tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/great-artesian-basin-11699/articlesGreat Artesian Basin – The Conversation2017-04-12T23:09:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759232017-04-12T23:09:02Z2017-04-12T23:09:02ZWhy does the Carmichael coal mine need to use so much water?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164791/original/image-20170411-31886-15euxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coal mines, such as this one near Bowen, use water for everything from equipment cooling to dust management.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACSIRO_ScienceImage_1801_Water_storage_at_a_mine.jpg">CSIRO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/abbot-point-coal-terminal-water-spill-to-cause-significant-damage-20170410-gvht8u.html">accidental water spills</a> into coastal wetlands, to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/barnaby-joyce-defends-great-investment-in-adani/news-story/d71bec3fbb8394b930ccf17b7363b085">proposed taxpayer-funded loans</a>, Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine and the associated Abbot Point coal terminal can’t keep out of the news at the moment.</p>
<p>Last week, the granting of an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/cqstatic/gvdane/adaniawl.PDF">unlimited 60-year water licence</a> to the Carmichael mine, in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, rattled environmentalists, farmers and community groups alike. </p>
<p>In a region experiencing <a href="https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/queenslanddroughtmonitor/queenslanddroughtreport/index.php">prolonged drought conditions</a>, the provision of unlimited water for one of the largest mining operations in the Southern Hemisphere seems like a commitment at odds with current climate predictions. The decision has also prompted a raft of wider questions about the industry’s water use.</p>
<p><strong>Why do coal mines need so much water?</strong></p>
<p>Underground coal mines rely on water to <a href="https://energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/itp-mining-water-use-industries-future-mining-industry">reduce the hazard</a> of fires or explosion, by using it to cool the cutting surfaces of mining equipment and prevent coal dust from catching fire.</p>
<p>Water also helps to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364815214001935">manage dust</a> produced during the processing stage, when coal is crushed and ground. Coal is then transported through pipelines as a water-based slurry for further processing.</p>
<p>Mines also need water for things like equipment maintenance, and for consumption by the mining communities themselves.</p>
<p>In total, about <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136481521000201X">250 litres of freshwater</a> are required per tonne of coal produced. This freshwater makes up around <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136481521000201X">a quarter of the total water</a> demand during coal production, the rest being “worked” (recycled) water.</p>
<p><strong>What other industries use lots of water?</strong></p>
<p>The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground water reservoirs in the world. It underlies <a href="http://www.gabcc.gov.au/sitecollectionimages/resources/66540f98-c828-4268-8b8b-b37f8193cde7/files/resource-study-2016.pdf">22% of Australia’s land area</a>, beneath the arid and semi-arid parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Its aquifers supply water to around 200 towns or settlements, most of which are <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/water/gab-economics-report.pdf">allowed to draw</a> between 100 and 500 million litres (ML) per year.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164789/original/image-20170411-31902-1b82bdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Great Artesian Basin covers almost a quarter of Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tentotwo/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Great Artesian Basin underpins A$12.8 billion of economic activity annually, according to a <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/water/gab-economics-report.pdf">2016 report commissioned by the federal government</a>. Almost all of this is from mining and coal seam gas (A$8 billion) and livestock farming (A$4.7 billion).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/water/gab-economics-report.pdf">In Queensland</a>, mining and industry hold just over 1% (by number) of the water licences linked to the Great Artesian Basin but account for 10% of the water extracted. Coal seam gas accounts for a further 22% of water, with no licensing required. In contrast, livestock production accounts for 88% of water licences but just 46% of the extracted water.</p>
<p>The Carmichael mine’s <a href="http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Carmichael%20Coal%20Mine%20and%20Rail/EIS/EIS/Mine%20Chapters/06-water-resources-mine.pdf">12,000ML forecasted use</a> (equivalent to <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/water/gab-economics-report.pdf">4% of the water</a> extracted from the Great Artesian Basin in Queensland last year) would put it alongside the biggest annual users of Great Artesian Basin water, such as the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia, which currently <a href="http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/files/4771574_odxassessmentreport.pdf">draws 10,000ML</a> each year.</p>
<p><strong>Why does Adani need unlimited water anyway?</strong></p>
