Innovation
Issue No. 28 - April/May 2006
Water sustains this Tall Poppy
Dr Craig Simmons is an Associate Professor in Hydrogeology at Flinders University’s School of Chemistry, Physics & Earth Sciences.
This internationally recognised and often-awarded scientist — he is one of South Australia’s current Tall Poppies — boasts a string of achievements too long to list here.
His focus is on groundwater in underground geologic formations and engineering ways to protect, manage and use the resource. In particular, he is one of the world’s foremost authorities on salinity, groundwater contamination, radioactive waste disposal and the sustainability of the Earth’s water. He says it can be an “out of sight, out of mind” area.
“We always hear our state described as the driest state in the driest inhabited continent in the world, but yet we rarely hear that 97% of fresh and fluid water on the earth is stored in groundwater beneath our feet,” Craig says.
“Less than 3% of fresh water is stored on the earth’s surface in rivers, streams and lakes.
“Together with the River Murray, I believe that groundwater will be an extremely important part of ‘waterproofing’ this state into the future, particularly in times of drought when river flows and reservoir levels are low.”
A few examples of current research show Craig is on the leading edge of our ground-breaking efforts to purify, secure and make use of very fragile natural resources.
River Murray salinity: Craig calls restoring the health of the River Murray “the single most important issue facing water resources in this state”. In joint research with CSIRO and others he is investigating how and where salt flows into to the River Murray from both groundwater and adjacent floodplains.
Mt Lofty Ranges: Protecting the water resources of the Mt Lofty Ranges is critical because each year Adelaide receives 50% of its water supply from storages within them. He is developing innovative te...
