Groundwater is a precious resource across Australia and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) regulates over 12,000 water licences involving more than 4 trillion litres annually. As such, structured groundwater monitoring plans are a condition of most major project approvals. This article sets out what a groundwater monitoring plan should contain, who needs one, and how continuous monitoring systems support compliance with current and emerging WA regulatory expectations.

A groundwater monitoring program is a project-specific document that defines how groundwater levels and groundwater quality will be measured, analysed and reported across the life of a project. It is written for hydrogeologists, environmental managers and project engineers involved in mining operations, land development and civil infrastructure. The guidance below focuses on Western Australian requirements under the RIWI Act, the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and associated DWER policies, with particular attention to how automated monitoring – the type of system Monitel designs, installs and maintains – fits into these frameworks.

Core Objectives of a Groundwater Monitoring Plan

Every groundwater monitoring program should begin by defining clear, measurable objectives before specifying any instrumentation. Vague language like “monitor groundwater conditions” is not sufficient. Objectives need to state precisely what will be measured, why, and what decisions the data will inform.

Typical objectives include:

Protecting groundwater resources, surface water and groundwater-dependent ecosystems from adverse impacts
Satisfying specific licence or environmental approvals conditions
Informing dewatering design and validating computer models of aquifer response
Tracking potential contamination risks from project activities
Supporting groundwater management decisions around water availability and sustainable use

Objectives should distinguish between level monitoring (quantity, drawdown, recovery, water table behaviour) and quality monitoring (salinity, heavy metals, nutrients, hydrocarbons and other potential contaminants). An effective groundwater monitoring plan assesses the status of aquifers in a way that supports informed decisions concerning environmental compliance.

The objectives for a Pilbara iron ore mine with a 50 ML/day dewatering scheme will differ substantially from those for an urban infill development on the Swan Coastal Plain, where the concern is maintaining separation between lot levels and shallow groundwater, and protecting nearby wetlands. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems are sensitive to water level changes, and this sensitivity must be reflected in how objectives are framed.

Regulatory and Compliance Context in Western Australia

Groundwater monitoring obligations in WA arise primarily from:

Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (RIWI Act) – 5C licences for groundwater abstraction and 26D licences for constructing or altering monitoring wells in proclaimed groundwater areas
Environmental Protection Act 1986 – Ministerial Statements, Part V licences for prescribed premises, and environmental approvals that often specify groundwater monitoring for prescribed premises
Contaminated Sites Act 2003 – site investigation and management orders requiring monitoring to delineate contamination
Water in Mining Guideline (DWER, updated July 2025) – expectations for mine project monitoring, abstraction licensing and risk assessment

In proclaimed groundwater areas such as the Gnangara Mound or Pilbara coastal aquifers, 26D licences are required before constructing monitoring bores that target confined aquifers, and 5C licences are needed for any significant abstraction. Environmental approvals commonly specify monitoring frequency, water quality parameters, and reporting deadlines.

Post-2023, DWER has placed increasing emphasis on cumulative drawdown assessment, climate change impacts on recharge, and data integrity. Southern WA has experienced roughly 15% less annual rainfall since the mid-1970s, leading to significant declines in streamflow and recharge. This makes continuous, defensible groundwater data more important than ever. Groundwater monitoring is essential for sustainable management in Perth and across WA’s regions.

When Groundwater Monitoring Plans Are Required Across Industries

Groundwater monitoring programs are not universal documents as they are triggered by specific project types, regulatory conditions and site risks. Rather than listing generic scenarios, the following sections describe concrete circumstances where monitoring is required, each with its own implications for network design, parameters and monitoring frequency.

Common triggers include:

New mining projects with significant dewatering or tailings storage
Major road, rail and tunnel construction intersecting groundwater
Industrial facilities with chemical storage or waste handling
Landfills and waste management sites
Large greenfield estates on shallow groundwater
Contaminated site investigations and remediation
Managed aquifer recharge schemes

Each circumstance shapes the locations of monitoring wells, the target aquifers, which water quality parameters are tracked, and whether manual or continuous monitoring is appropriate.

Mining, Dewatering and Tailings Facilities

Hard-rock and iron ore mines across the Pilbara, Goldfields and Mid West commonly require detailed groundwater monitoring plans linked to dewatering operations and tailings storage facilities. Mining activities in these regions can involve pumping tens of megalitres per day, creating significant drawdown cones that may extend kilometres from the pit.

