Australian Government Increases Groundwater Monitoring

The NSW Office of Water Unveiles Plan for Monitoring ofGroundwaterStarting with Three Coal Seam Gas Flashpoints

The Baird government will increase its monitoring of groundwater, starting with three coal seam gas flashpoints, in a bid to ease community concerns about the impact of the emerging industry.

The NSW Office of Water will drill additional bores and introduce advanced computer modelling to provide baseline water assessments of the Gloucester, Gunnedah and Clarence Moreton basins, three regions where CSG developers have faced fierce local opposition.

Phase one will see 10 bores drilled at five sites at a cost of $3.1 million, with the second phase involving 12 bores at six sites with a bill of $4.3 million.

Water consultant Philip Pells welcomed the additional research, noting "it's very hard to define the impact if you don't know what the starting point is".

Any monitoring would have to cover the "very long term because the systems have to be monitored over climatic cycles that extend over decades", Dr Pells said.

More important, though, was the need to model the probable impacts of the CSG and longwall coal mining projects rather than existing baselines, he said.

Earlier this year the government suspended the exploration licence of Metgasco at Bentley in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, citing a failure to conduct sufficient community consultation.

Last month Energy Minister Anthony Roberts approved hydraulic fracturing of four wells near Gloucester in the mid-north coast region. Local opponents say they are prepared to blockade the project's developer AGL to prevent the fracking proceeding.

Steve Phillips, a spokesman for CSG opponents Lock the Gate, said the companies, including Santos in the Gunnedah basin, should halt operations until the results of the water mapping were completed.

Source: The Sidney Morning Herald

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• Hydrology
• Groundwater Recharge