Territory Stories

Sturt Plateau 2020 drilling and pumping test program

Details:

Title

Sturt Plateau 2020 drilling and pumping test program,

Creator

Short, Michael,

Issued by

Northern Territory. Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Water Resources Division,

Collection

E-Publications, E-Books, PublicationNT, Water Resources Division Technical Report 0/2021,

Date

2021-07-09,

Location

Sturt Plateau,

Abstract

The Water Resources Division (WRD) of the Northern Territory Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (DEPWS) completed groundwater drilling and pumping tests in the aquifers underlying the Sturt Plateau during the 2020 dry season and build-up. The main aims of the activities were to build upon the existing scientific understanding of the aquifers and establish long-term monitoring sites. Groundwater drilling and pumping test activities focused on the Sturt Plateau area due to limited groundwater monitoring (Figure 1 1). There is also interest in improvement of the understanding of the sub-basalt sandstone aquifer that underlies the Wiso-Daly-Flora Cambrian Limestone Aquifer (CLA). This aquifer occurs at shallower depths in this region compared to the deeper Georgina-Daly-Roper CLA, hence may be more economical to use as a groundwater resource for future onshore gas development of the Beetaloo Sub-basin (Figure 1 1). The project is one of the first steps towards better defining the sandstone aquifer’s hydraulic properties, water quality, degree of connection to shallower aquifers, and establishing baseline monitoring.,

Notes

Made available by via Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT),

Table of contents

1. Introduction -- 2. Hydrogeological setting -- 3. Drilling program -- 3.1. RN041440: Stuart Highway at Alexander Forrest rest stop -- 3.2. RN041441: Stuart Highway east of Central Arnhem Road turnoff -- 3.3. RN041442: Western Buchanan Highway -- 3.4. RN041443: Hidden Valley Station -- 3.5. RN041444: Eastern Buchanan Highway -- 3.6. RN041445: Western Creek Road (Bukalara production bore) -- 3.7. RN041446: Western Creek Road (CLA observation bore) -- 3.8. RN041447: Western Creek Road (near Bukalara observation bore) -- 3.9. RN041448: Western Creek Road (far Bukalara observation bore) -- 3.10. Interpreted hydrostratigraphy -- 4. Pumping tests -- 4.1. Tindall Limestone Aquifer: Stuart Highway east of Central Arnhem Road turnoff -- 4.1.1. Step test -- 4.1.2. Constant rate test -- 4.2. Sub-basalt sandstone: Western Creek Road -- 4.2.1. Step test -- 4.2.2. Constant rate test -- 5. Sub-basalt sandstone identification -- 6. Key points -- 7. References -- Appendix A: graphical bore logs -- Appendix B: water quality analyses,

Language

English,

Subject

Groundwater drillling, Groundwater monitoring,

Publisher name

Northern Territory Government,

Place of publication

Palmerston,

Series

Water Resources Division Technical Report 0/2021,

Format

48 pages : colour illustrations and maps ; 30 cm.,

File type

application/pdf,

ISBN

9781743502952,

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0),

Copyright owner

Northern Territory Government,

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/,

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/851271,

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/851272