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CRC FOR CATCHMENT HYDROLOGY RESEARCH TIMELINE

 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Program 2: Land-use Impacts on Rivers
Program Leader: Dr Peter Wallbrink, CSIRO Land and Water
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Program Projects

Click here for the current list of Projects for this Program (2003-2006)

Click here for completed Projects and their outcomes for this Program (1999-2002)


Program Overview

Detailed Information about current projects in this program is available here

This program provides a better understanding of the effects of land use on catchment water balance and pollutant delivery to streams. Currently, considerable national investment is being directed towards salinity and nutrient management strategies and afforestation programs, despite a relatively poor knowledge of their efficacy or how they might impact on downstream users. For instance, broad-scale afforestation is being considered for recharge control, but the consequent water-yield decreases may exacerbate the salinity problem downstream. For large catchments, we need to elucidate the role of pollutant stores and the manner in which pollutants are conveyed from the hillslopes to the channel system. A critical issue to clarify is the extent to which riparian vegetation and aquifer management can mediate sediment/pollutant delivery to channels for a range of catchment physiographies and stream orders. Preliminary research suggests that 90% of the nutrient flux problem can be solved by better management of 10% of the land area.

Goals

  • Determine the impact of vegetation and land cover on inter-relationships between catchment water yield, groundwater recharge, and salt loads and concentrations in rivers
  • Improve our understanding of pollutant delivery to stream channels, and the effect of riparian vegetation
  • Develop cost-effective catchment rehabilitation measures to improve river water quality.

Activities

  • Compare and contrast the water and salt balance of agricultural and afforested catchments in a variety of settings, linking upland water balance to lowland stream salinity
  • Track the life cycle of sediments and nutrients through various catchment systems, ascertaining storages, transit times, and transformations.
  • Develop new knowledge regarding the movement of nitrogen from catchment to streams

Outcomes

  • Identification of catchment ‘hot spots’ that contribute most to land and river degradation, and strategies to treat them.
  • The biophysical understanding of catchment pollutant dynamics needed to underpin catchment management plans and major works initiatives such as the National Heritage Trust Program (NHT)
  • Practical field knowledge and new theory to assist in the development and testing of predictive models.
Predicting Catchment Behaviour
Land-use Impacts on Rivers
Sustainable Water Allocation
Urban Stormwater Quality
Climate Variability
River Restoration