'Engineering Science and Technology Digital Library'
Abstract
As part of the Water For Food Midlands project, Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development (DPIRD) is undertaking mapping of high-quality agricultural land (HQAL) to identify areas of agricultural value. This mapping utilises data relating to soils, land capability and rainfall, that is being integrated into a GIS-format that is easy to comprehend and can be incorporated into planning processes. This report details the development and results of a GIS-based product that represents groundwater resource prospectivity for irrigated agriculture in the Midlands project area. The output maps will be useful for landowners and developers highlighting the opportunities and risks for accessing groundwater resources. It is envisaged that the final groundwater prospectivity and HQAL datasets will be combined to identify areas with suitable water and land conditions for irrigated agriculture. There has been no previous attempt to develop a groundwater prospectivity layer for groundwater resources in Western Australia. As such, this methodology has been progressively developed with ongoing discussion and review between Hydrogeoscience, Hydroconcept and Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER). The primary reference for this work is the northern Perth Basin Groundwater Bulletin entitled Northern Perth Basin: Geology, Hydrogeology and Groundwater Resources (Department of Water 2017) and associated digital data
