Analysis of environmental isotopes in groundwater to understand the response of a vulnerable coastal aquifer to pumping: Western Port Basin, south-eastern Australia

Abstract

The response of a multi-layered coastal aquifer in southeast Australia to decades of groundwater pumping, and the groundwater age, flow paths and salinization processes were examined using isotopic tracers. Groundwater radiocarbon and tritium contents decline with distance and depth away from basin margins; however, in the main zone of pumping, radiocarbon activities are generally homogeneous within a given depth horizon. A lack of tritium and low radiocarbon activities (<25 pMC) in groundwater in and around the pumping areas indicate that seasonal recovery of water levels is related to capture of old water with low radioisotope activities, rather than arrival of recently recharged water. Mechanisms facilitating seasonal recovery include release of water from low-permeability layers and horizontal transfer of water from undeveloped parts of the basin. Overall stability in seasonally recovered water levels and salinities for the past three decades indicate that the system has reached a dynamic equilibrium with respect to water balance and salinity, following a major change in flow paths and solute distributions after initial development. Groundwater δ18O, δ2H and chloride contents indicate mixing between fresh meteoric-derived groundwater and marine water at the coast, with the most saline groundwater approximating an 80:20 mixture of fresh to oceanic water.