Geoscientists Without Borders^®

South Central Australia: "Locating groundwater resources for the Aboriginal communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, in the far northwest of South Australia."

Partners: University of Adelaide South Australian Water Corporation and Department of Water, Land, and Biodiversity Conservation, South Central Australia

Summary: The aim of the project is to undertake geophysical surveys to locate groundwater resources for Aborigninal communities in remote andarid parths of South Australia. These communities currently rely on boreholes in the deep-aquifers for non-potable water supplies. Rainfall supplies all the drinking water. The program will determine optimal borehole locations for the development of sustainable groundwater resources. A long term benefit will be a better understanding of how magnetotelluric instruments can be deployed to collect data that may reduce the risk of drilling dry holes. Commissioning boreholes is expensive, given the depth to groundwater in basement rocks, and the distance to significant populations. Geophysicists all over the world know how disheartening a dry hole can be, especially when funding for such drilling is a very limited resource and the remoteness of the location increases the cost. Thus, by reducing this risk of drilling with geophysical surveys, the Aboriginal communities should significantly benefit from this project.

Point of Contact: Graham Heinson - graham.heinson@adelaide.edu.au, University of Adelaide