Groundwater supply systems constructed by gold miners in Victoria during the nineteenth century were highly significant in the historical development of water law and water licensing in Australia. Alluvial gold mining required large volumes of water to separate gold from washdirt, but surface flows often failed in seasonally dry conditions. Drought in the mid-1860s prompted miners on the Ovens goldfield in north-east Victoria to exploit groundwater to increase supplies, despite limited scientific understanding of this resource at the time. Analysis of historical plans held by Public Records Office Victoria has revealed numerous ‘source of supply’ tunnels dug by miners to extract groundwater in the area. By the early 1880s, miners were using up to 31 ML of groundwater per day, with much of the water transferred between creek and river catchments. These activities represent an early, large-scale and significant intervention in the hydrogeological environment, several decades prior to economic development of the Great Artesian Basin in northern Australia. Understanding the nature and scale of groundwater use in this period provides vital social and historical context for modern debates about groundwater modelling, extraction and management.

19世纪，维多利亚州的金矿工人建造的地下水供应系统在澳大利亚水法和水许可的历史发展中具有重要意义。冲积金矿开采需要大量的水才能将金与水垢分离，但是在季节性干燥的条件下，地表水流往往会失效。尽管当时对这种资源的科学了解有限，但1860年代中期的干旱促使矿工在维多利亚州东北部的Ovens金矿开采地下水以增加供应。维多利亚州公共记录办公室对历史计划进行的分析显示，矿工挖出了许多“供应源”隧道，以开采该地区的地下水。到1880年代初，矿工每天使用多达31毫升的地下水，其中大部分水在小河和河流集水区之间转移。这些活动是对水文地质环境的早期，大规模和重大干预，这是在澳大利亚北部大自流盆地经济发展之前的几十年。了解这一时期的地下水使用性质和规模，为有关地下水建模，开采和管理的现代辩论提供了重要的社会和历史背景。