The Sustainable Management of Coastal Groundwater Resources (SMCGR) project aims to improve the management of groundwater in coastal dune aquifers, which is used to supply water for coastal communities in the Mid North Coast region.
There is increasing pressure on groundwater resources from expanding urbanisation and tourism in this region, which has made sustainable management of existing groundwater supplies an important issue for coastal communities and councils.
Over extraction from groundwater systems can affect the water available for ecosystems, which may be dependent on shallow groundwater resources. Withdrawal of groundwater resources in excess of the
sustainable yield may also result in fresh water resources being degraded by seawater intrusion or by upcoming from underlying saline water bodies.