The second edition of the Perth Groundwater Atlas has been acclaimed as a tool for viewing groundwater resources. On 26th August a celebration of the new central support document for Perth’s domestic hydrology was held at the Alexander library. Now it’s a simple document, an A3 version of the road atlas that you would use in navigating around any city - But it also charts the surface topography, the elevation of the watertable in the surface aquifer of the Swan coastal plain, and the elevation of the base of the aquifer, the transition to an initial clay sealing layer. And it allows a driller to prepare accurate estimates, a drain manager to perhaps know why and where yield into or out of their channels will be found, and an environmental scientist to clean-up contamination with an understanding of where a plume will go.

Even better, since its first edition came out in 1997, many hundreds of Western Australian students have looked and understood the hydrology processes in a massive system of great value to Perth. It has proven to be accessible knowledge of that cryptic asset groundwater. If you accept the concept that we change society by how we think, we have given ourselves some clear groundwater vistas to think about through this tool.

It was a great series of papers ranging from the data origins and drafting policy to the major threats (consumption and climate change) to the perceptions of the Perth inhabitant about water as part of the environment, and our patterns of urban growth with the issue of demand for water following these. To settle our minds down and provide something of a change of pace, Simon Nield played a piece of music. It has all been put on a mini-CD.

You can order the mini-CD containing the workshop proceedings online.  The price is $12 inclusive of postage, royalty and GST.

Please contact Colin Walker if you have any questions.