Neeraj Maini, Principal Policy Officer, Regulatory Implementation, Water Operations Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Lucy Peters, Water Resource Officer, Water, Department of Planning and Environment.

Commencement of the Water Management Amendment Act 2010

On 1 March 2024, the Water Management Amendment Act 2010 for joint private works schemes started. As a result, the parts of the Water Management Act 2000 (the Act) that deal with private water trusts have changed.

NSW Groundwater Strategy
In a first for NSW, a long-term strategy is being developed to better protect and share the state’s vital groundwater resources.

The draft NSW Groundwater Strategy will deliver on a key priority of the NSW Water Strategy by providing an enhanced, state-wide focus on sustainable groundwater management for the next 20 years.

Our groundwater resources are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to changing climate conditions, population growth and increased land use. A long-term direction – harnessing the latest science available – is needed to make sure the way we manage groundwater continues to evolve to tackle the critical challenges it faces now and in the future.

Community feedback is currently being sought on the draft NSW Groundwater Strategy, which is on public exhibition for 6 weeks from Tuesday, 5 July until Sunday, 14 August 2022.

Artesian Bore Water Users Association of NSW Inc.

AGM 2022

10 am

When: Monday 20^th June 2022.

Where: The Boardroom, Coonamble Bowling Club

Aberford St Coonamble

Please RSVP for catering by return email by Tuesday 14th June.

Artesian Bore Water Users Association

AGM 2021

The Boardroom 

Coonamble Bowling Club

10.30 for 11am on Friday June 25^th

Please RSVP for catering by return email by Tuesday   22^nd June.

Concern over the potential impacts that the coal seam gas mining industry could have on the Great Artesian Basin was one of the major issues raised by the Moree community during a public consultation on the state government's new water sharing plan.

Representatives from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment were in Moree on Monday, March 2 to discuss the key changes to the draft 2020 Great Artesian Basin Water Sharing Plan, which replaces the 2008 plan, and listen to the community's feedback.

With the current plan due to expire in July this year, the new plan has been simplified to make it easier to understand, according to lead planner for the Great Artesian Basin Water Sharing Plan, Kristylee Marr.

A group of Australia's pre-eminent water scientists say a rare desert oasis may dry up under Adani's "flawed" protections for groundwater near its proposed Carmichael mine, in a scathing assessment days out from a crucial ruling on the plan.

Queensland's Department of Environment and Science is this week due to decide on Adani's groundwater management plan – one of the last remaining barriers to construction of the coal project.

Former federal environment minister Melissa Price granted approval for the highly contentious groundwater plan days out from the federal election campaign. This came despite CSIRO and Geoscience Australia raising concerns over the energy company's modelling and proposed management.

The Great Artesian Basin is the lifeblood for many farmers and regional communities, especially during drought. The capping and piping of free-flowing bores in NSW is saving huge amounts of water but needs to carry on.

The Artesian Bore Water Users Association committee would appreciate it if you would please fill out the survey on the following link.

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FX6SP92

New South Wales and Queensland grain growers and spray operators are being encouraged to test water quality before using it for the application of herbicides and pesticides.

The advice comes in the wake of a research project by the SOS Macquarie Valley group that investigated the water quality of 180 bores and assessed its suitability for use with farm chemicals.

The project found the water quality varied significantly with 78 per cent of samples more alkaline than desired and 80 per cent recording higher than ideal levels of bicarbonate concentrate, when used to apply pesticides and herbicides.

While the samples for this research project were taken from a relatively small geographic area west of the Newell Highway and north and east of the Bogan River in central western New South Wales, the issue of water quality is relevant across all farming areas of Queensland and NSW.

Minister for Regional Water, Niall Blair today announced that a NSW Liberals &
Nationals Government will partner with the Commonwealth Government to invest $26
million in the popular Great Artesian Basin Infrastructure Investment program.

Mr Blair said the investment will see the Government partner with locals to boost their
drought resilience by capping free-flowing bores and installing new water supply
infrastructure such as pipes, tanks and troughs.

“We know that many of the 1400 bores tapping the Great Artesian Basin have stopped
flowing, which is reducing landholder access to water and adding additional pressures
to local councils securing their communities in times of drought,” Mr Blair said. 

AS dams, creeks and rivers dry up across eastern Australia, the tightening grip of drought is again underscoring the critical value of groundwater to rural communities and agriculture.

Bore drillers like Ian Hansen (left) at Dalby are receiving phone calls almost daily from livestock producers wanting new or replacement bores sunk as surface water runs out, while townships are also tapping further into groundwater to avoid running out of water.

With precious and finite aquifers under considerable pressure, questions are again being asked about policies that grant short-term mining projects priority access to groundwater.