<p>According to the company’s own modelling, the Carmichael mine’s annual freshwater use is projected to peak at just over <a href="http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Carmichael%20Coal%20Mine%20and%20Rail/EIS/EIS/Mine%20Chapters/06-water-resources-mine.pdf">12,000ML</a> – or roughly 13 Olympic swimming pools per day.</p>
<p>Despite these estimates, the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/cqstatic/gvdane/adaniawl.PDF">water licence</a> granted to Adani puts no limit on the water it can take from the Great Artesian Basin. However, it calls for regular monitoring of water levels, quality and flow in each aquifer that is tapped. </p>
<p>Unlike other controversial Queensland mining projects, such as the New Acland coal mine, Adani’s water licence application was exempted from <a href="https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/water/authorisations/licences/public-notices">public scrutiny</a>, courtesy of a <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills/55PDF/2016/B16_0114_EnvironmentalProUWMOLAB16.pdf">November 2016 amendment</a> to the <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills/55PDF/2015/WaterLAB15.pdf">existing laws</a>.</p>
<p>Water licences usually specify the total amount, and/or the daily rate, of groundwater that can be taken. Changes to a water licence to increase the amount of water must be <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills/55PDF/2016/B16_0114_EnvironmentalProUWMOLAB16.pdf">assessed like a new application</a> and pass public scrutiny. But with an unlimited licence, there is no need for Adani to apply for a new licence if they need more water than originally predicted.</p>
<p><strong>What are the environmental effects of industrial-scale water usage on the basin?</strong></p>
<p>Despite a net yearly <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP132693&dsid=DS5">decrease of 286,000ML</a> in the water stored within the Great Artesian Basin, it is in no danger of running dry. The past 120 years of exploitation have used up <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/6405b0fb-1956-4790-9ca4-b138ed810717/files/great-artesian-basin-managing.pdf">less than 0.1%</a> of the water stored. </p>
<p>The real issue is water pressure. Flows from artesian bores are now <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/6405b0fb-1956-4790-9ca4-b138ed810717/files/great-artesian-basin-managing.pdf">roughly half</a> what they were in 1915. Since then, the water level in some bores has fallen by as much as 80 metres, and a third of bores have stopped flowing altogether. This directly affects the human, plant and animal communities that rely on artesian water.</p>
<p>Because of their isolation, the natural springs of the Great Artesian Basin are home to <a href="http://www.gabcc.gov.au/sitecollectionimages/resources/66540f98-c828-4268-8b8b-b37f8193cde7/files/resource-study-2016.pdf">many unique plant and animal species</a>. Desert springs are particularly vulnerable to declining water pressure, and many spring habitats have been <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/6405b0fb-1956-4790-9ca4-b138ed810717/files/great-artesian-basin-managing.pdf">irreversibly damaged</a> by invasive species, excavation, livestock, industrial activity and even tourists. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164790/original/image-20170411-31914-z3xyr4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An oasis in South Australia’s arid interior.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABubbling_Mound_Spring_at_Wabma_Kadarbu_Conservation_Park.JPG">Tandrew/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Can mining industries be more water-wise?</strong></p>
<p>Recycled water is an integral part of coal mining, but it contains salt, added in the dust-management stage, which can leave the water unusable for certain processes. Nevertheless, a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136481521000201X">recent study</a> suggests that Queensland coal mines could cut their freshwater use by 62% simply by using recycled water for processes that are not sensitive to salt levels. Diluting salty recycled water could also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364815214001935">reduce freshwater</a> use by 50%, and cut water costs by 40%.</p>
<p>Untreated seawater is perhaps the most sustainable water of all, although transporting it from coast to mine costs energy and therefore money. Its saltiness also creates chemical challenges during <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1743285514Y.0000000077">coal</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1226086X17301144">uranium</a> processing.</p>
<p>Another option to address climate-induced water challenges might be for <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095965261630525X">mines to share water allocations</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Where do we go from here?</strong> </p>
<p>Understandably, there is significant concern that Adani’s unlimited licence will allow the mine to draw more water than predicted. Should the mine go ahead, it is important that the research community continues to scrutinise the regular water quality and usage reports that Adani is required to provide. Water licences can, after all, be revoked. </p>
<p>We should also be concerned about industries like coal seam gas that currently do not require water licensing, but nevertheless use huge amounts of artesian water. </p>
