Technical and economic evaluation of the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in the Campaspe Valley,north-central Victoria,Australia

This paper describes a technical and feasibility study of increasing groundwater usage to supplement surface water use in the Campaspe Valley in south-eastern Australia. An integrated model which simulates the surface and groundwater processes, as well as the interactions between the processes, is used to determine the sustainable long-term groundwater pumping yields. The model also provides estimates of groundwater fluxes for various management options of increasing groundwater usage. These estimates are used to assist an economic analysis to determine the relative merits of various options for the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources. The pumping costs, value of water and tangible salinity benefits from lowering high water-tables and reducing salt load are considered in the economic analysis. The methodology is also relevant for other studies looking into the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources throughout the Murray Basin and elsewhere.