Plans typically specify monitoring bores upgradient and downgradient of pits, dewatering bores and tailings embankments, with depths targeting specific aquifers and pore pressure zones. Common monitored parameters include:

Groundwater levels and drawdown trends
Total dissolved solids and salinity
Heavy metals, acidity, and pH
Seepage indicators from tailings
Interaction with nearby pastoral bores, springs or local ecosystems

In WA, regulators increasingly expect automated level loggers and telemetry at high-risk sites so that exceedances of drawdown trigger levels are detected in near real time. Automated systems transmit groundwater data for real-time analysis, reducing reliance on periodic manual measurements.

Major Civil Infrastructure, Rail and Transport Projects

Highways, rail corridors and tunnel projects in WA – including freeway extensions and METRONET works – frequently intersect groundwater and soft soils. A monitoring plan for these projects needs to capture pre-construction baseline groundwater data across at least one or two wet seasons to support geotechnical design and settlement assessments. Monitoring informs drainage design, safety, and flood risk assessments for subdivisions and transport corridors.

Monitoring wells are typically placed along alignments, at cuttings, near bridge abutments and adjacent to wetlands or creeks. Both groundwater levels and quality changes are tracked during construction and operation. Continuous groundwater monitoring integrated with structural instruments such as inclinometers and settlement markers allows engineers to correlate pore pressure changes with ground movement – a crucial role in managing construction risk on sensitive alignments.

Utilities, Industrial Facilities and Waste Management Sites

Fuel depots, chemical plants, power stations, wastewater treatment facilities and landfills each present distinct contamination risks that drive specific monitoring requirements. Monitoring is essential for preventing contamination at historical industrial sites and at operational facilities where potential contamination sources are present.

Realistic contaminants of concern at WA sites include:

Hydrocarbons around fuel storage
PFAS near firefighting training grounds
Nutrients and metals near wastewater infrastructure
Leachate indicators around landfills

Plans for these sites typically specify a ring of monitoring wells around the facility perimeter, with screen depths matched to likely contaminant pathways. Continuous groundwater level data helps distinguish contamination-driven changes from normal seasonal fluctuations or over extraction by nearby users, supporting more accurate interpretation of groundwater sampling results.

Land Development, Contaminated Sites and Urban Groundwater

In Perth and regional centres like Bunbury and Geraldton, shallow water table conditions and acid sulphate soils directly affect subdivision design and drainage infrastructure. Monitoring helps track water table levels and salinity risk in Perth’s aquifers, and establishing baseline data for groundwater quality is necessary before land-use changes proceed.

Monitoring plans for greenfield estates include networks of shallow monitoring wells to track groundwater levels relative to lot levels, drainage infrastructure, wetlands and ecosystems that depend on groundwater. Regular monitoring helps prevent ecological stress in sensitive wetland areas. Groundwater monitoring in Perth ensures compliance with environmental regulations and is an integral part of environmental management across the metropolitan area.

Contaminated site assessments – for example at ex-service stations or former industrial lots – require bore locations, depth intervals and collecting samples over multiple rounds to delineate plumes. Groundwater monitoring helps detect contamination from heavy metals and pesticides that may persist in soil and aquifer materials. Continuous monitoring can be especially valuable at urban sites where tidal influences, irrigation and stormwater injections cause rapid water level fluctuations that affect plume behaviour.

Defining the Conceptual Hydrogeological Model

Every robust groundwater monitoring plan should incorporate a concise conceptual hydrogeological model – not just bore logs, but a clear narrative and diagrams showing how groundwater moves through the site. Groundwater monitoring uses technology to observe underground water sources, but interpreting that data requires understanding the hydrogeological setting.

The model should cover:

Stratigraphy and aquifer types (unconfined, semi-confined, confined)
Hydraulic connectivity between units
Recharge and discharge zones
Known abstraction bores and their influence
Nearby groundwater-dependent ecosystems and surface water features

Existing datasets from DWER bore records, geological mapping and previous site investigations form the starting point. The conceptual model then justifies the location and depth of each monitoring well and provides the framework for interpreting groundwater level and quality trends over time.

