Sharing SA’s groundwater expertise
Overuse, rising salinity, falling water tables – it seems water management is an issue the world over
Last month, a delegation of 10 high level academics and senior government officials from Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan and Nepal visited South Australia to see the State’s groundwater management policies at work.
They were here as part of an International Water Management Institute (IWMI) exchange program that took in the Coorong, farms in the State’s South East and market gardens at Virginia.
Director of UniSA’s Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, Professor Jennifer McKay said the aim of the visit was to share information about current groundwater law policy and practice in South Australia which is advanced by international standards.
"South Australia not only has the most coherent approach to water management in Australia," Prof McKay said, "we also lead the way globally when it comes to groundwater management."
The two-week visit included presentations by leading UniSA water experts, representatives from the SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation and farmers in the South East who totally rely on groundwater.
Director of the IWMI in Delhi, Dr Bharat Sharma said the exchange program hopes to build water management capacity in regions which source the crucial Indo-Gangetic and Yellow River Basins.
"The groundwater used for agriculture in these states is worth around US$20 billion a year," Dr Sharma said, "and sustains an agricultural output of between US$50-64 billion annually.
"Around 50 per cent of the populations of these basin countries directly benefit from this output and with proper targeting, groundwater offers big opportunities for poverty reduction in many areas."
Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Deputy Director of the National Geophysical Research Institute at Hyderabad’s Indo-French Centre for Groundwater Research, said the scale of problems in India was very different from Australia.
"India, of course, has a much greater population. The land holdings per farmer are much bigger here," he said. "And the geological formation is also very different – limestone is predominent in SA’s South East, whereas two thirds of India is covered in hard rock, which makes it geologically more complex.
"Nevertheless, I was very impressed to see how groundwater is managed, and takes into account stakeholder input and scientific input.
"In India, we need of the scientific modelling that is done here."
Professor Fengxin Kang, Deputy Director of the Hydrogeology Division of Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources said with many sources of surface water polluted beyond use, China will increasingly rely on groundwater.
"Water law in China relates to surface water only," he said. "We need government-managed law for sustainable use of groundwater. In northern China, the aquifer is similar to that in South Australia’s South East."
This is the second time delegates from developing Asian countries have sought expertise from South Australia’s experience, following a successful first visit by delegates from India and Pakistan in late 2006.