Water Banking –Landuse Approach to Improve River Productivity and Environmental Performance

Amgad ELMAHDI, CSIRO LAND AND WATER

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Contact me for full paper : Amgad.Elmahdi@csiro.au

Abstract

This paper presents the use of water banking concept (using aquifers as a natural underground dam) combined with different changing landuse such as crop mixes to improve river water productivity and environmental performance. The goal of water banking, in general, is to efficiently allocate all available water to achieve an economic growth while achieving an environmental sustainability. As a case study, Water banking, along with two methods of managed aquifer recharge, have been modeled and tested under different crop mixes by using a dynamic modeling system approach for Murrumbidgee River Basin in Australia,. The results indicated that there is a clear trade-off between improving water use efficiency, agricultural productivity and environmental performance. Water banking is able to better manage biophysical demand, and enhance in-stream flows that are biologically and ecologically significant.