Groundwater
Groundwater is essential for environmental integrity, social wellbeing and economic productivity.
We still don’t know enough about our groundwater resources in Aotearoa.
The unknowns of our groundwater
- the locations, extents and properties of all of New Zealand’s aquifer systems
- how groundwater travels into, through and out of the aquifers
- how contaminants move into, through and out of the aquifers
- how our groundwater resources are connected to surface water bodies like rivers, streams and wetlands.
Without this information, it is difficult to adequately assess how New Zealand’s groundwater resources are impacted by increasing pressures like land use and climate change now and in the future.
Filling in the gaps
Our research supports wise custodianship of groundwater by filling in the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of New Zealand’s groundwater resources, and developing novel tools and models for efficient and sustainable groundwater management.
Te Whakaheke o Te Wai
The Te Whakaheke o Te Wai (TWOTW) research programme aims to better support water management based on the understanding of flow sources, pathways and lags.
Our Expertise
- Physical hydrogeology
- Aquifer mapping
- Remote sensing and Geophysics for aquifer mapping
- Geological modelling
- Groundwater modelling
- Groundwater quality
- Isotope hydrology and water dating laboratory services
- Groundwater microbiology and ecosystems
- Climate change impacts on groundwater
- Earthquakes and groundwater
- Groundwater policy
- Māori co-management of water
- Groundwater databases and tools
Our work is structured into five high-level research questions:
- What are the locations and properties (structural, hydrogeological and fluid) of New Zealand's aquifer systems?
- What are the fluxes of water into, out of and through, New Zealand's aquifers?
- What are the fluxes of key substances into, out of and through, New Zealand's aquifers?
- How have (and will) human activities, climate change and other pressures affect New Zealand's groundwater resources and receiving environments (e.g. springs, rivers and lakes)?
- How can our research findings better guide water policy implementation?
