Investigating lake/groundwater interactions at Lake Tutchewop

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Salinity is an on-going environmental concern that causes damage to agricultural land, downstream water users, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as to regional and urban infrastructure. One strategy to manage increasing salinity in the Murray Darling Basin is the construction of 13 major salt interception schemes that divert 550,000 tonnes of salt away from the Murray River each year (Figure 1). The Barr Creek Drainage Disposal Scheme is one of these schemes diverting saline water into Tutchewop Lake. Ross Stottelaar was awarded a NPSISI undergraduate scholarship to study the geology under Lake Tutchewop to determine the potential for salt to leak from the lake into groundwater and assess the ongoing sustainability of salt disposal at the site.