Designing the Monitoring Network and Monitoring Wells

The monitoring network needs to adequately sample relevant groundwater conditions without unnecessary cost. Key design principles include:

Upgradient wells to establish background water quality and levels
Downgradient wells to detect project impacts
Nested wells screening multiple aquifers at the same location
Sentinel wells positioned between the project and sensitive receptors such as wetlands, private bores or ecosystems

Bore design must include proper construction to ensure groundwater monitoring accuracy. Casing materials (PVC for most fresh groundwater applications, stainless steel in corrosive or saline environments), screen intervals, gravel pack specifications and well protection should all be defined in the plan. Bore holes must be constructed under the appropriate 26D licence in proclaimed areas.

The plan should specify how groundwater levels will be referenced – metres below Top of Casing (TOC), then converted to metres Australian Height Datum (mAHD) – to ensure data comparability between campaigns and across many years of monitoring.

Bore Construction Specifications and Installation Records

A monitoring plan is not complete without clear, auditable bore construction specifications and templates for as-built records. Well construction standards in Western Australia require adherence to technical specifications set out in guidance such as WQPG 4.

Key items to define for each bore include:

Target depth and screen length
Slot size and gravel pack
Sealing intervals (bentonite or cement grout)
Development requirements
Minimum separation from services or structures

Detailed construction logs – drilling method, lithology, water strikes, depths, materials and final construction diagrams – must be recorded and retained. These records support long-term data interpretation, rehabilitation planning and eventual bore decommissioning. Groundwater monitoring involves drilling boreholes for water sampling, and the quality of those boreholes directly determines the quality of the data.

Parameters, Data Collection Methods and Monitoring Frequency

The plan should specify what will be measured at each bore and how data collection will occur, distinguishing between continuous sensors and manual groundwater sampling.

Level monitoring methods include electric water level meters for manual readings, vibrating wire piezometers for pore pressure measurement, and submersible pressure transducers for automated groundwater level logging.

Quality monitoring typically covers field parameters and laboratory analysis. Groundwater quality monitoring includes measuring pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature and redox potential in the field. Water samples are then submitted for laboratory analysis against a defined suite including major ions, metals, nutrients, hydrocarbons and, where relevant, PFAS. Parameters monitored include physical, chemical, and biological aspects of water. Water quality samples are commonly tested against 40 different parameters, depending on site risk. Groundwater monitoring must follow AS/NZS 5667 standards for sampling to ensure defensible results.

Coastal bores are monitored for electrical conductivity to detect seawater intrusion – a growing concern as climate change affects water resources along the WA coast.

Monitoring frequency should be risk-based: 15-minute logging intervals for automated transmitters at high-risk dewatering sites, monthly manual sampling at active waste facilities, and quarterly or annual sampling at low-risk locations.

Continuous Groundwater Monitoring and Telemetry

Continuous monitoring is where automated sensors, data loggers and telemetry (GSM or satellite) transmit groundwater levels and selected water quality parameters to a central cloud platform in near real time. Automated monitoring improves data collection frequency and accuracy for groundwater management – capturing transient events such as storm pulses, pump shutdowns and tidal responses that manual readings miss entirely.

Pressure transducers are used for automated groundwater level logging, selected to suit local conditions – fresh versus saline, corrosive environments, and bore depth. Engineering considerations include power supply (solar and battery for remote WA sites), data logging intervals, and redundancy for critical monitoring wells. Satellite data can infer groundwater changes across large aquifers, supplementing bore-based measurements.

Continuous datasets support compliance with trigger level frameworks, enable real-time alerts when groundwater levels or quality exceed thresholds, and substantially reduce manual site visits in remote locations. For projects where monitoring is essential across vast distances – common in WA mining – this approach transforms what is practical. Groundwater monitoring can include automated systems for real-time data, making the monitoring process far more responsive than periodic manual rounds.

Data Management, QA/QC and Groundwater Data Integrity

A monitoring plan must address the full data lifecycle – from field measurement to validated groundwater monitoring data ready for computer models and regulatory reports. Standard operating procedures are necessary for reliable data in groundwater monitoring, and quality assurance measures should be embedded from day one.

Typical QA/QC measures include:

Equipment calibration schedules
Barometric and density corrections for pressure transducers
Field duplicates and blanks
Accredited laboratory analysis with clear chains of custody
Metadata recording (sensor serial numbers, datum references, screen intervals)

The plan should specify digital data capture, naming conventions and centralised databases or cloud dashboards. Data analysis is crucial for identifying contamination trends in groundwater, and effective groundwater management requires long-term datasets for trend analysis. Automated checks for sensor drift, missing data and outliers help produce audit-ready datasets that hold up under regulatory scrutiny.

