Westfall (2026) Shifts in Transport Pathways Before, During, and After Drought

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Monash University
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-03-21
• Authors: Thomas Gregory Westfall
• DOI: 10.26180/31827289

Research Groups

[Information not provided in the text, likely a university department where the thesis was conducted.]

Short Summary

This thesis investigates the cause of a long-term shift in Victoria's water balance, finding that changes in stream salinity suggest reduced water and salt transport to streams due to long-term shifts in the vertical groundwater gradient.

Objective

• Investigate the cause of the long-term shift in water balance and lower-than-expected streamflow in Victoria, Australia, following the Millennium Drought, specifically by studying stream salinity changes.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Catchments across Victoria, Australia.
• Temporal Scale: Multi-year period encompassing the Millennium Drought and the subsequent 15 years post-drought, indicating a multi-decadal analysis.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified.
• Data sources: Observational data of stream salinity changes over time.

Main Results

• Long-term shifts in the vertical groundwater gradient are reducing the transport of water and salt toward the stream, explaining the persistent lower streamflows and altered water balance.

Contributions

• Provides a potential explanation (long-term shifts in vertical groundwater gradient) for the persistent lower streamflows and altered water balance in Victoria, Australia, following the Millennium Drought, addressing a significant scientific challenge.

Funding

[Information not provided in the text.]

Citation

@article{Westfall2026Shifts,
  author = {Westfall, Thomas Gregory},
  title = {Shifts in Transport Pathways Before, During, and After Drought},
  journal = {Monash University},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.26180/31827289},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.26180/31827289}
}