Understanding and managing groundwater and salinity in a tropical conjunctive water use irrigation district

Agricultural production around the world is increasingly being constrained by hydrological factors—such as over-extraction of groundwater in some locations, rising water tables in others, and worsening groundwater quality in general. One such area is the Lower Burdekin irrigation area in northern tropical Australia, where rising watertable levels and increasing salinity concentrations within alluvial deposits are causing concern. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the processes driving trends in groundwater quantity and quality in Mona Park, a conjunctive water use irrigation district in the Lower Burdekin. The analysis is intended to enable land and water managers to explore alternative policy and management practices to help support the reversal in current trends, and to improve water table conditions in terms of both water quantity and quality. Key lessons that are applicable to the development of new irrigation schemes in wet–dry tropical regions elsewhere in the world are emphasised.