ADELAIDE, South Australia — A new study from the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) in Australia has shown that a large part of the Australian economy is dependent on groundwater, according to an article from Phys.Org.
"Mining and farming both use huge volumes of water, and with surface supplies becoming scarce, our future economic prospects are likely to rely increasingly on our underground 'water bank,'" said Professor Craig Simmons, director of the NCGRT.
"Currently $34 billion worth of Australian industry per annum is dependent on groundwater and the direct value of groundwater to the national economy is around $7 billion a year," said Simmons, referencing the report.
Australia currently uses around 3,500 billion liters per year of groundwater from a sustainable reserve of 29,173 billion liters, reported the article.
According to the article, agriculture and grazing use 60 to 70 percent of groundwater, followed by mining and manufacturing and then cities.
Read the full article here.