An extension has been granted for the submission. Closing date  9 November  2018 at 5.00pm (AEDT) . 
Reminder: The new plan will be adopted for the next 15 years. Have your say now.

 

If you want to have a say in the use of our greatest resource – The Great Artesian Basin please tender a submission. I know everyone is struggling with the dry but take 5 minutes to think about where you would be without water. Imagine having to worry about sourcing water as well as feed. We are indeed lucky to have a (mostly) reliable source of water and we need to ensure the government realises how important that it is.

PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY!

Closing date 5pm next Friday 5^th October.

 

The GABCC has been giving information and direction over recent years for the writing of the Draft Strategic Management Plan [SMP] to manage the GAB for the next 15 years. The Federal and NSW Govt Depts intend to hold the following SMP consultation meetings.

Moree 11th Sept @ 10.30 am Moree Services Club, 3 Albert St.
Walgett 12th Sept @ 10.00 am Walgett RSL Club, 71 Fox St.
Bourke 13th Sept @ 10.00 am Diggers on the Darling, 23 Sturt St.

The ALP narrowly retained office in the recent Queensland election after saying it would veto Adani’s application for a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan of $1 billion to construct a rail line from its port in Bowen to the Galilee Basin.

Many believed that the giant Adani coal mine proposal was finished and that the ALP is opposed to it or any other mine in the Galilee Basin.

It’s not true.

The Adani Carmichael mine project has secured a 60-year free endless groundwater agreement from the state government. If operational, the mine would draw more than 12,000 megalitres of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin every year – 40 percent of the artesian water used for irrigation in Queensland. And a deal approved by the state cabinet in May will deliver infrastructure funding and a royalty holiday for Adani, worth close to $500 million.

UP until three years ago in the outback Queensland town of Longreach, thousands of cattle were sold at the town’s saleyards weekly.

Now, as the region enters in its fifth year of an increasingly crippling drought, there’s barely livestock to be seen.

Sold for slaughter, mostly, except for the valuable breeding stock which have been agisted to greener pastures interstate, until the rains come.

“Drought is not like other natural disasters, it sneaks up very slowly and keeps tightening its grip,” third generation grazier Angus Emmott, of Noonbah cattle station, south west of Longreach told news.com.au

A GRAZIER has lost the latest battle with a Queensland coal mega-mine.
Bruce Currie owned Speculation cattle farm north of Jericho.
Mr Currie and his wife Annette said the GVK Kevin's Corner mine's groundwater demands would effectively destroy their livelihood.
The property, west of Emerald, was in the region where mining giants GVK Hancock and Adani wanted to begin major mining operations.
Currie went to the Land Court to stop the proposed $4.2 billion Kevin's Corner coal project in the Galilee Basin.
But in a new judgment delivered at the Land Court in Brisbane on Tuesday, Member Wayne Cochrane decided the recommendation for the Hancock mining lease ought to be granted.
"Inevitably ... mining projects of this magnitude will have negative impacts and undesired consequences on the environment, particularly in the immediate vicinity of the mine," Mr Cochrane said in the new judgment.  
"However I have come to the view that those consequences are outweighed by the benefits that will flow from the development of the mine."  
GVK Hancock wanted to extract about 30 million tonnes of coal a year at the combined underground and open cut thermal coal mine.

THE Basin Sustainability Alliance is calling for the Queensland Government to cap the gas industry's unlimited access to water from the Great Artesian Basin as the Government works towards a new draft of The Great Artesian Basin and other Regional Aquifiers (GABORA) Water Plan before it expires in September.

Established in 2010, the BSA represents the interests of landholders and rural communities in south-west Queensland concerned with the long-term impacts of the CSG industry on the GBA and advocates for the sustainable management of the basin to ensure its longevity for future generations of primary producers in the area.

The BSA responded to a public notice published by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines in January with a detailed submission outlining its concerns that the Government has failed to regulate the resource sector's extraction of water from the GAB.

Never has Australia seen community opposition like this to a fossil fuel project. Ever. Not even close.
The project is the Narrabri Gas Project, and it's a huge coal seam gas development proposed by resources giant Santos. The project would be based in the northern NSW town of Narrabri but would largely take place in a precious area of forest and scrubland called "The Pilliga".

• The Coalition Government is delivering $8 million for water infrastructure improvements in the Great Artesian Basin for two years to 2018–19.
• This funding will help continue the delivery of important water infrastructure upgrades, by capping free flowing bores and replacing inefficient open bore drains with modern piped reticulation systems.
• The Coalition Government will continue to work with state governments, industry and communities to develop an enduring partnership model for supporting Great Artesian Basin water infrastructure improvements into the future.

The Coalition Government is contributing to regional development and economic growth by providing an additional $8 million for water infrastructure upgrades across the Great Artesian Basin for two years to 2018–19.