Provided

• Hydrogeology and groundwater flow system analysis of aquifer systems.
• Groundwater resource assessment, protection and management.
• Stratigraphic analysis.
• Benchmark groundwater characterisation assessments.
• Groundwater management strategies to meet environmental guidelines.
• Risk assessment and development of risk management strategies for the prevention and management of off-site migration of contaminated groundwater.
• Design, implementation and management of comprehensive groundwater remediation and rehabilitation strategies for contaminated groundwater.
• Develop detailed and fully site-specific groundwater monitoring and/or groundwater sampling programs to meet regulatory environmental requirements.
• Coordinate multi-disciplinary environmental hydrologic projects.

Experience

• Project management, data collection and design of water quality assessments for salinity programs in a variety of environments, including the Murray Basin and Lower Murray Lakes in Southeastern Australia.
• Characterising groundwater contamination and acid-rock drainage issues on coal and metalliferous mine sites.
• Assessment of groundwater contamination in tailing-rich riverbank deposits downstream of a metalliferous mine in Tasmania, Australia.
• Design of a geochemical investigation program for a contaminated site in Sydney, Australia.  Evaluation of the geochemical data permitted the development of a series of potential groundwater remediation strategies.