Geoscience and sustainable catchment and resource management: the Ben Chifley Catchment case study

This article demonstrates a key role that geoscience and geoscientists could be playing in promoting sustainable catchment and resource management. A new geoscience-based approach supported by a landscape-genesis (LG) model was employed to provide an alternative approach for integrated catchment management and sustainable resource use and development. The Ben Chifley Catchment case study is used to explain the application of the approach and the landscape-genesis model. The study confirmed that lithological composition, tectonic and diagenetic processes, and landform were critical factors in determining the intrinsic properties and variation in soil type, land use, land capability, steepness of terrain, erosion, and resource degradation within the catchment. The landscape-genesis model, which is based on the geological and geomorphic genesis of the landscape, proved to be a powerful tool to predict the inherent carrying capacity and resilience of the various biophysical systems in the catchment. Although this approach is still in its infancy, its application has demonstrated that it has a strong potential in terms of undertaking sound integrated assessment, predicting potential resource degradation under different land uses, and developing sound management practices and solutions to advance the goal of ecological sustainability.