<p>Although water is an important issue, it is vital not to lose sight of the numerous other environmental impacts of the Carmichael mine. For example, an estimated <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/cb8a9e41-eba5-47a4-8b72-154d0a5a6956/files/carmichael-statement-reasons.pdf">4.7 billion tonnes</a> of greenhouse gas emissions will result from the mining and burning of Carmichael coal. Climate warming will impact Australia on multiple fronts, including bleaching of the <a href="http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/assets/documents/climate/advancing-climate-action.pdf">Great Barrier Reef</a>, increasing the intensity of <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/fa553e97-2ead-47bb-ac80-c12adffea944/files/cc-risks-full-report.pdf">tropical cyclones</a>, causing more heat-related <a href="http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/b7e53b20a7d6573e1ab269d36bb9b07c.pdf">deaths, diseases and droughts</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellen Moon works on a project funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment.</span></em></p>Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin has been granted an unlimited 60-year water licence. But a range of measures could help the industry use less freshwater.Ellen Moon, Researcher in Geochemistry, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/587182016-05-03T02:13:38Z2016-05-03T02:13:38ZRiver on fire: even if it’s not coal seam gas we should still be concerned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120920/original/image-20160503-19529-ifpqqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ignited methane gas from the seep on the Condamine River. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJAKVnK4qM">Screenshot from Jeremy Buckingham/YouTube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Astonishing footage of a river in Queensland on fire has once again stoked the coal seam gas (CSG) debate. The video shows NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham setting fire to methane seeping from the Condamine River. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NvJAKVnK4qM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>CSIRO researchers, who have been researching the Condamine since 2012, have stated <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/river-on-fire-in-greens-mps-video-is-natural-not-fracking-says-csiro">that the gas seep is unlikely to be due to CSG production</a>. </p>
<p>Methane contributes to global warming but is harmless to people except at extremely high concentrations. The bigger problem raised by the Condamine River gas seep is the impact of CSG on groundwater, a resource on which many people in the region depend. </p>
<p>Even if the gas seep is natural, it suggests that we do not know enough about how gas exploration could affect this precious resource. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120917/original/image-20160502-19529-1pn7roe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Condamine River at Chinchilla Weir, close to the gas seep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charlotte Iverach.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is it CSG?</h2>
<p>For millions of years, methane gas has seeped from oil and gas deposits and coal measures, particularly in areas of major geological faulting. In fact, many of the early <a href="http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/seeps/index.html">oil and gas fields began at or next to natural gas seeps</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://laptop.deh.gov.au/water/policy-programs/entitlement-purchasing/condaminebalonne.html">Condamine River</a> begins in Queensland and ultimately joins the Murray-Darling. It flows through what is known as the <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/energy/province-sedimentary-basin-geology/petroleum/onshore-australia/surat-basin">Surat Basin</a>, a geological region that holds major deposits of coal, oil and gas. </p>
<p>The river flows over groundwater that is used to supply irrigation, stock and domestic water. This groundwater, called the Condamine River Alluvial Aquifer, overlies a coal deposit known as the <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/106133/walloons-condamine-conceptualisation.pdf">Walloon Coal Measures</a>. This has been exploited for coal and, more recently, for the CSG that resides within it. </p>
<p>In 2012, the Queensland government found that the <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/119669/condamine-river-gas-seep.pdf">chemistry of the gas from the Condamine River gas seep</a> is consistent with a source in the Surat Basin. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/119669/condamine-river-gas-seep.pdf">No CSG production or exploration</a> has occurred within 1.4 km of the Condamine River gas seep. This suggests that CSG is not responsible. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319146003">Methane gas is buoyant</a>, and when released at depth it will generally rise vertically through the earth. Where a coal or CSG exploration or production well is vertical, methane gas leakage measured at the ground surface is usually contained to within tens to a few hundred metres of the well.</p>
<p>Methane can move horizontally, but only when there are geological structures that force it to move laterally. Gas can <a href="http://notatanycost.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/KCB-Gassy-Bore-Final-Report.pdf">migrate many kilometres through dipping geological layers and networks of geological faults</a>. This is common with conventional gas reservoirs kilometres below the Earth’s surface. </p>
<p>But coal seams under the Condamine River are relatively shallow, so gas is unlikely to move horizontally more than a few hundred metres from a CSG well. </p>
<h2>Natural causes?</h2>
