Australian Groundwater Insight glossary
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- Aquifer
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A geological formation or group of formations; able to receive, store and transmit significant quantities of water.
- Bore
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A hole drilled in the ground, a well or any other excavation used to access groundwater. May be used for observation of groundwater (including water level, pressure or water quality).
- Bore density
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The number of bores per unit area of land.
- Groundwater entitlement limit
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The theoretical maximum volume of water that may be issued as entitlement within a Groundwater Management Area.
- Groundwater management area
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An area of land that is appointed as an area within which there are rules for managing groundwater.
- Groundwater level
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Groundwater levels, as measured in a bore.
- Hydrogeology
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The hydrological and geological science concerned with the occurrence, distribution, quality and movement of groundwater, especially relating to the distribution of aquifers, groundwater flow and groundwater quality.
- Licensed groundwater entitlement
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A specific volume of water licensed to an individual or business for extraction in a given period (typically annually), according to rules established in the relevant groundwater plan.
- Licensed extraction
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A volume of groundwater extracted in accordance with a licensed groundwater entitlement.
- N/A
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No data is currently available.
- Salinity
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The concentration of soluble salts in a solution, soil or other medium.
- Stock and domestic bores
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Bores drilled for extracting groundwater for the purpose of watering stock or to use domestically. Groundwater extracted for these purposes does not require a licence in most regions.
- Unconfined aquifer
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An aquifer whose upper surface is a water table free to fluctuate in equilibrium with atmospheric pressure.
- Confined aquifer
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An aquifer whose upper surface is confined by an overlaying geological formation. Groundwater in a confined aquifer is typically under pressure.
- Water table
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The surface in an unconfined aquifer or confining bed below which the ground is saturated with water.
- Bedrock
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A consolidated rock that underlies geological basins. Above the bedrock is usually an area of weathered and unconsolidated rock which can from aquifers.
- Sustainable Diversion Limit(SDL)
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The Sustainable Diversion Limit specifies how much water can be sustainably taken from a catchment, aquifer or basin as a long term annual extraction volume. Each SDL is defined in the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
