Austral partnered with Innovative Groundwater Solutions to deliver this project. As part of the planned Circular Head irrigation scheme, a 20km reach of the Duck River was proposed to convey irrigation rights to the northern region. The project assessed the potential for stream losses in this section of river.

A field program involved the collection of the following data: groundwater levels, river stages, river flows, river channel dimensions, and river bed and bank hydraulic conductivity. This data, together with data collected by previous investigations, informed the development of conceptual models for three representative cross sections, as well as a 3D numerical groundwater model.

Austral partnered with Riverness to collate information to enable the development and assessment (prioritisation) of options to recover 3 GL of water for the environment in the Maribyrnong River, in line with the Central Sustainable Water Strategy.

26 identified options were ranked according to 5 metrics (contribution to environmental water overall shortfall volume, cost of option, other environmental benefits and/or risks, energy use and reliability) enabling priority options to be negotiated among stakeholders to recover the shortfall volume.