Trigger Levels, Thresholds and Management Responses

A monitoring plan should use groundwater data to drive decisions, not simply accumulate measurements. Setting trigger levels for water quality and quantity initiates corrective actions when values are exceeded. Environmental provisions are maintained by safeguarding minimum groundwater levels through these frameworks.

The process involves:

Establishing baseline groundwater data from multiple sampling rounds across different seasons
Setting Class 1 triggers (early warning, internal review) and Class 2 triggers (significant, requiring regulator notification)
Defining clear management responses for each level

Responses might include increased monitoring frequency, investigation of causes, adjustment of pumping rates, implementation of mitigation measures, and notification of DWER within specified timeframes (commonly 14 days). Continuous monitoring allows much earlier detection of trend changes compared with infrequent manual readings, making trigger frameworks effective rather than retrospective.

Reporting, Auditing and Regulator Communication

The monitoring plan should define reporting formats, timelines and expectations for external review. Common requirements include:

Monthly or quarterly summary dashboards for internal teams
Annual groundwater monitoring reports for licence compliance
Event-based reports when triggers are exceeded

Reports should include time-series plots of groundwater levels and quality, hydrographs tied to rainfall and abstraction data, maps of monitoring wells, and clear commentary on trends and compliance status. For long-term WA projects with multi-decade operating lives, plans should also allow for periodic independent audits of the monitoring network and data management systems.

Well Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Decommissioning

Lifecycle considerations are often overlooked in early planning but are critical for maintaining data quality over many years. The monitoring program should define:

Annual bore condition inspections
Cleaning and redevelopment schedules after sedimentation
Replacement of damaged casing or headworks
Criteria for rehabilitating underperforming wells
Procedures for decommissioning bores at the end of their useful life, in accordance with WA guidelines

Continuous monitoring installations require additional maintenance provisions: sensor retrieval, recalibration, replacement, and telemetry hardware upgrades over the project life. Neglecting these requirements leads to gradual data degradation that undermines the entire monitoring effort.

Monitel’s Approach to Developing Continuous Groundwater Monitoring Plans

Monitel works with hydrogeologists, environmental teams and civil engineers across Western Australia to translate licence conditions and project risks into practical, automated groundwater monitoring systems.

The typical workflow includes:

Review of environmental approvals, existing groundwater data and site conditions
Refinement of monitoring objectives with the project team
Instrumentation selection independent of any single vendor
Design and installation of automated monitoring wells with telemetry and cloud dashboards
Configuration of alarms tied to project-specific trigger levels

Monitel’s engineering-led approach focuses on long-term reliability in remote and harsh WA environments, including redundancy, robust power systems and secure data storage. Groundwater monitoring can also be integrated with other geotechnical instrumentation – vibrating wire piezometers in embankments, settlement monitoring systems, inclinometers – to provide a cohesive risk management picture across the project.

Putting It All Together: Checklist for a Robust Groundwater Monitoring Plan

Before finalising a groundwater monitoring plan, verify that it addresses each of the following:

Clear, measurable objectives for both quantity and quality monitoring
Regulatory context (RIWI Act licences, EP Act conditions, Ministerial Statements)
Conceptual hydrogeological model with diagrams
Monitoring network design with justified bore locations and depths
Bore construction specifications and as-built record templates
Defined parameters, sampling methods and monitoring frequency
Continuous monitoring and telemetry strategy where risk warrants it
Data management, QA/QC procedures and metadata standards
Trigger levels with defined management responses and notification obligations
Reporting framework with timelines and formats
Maintenance, rehabilitation and decommissioning provisions

Consider where continuous monitoring and automated telemetry could replace or supplement manual field rounds to reduce risk and improve data quality – particularly on high-value or high-risk WA projects where monitoring groundwater quality and levels is central to project approval.

Getting the plan right from the start avoids costly retrofits, reduces compliance risk and produces datasets that hold up under regulatory and independent review. If you are developing or upgrading a groundwater monitoring plan, speak with Monitel’s team about how continuous monitoring systems can be designed to meet your project’s specific requirements and current WA regulatory expectations.

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