A review of the broome sandstone aquifer to enable planning for irrigation and other uses

The Broome Sandstone covers over 30 000 km2 along the coastal margin of the Canning Basin. The aquifer is up to 200m thick, highly transmissive and generally fresh. The aquifer is a foundation of the Yawuru, Karajarri and Nyangumarta traditional owner's needs, belief and value systems. Over the last century it has been used for stock and domestic supplies to support pastoral stations, tourism and mining. Recently, two horticultural properties were allocated 5.2 GL/yr of the 50 GL/yr available to irrigate up to 600 ha of land for horticulture. The Department of Agriculture and Food is reviewing the aquifer's potential for agricultural development, cognisant of the rights of traditional owners and wider local community. As a means of enabling sustainable growth, an audit was undertaken of the published knowledge ahead of a program of work to underpin future development proposals. This paper reviews the aquifer characteristic, outlines results from initial investigations and describeds the way forward.