Groundwater Information Access Portal

The Groundwater Information Access Portal provides you with a way to find basic information about groundwater features in Tasmania.

The information comes from NRE Tas Groundwater Information Management System (GWIMS).

The database includes about 12,000 groundwater bores, and additional bores are being added all the time.

A more comprehensive guide to using the Portal can be found in the users guide:

Groundwater Information Access Portal Users Guide (2Mb)

How the portal works

The Portal is a map-based service. Initially, it displays a map of Tasmania, with location-markers (dark blue dots) showing the locations of all groundwater features from the GWIMS database. From there, you can do several things:

navigate to an area of the state that you are interested in, to look for groundwater features

search for specific groundwater features using various search criteria

refine the results of your search by selecting specific features from within your search results

view the details of features returned by the search

produce simple reports showing the details of features, or download data relating to them

Portal webpage

The portal web page has a header and footer, and four main working areas. It looks like this:

This is how the Groundwater Information Access Portal looks.

For best performance, use the Portal with one of the following web browsers:

Internet Explorer (version 7 and above).
Firefox (version 3 and above).
Google Chrome.
Safari.

Access the Portal

To make the most of available screen space, you may wish to collapse the toolbars in your browser while you are using the Portal. Also, you can resize the different areas of the webpage, by dragging the bars that separate them.

An Example of How to Use the Portal

If you are considering drilling a bore for water, either for commercial or domestic purposes, you can use the Portal to investigate whether there are other bores in your local area, and if so, how successful they might have been.

Using the Portal to Investigate Existing Bores in Your Area

What to Do	How to Do It
Use the map to find the area you are interested in.	Use the Zoom to Location tool, and specify the name of the locality you want to see. Then, use the map tools to "home in" on the particular area of interest.
Inspect the map for existing bores, to get a general idea of what bores are nearby.	Look for bore location-markers (dark blue dots) on the map.
Retrieve more detailed information on bores of particular interest.	Select the Set Search Area tool, and draw a rectangular search area on the map, covering the bores for which you want more information. Click the Search button to retrieve the details of the bores as your current feature set. The features in the current feature set are displayed as blue diamonds on the map, and their details are displayed in the Feature Set List panel below the map.
Examine your search results in more detail.	Inspect the current feature set below the map, scrolling it as necessary. Especially note the Yield values, which show a flow rate in Litres per second. (Note that 1 Litre per second is equivalent to about 792 gallons per hour.) Use the feature numbers or selection to relate bores in the list to bores on the map.
If needs be, select bores of special interest.	To select features, use one of the following approaches: Click the Selected checkbox in the current feature set below the map. Turn on the Select Features tool and click feature location-markers on the map.
If necessary, investigate further.	Use the View option to see a display of information for features in the list, bore-by-bore. Similarly, use the Reports option to generate printable reports. Note that, in both cases, you can view or report on all features in the current feature set, or only the features that have been selected.

There are many ways to use the Portal to find the information you need. This example is only one possibility out of many. See the Information Guide below for more on what sort of information the Portal provides.

Legends for Map Layers

Groundwater Information Access Portal Information Guide

The following tables will help you to understand the type of information that the Groundwater Information Access Portal provides.

TABLE 1 Basic Information about Groundwater Features

Group	Item	Description
Identification	Feature id	The unique identifying number allocated to the feature.
Classification	Feature type	The classification of the feature in terms of type. Most features are "bores", but there are small numbers of other types, such as "dug wells", "spear points", etc.
Location	Locality Name	The name of the Locality in which the feature lies (recorded by Driller at time of construction).
	Easting, Northing	The X and Y co-ordinates of the feature.
	Datum	The co-ordinate system used (GDA94).
	Co-ordinate accuracy	The accuracy of the position of the feature, measured as "maximum error margin in metres". Generally, older features have larger error margins: for example, their positions may have been determined before GPS technology was in use.
Construction	Date drilled	The date on which the feature was constructed.
	Drilling company	The name of the Drilling Company that performed the construction.
	Depth	The depth of the feature. Units are metres, measured from ground level.
Hydrogeology	Initial Yield	The yield (i.e. flow rate) measured immediately after the feature was constructed. Units are Litres per second.
	DTWS List	A short-hand summary of the complete sequence of Depth to Water Struck measurements made during construction of a bore. It consists of a series of items, separated by semicolons. Each item relates to one "layer" drilled through, giving depth from and depth to values (in metres), plus the cumulative inflow for the layer (in Litres per second).
	SWL List	A list of Standing Water Level measurements, made over the life of the feature. Individual values are separated by semicolons. All SWL values are in metres below ground level.
	Last SWL	The last Standing Water Level measurement made for the feature.
	Last SWL Date	The date on which the last Standing Water Level measurement was made.
	Total dissolved solids (TDS)	A measurement of the salinity of the groundwater, measured immediately after the feature was constructed. Units are milligrams per Litre. See table below for a general guideline for water use according to TDS levels.
	Final TDS	An averaged value of TDS, calculated using both laboratory-measured TDS and field measurements of Electrical Conductivity (EC), as available. Units are milligrams per Litre.
	Main aquifer geology	A geological classification of the main aquifer supplying water to the feature.
Status	Last operating status	The last-recorded value for the "operating" status of the feature. This indicates whether the feature is operating, capped, abandoned, etc.
Status	Last operating status date	The date on which the Last Operating Status was recorded.

TABLE 2 Structured Information About Groundwater Features

Group	Tab Title	Information Displayed
Geological / Hydrogeological Information	Geological Log	The log recorded when the bore was drilled, showing depths and the type of material that was drilled through.
Geological / Hydrogeological Information	Depth to Water Struck	Information recorded when the bore was drilled, showing depths and the water inflows that occurred.
Standing Water Levels	The history of water depths as measured in the bore over time. (A greater depth value means a lower water level.)
Last Recorded Status	The last recorded status values for the feature. There are three types of status: Function: functioning status of the feature. Flow: flowing status of the feature. Purpose: the purpose for which the water is used.
Construction	Bore Diameter	The diameter of the bore as drilled, showing depths and bore diameters.
	Casing	Details of the casing used for the bore, showing depths, diameters and casing materials.
	Screen	Details of the screen used to admit groundwater into the casing, showing depths and screen type.
	Seal	Details of the type of seal used, showing depths and type of material.