Climate change will increasingly stress water supply and economic and environmental systems, creating mounting need for more ideas to reduce reliance and conserve diminishing river and groundwater resources.
New research led by Flinders University has examined the water management potential for well-designed nature-based Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) schemes and found it underutilised around the world to help prepare for the challenges ahead.
MAR takes surface water, such as rainwater, stormwater or treated wastewater, and stores is underground to replenish groundwater, restore ecosystems, and provide reliable climate-independent water supply.
Hundreds of townships benefit from schemes around the world, with MAR sites in Australia in and around Adelaide, and some peri-urban sites near Perth and Melbourne.
"While demand for water is increasing in most countries, new management strategies and novel water infrastructure are needed, like MAR and water sensitive urban design, to more sustainably manage existing water resources," says Dr Constantin Seidl, the lead author of the article published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.
"At the same time, decreasing and less reliable water supply has been linked to climate change.
"Despite being well-understood from technical, hydrological and engineering aspects, MAR policy frameworks are not being advanced to provide for cheaper and more effective capture of water in more environmentally friendly ways than building new dams."
The study found policy and adoption of MAR was low in five out of six water-challenged countries around the world - from Australia and India, to Chile, Mexico, Spain, and the United States, where it is most advanced.
Key states of the US, including California and Arizona, have led this innovative approach for more than 100 years under varying state legislation, often driven by water scarcity. In contrast Australia is lagging with mainly small-scale MAR schemes - despite national guidelines and expertise,
"MAR could be a circuit-breaker for water management in many countries, if only it was made easier to make it happen," adds coauthor Dr Declan Page, a coauthor on the paper and global MAR specialist from CSIRO Environmental in Adelaide.
Matthew Flinders Professor for Water Economics at the Centre for Social Impact at Flinders University Sarah Wheeler, believes that despite its benefits, MAR faces barriers to implementation through laws, regulations and policy - including in the six countries studied.
"We found even in these countries, regulatory frameworks, legislation, and policy act as major barriers to MAR implementation, especially for the private sector," says Professor Wheeler, who leads the Water, Environment, and Food Economics and Policy (WEF) Group at Flinders University.
Key stumbling blocks for MAR scheme investment are the lack of water ownership and unclear, complex and overlapping rules and departmental jurisdiction, and expensive, slow and uncertain application and approval process for MAR operations.
If countries want to harness the benefits MAR provides, jurisdictions need to:
PROTECT investment in MAR through better water accounting and clearer, more secure water ownership rights for operators.
IMPROVE processes to make MAR permits and approvals faster, cheaper and easier, without compromises to environmental and societal safeguards.
OFFER more legal and regulatory certainty stemming from dedicate MAR legislation and policy documents.
The research article - 'Reviewing regulatory settings and their impacts on managed aquifer recharge implementation: evidence from six countries' by Constantin Seidl, Declan Page (CSIRO Environment) and Sarah A Wheeler - has been published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101631.
Acknowledgements: The research received support from prior funding from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) that supported this work, and the Australian Research Council DP260102783.
