Permanent waterholes of Cooper Creek

Abstract

The dataset was compiled by the Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program from multiple sources referenced within the dataset and/or metadata. The processes undertaken to compile this dataset are described in the History field in this metadata statement. The dataset was developed to assist in the classification of permanent waterholes in the Cooper GBA region.

Attribution

Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program

History

The dataset contains two shapefiles. The first (COO_Lakes_WH_WFS.shp) contains all the lakes and waterholes identified in the 250K topo maps and uses the Water Observations From Space dataset to find the pixel within each polygon that has the maximum proportion of time inundated (MAX field). Waterholes that are inundated more than 70% of the time (MAX>0.70) are considered to be semi-permanent, those that are inundated more than 95% (MAX>0.95) are considered to be permanent. The second dataset (perm_WH_DTWT.shp) is looking at the depth to water table beneath waterholes. There are no dedicated observation bore networks to look at groundwater levels beneath waterholes so this dataset is using the closest water level observation up to a maximum of 5 km away. The field NEAR_DIST is the distance of the bore from the waterhole and the field WH_DTWT is the depth to water table below the waterhole assuming that the groundwater level is the same as that in the borehole within 5 km. A positive value in WH_DTWT means that the groundwater level is below the water level of the waterhole, a negative value means that the groundwater level is above the water level of the water hole.