Présentations Colloques

New Zealand (NZ) is funding a joint NZ-EU six year research programme (SMART Aquifer Characterisation (SAC)) to assemble a suite of innovative methods within the NZ groundwater scene for characterising the nation’s groundwater systems. The programme is in its fifth year. The programme emphasis is on techniques that use passive data sources that where possible rely on existing data sources, or on new measurements that can be made over large areas with reduced effort and minimal cost. This presentation illustrates the hurdles and successes of how programme outputs are being adopted by NZ water managers, which is key to the programmes measure of success.**Focus of the research is on four key technical information gaps-**• Refining groundwater volume estimation at both the aquifer and the national scale**• Determination of aquifer hydraulic properties**• Quantification of fluxes between groundwaters and surface waters**• Groundwater age dating**In order to address these four key information gaps, the programme has trialled and validated methodologies in geophysics, satellite remote sensing, temperature sensing and novel age tracers. In parallel, the programme developed- 1) a framework for quantifying the uncertainty in each method, and assessing which combination of traditional and SMART methods represents the best value for an investigation budget, thereby also validating the cost efficiency for knowledge gain aspect+ and 2) establishing techniques to synthesise and visualise the extensive and integrated datasets.**Step gains in knowledge include the following, with varying degrees of uptake by water managers-**• Satellite derived groundwater recharge**• Potential for increased spatial distribution of groundwater travel time**• Application of geophysical techniques for aquifer structure and hydraulic parameter characterisation**• DTS and isotope techniques to characterise groundwater-surface water interaction on multiple spatial scales**• Standardised data transfer and communication protocols **