Groundwater and Surface Water Chemistry Across Multiple Scales

Abstract: Maintaining good water quality in groundwater and surface waters is critical for healthy ecosystems and societies. Complex catchment processes, which are affected by climate, soil type, and human activities affect water quality of groundwater, streams and lakes. As such, knowledge of the spatial variation in water quality and understanding the key processes that govern groundwater and surface water chemistry are essential for future water security and environmental management.

In this presentation, we discuss the spatial and temporal variation in groundwater and surface water chemistry across a range of scales to highlight the key processes that affect these variabilities. We start at the small scale. Dr van Meerveld will discuss the spatial and temporal variation in water chemistry across a small study catchment in Switzerland to highlight small scale variations in water quality that may be missed by sampling only at the catchment outlet. We then move to the continental scale, where Dr Lintern will present the key catchment controls on solute and sediment export patterns and regimes across the continent of Australia. She will discuss how export regimes and patterns appear to be consistent across the whole continent of Australia (despite its heterogeneity), and the implications of this for water quality management in Australia going forward.

Bio: Dr Ilja van Meerveld is a group leader at the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Her research mainly focuses on runoff processes at the hillslope and catchment scale and how these may be affected by land use change. She is also interested in new monitoring approaches, including citizen science.

Bio: Dr Anna Lintern is a Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University in Australia. Her research focuses on understanding the causes of poor water quality in streams and lakes and what we can do to improve water quality. In addition to her research, she is an active member of the Science Technology Australia STEM Ambassador program, and a member of the Future Earth Australia Steering Committee.