<p>The broader geological setting also supports the argument that the Condamine River gas seep is natural. From its headwaters, the Condamine River initially flows northwest before turning southwest near Chinchilla. </p>
<p>Such a sharp change in flow direction is consistent with the presence of a major geological fault. The Condamine River gas seep occurs in the river reach just after this major change in flow direction.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120919/original/image-20160503-19538-40b2j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gas bubbles on the bed of the Condamine River a short distance from the main gas seep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryce Kelly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Methane in the coal seam can also be mobilised by changes in the weight of the earth above it, particularly movement of water. Groundwater extraction lifts weight off the Walloon Coal Measures, while floods increase the weight. The interplay of groundwater use and flooding effectively pumps the system and mobilises trapped gas. This gas slowly migrates to the ground surface.</p>
<p>The Condamine River is also not the only place in the region where methane is likely naturally seeping upwards from the Walloon Coal Measures. </p>
<p>Another 100 km south of the notorious Condamine River gas seep, at Cecil Plains, we <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep15996">analysed the chemistry of groundwater that overlies the Walloon Coal Measures.</a>. By analysing the chemistry of the methane molecules, we found that at some locations the methane in the groundwater was due to natural upward migration of gas from the underlying Walloon Coal Measures. </p>
<h2>A leaky well?</h2>
<p>But the case is not closed over whether the Condamine River gas seep is natural.</p>
<p>Throughout Queensland there are <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/345616/uwir-surat-basin-2016.pdf">hundreds of poorly documented coal and groundwater exploration wells</a>. These were drilled last century before the creation of rigorous regulations.</p>
<p>Near Chinchilla, on the Condamine River, abandoned leaky exploration wells have been located by <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/57e4a9fd-56ea-428b-b995-f27c25822643/files/csg-fugitive-emissions-2014.pdf">measuring the methane in air</a> at ground level. What if there is just such an abandoned well associated with the Condamine River gas seep? </p>
<p>In April 2016, we mapped gas leaking from the site of a presumably abandoned leaking coal exploration well just 2.5 km north of the Condamine River gas seep.</p>
<p>We measured maximum methane concentrations of 595 parts per million (ppm) (the lower explosive limit of methane in air is 50,000 ppm). By contrast, the average natural background concentration of methane for the region is 1.79 ppm. The continuously high concentration indicates that there is a direct path between the coal measures and the ground surface. </p>
<p>If there is a similar poorly documented abandoned well closer to the Condamine River it could account for the gas seeps being reported. </p>
<p>Given that there are hundreds of these abandoned exploration wells in Queensland and an unknown number in the Chinchilla region, only further field mapping and searching of historical documents could definitively exclude the presence of an abandoned coal exploration well.</p>
<h2>The big picture</h2>
<p>Whether natural or an abandoned exploration well, the Condamine River gas seep is a concern because it suggests that we do not know enough about the groundwater system in the region. </p>
<p>CSG production requires the extraction of large volumes of water to depressurise the coal seam and shift methane so it can be recovered. <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/31327/underground-water-impact-report.pdf">Over decades the zone of depressurisation will extend away from the gas production well</a> and slowly depressurise nearby areas.</p>
<p>To understand fully the impact of CSG production, we need to know if there are connections between the coal measures targeted for gas extraction and the groundwater used by people and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. </p>
<p>To date, <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/345616/uwir-surat-basin-2016.pdf">only 17 out of hundreds of geological faults</a> and no abandoned leaky wells have been incorporated into the regional groundwater model used to assess the impact of CSG production. Depending on CSG production and groundwater use, these could conceivably one day play a role in lowering the groundwater levels of the Great Artesian Basin and the Condamine River. </p>
<p>The only way to understand how CSG is affecting groundwater is to account for abandoned wells and other geological structures in groundwater flow models. </p>
<p>The gas seeps at the Condamine River may indeed be natural. The fact that there is so much confusion and debate about it highlights the need to provide the public with high-quality, scientifically defensible information. </p>
<p>Some good data have been collected, but we must expand groundwater monitoring throughout the region, and improve our mapping of gas seeps to determine the source of the gas. Without a comprehensive picture of the region, we cannot properly assess the long-term impact of CSG production.</p>
<p><em>The research described in this article is part of a collaboration between <a href="http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/bryce-kelly">UNSW Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.ansto.gov.au/ResearchHub/StaffProfiles/CENDON-DIONI">ANSTO</a>, and <a href="https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/earthsciences/labs/greengaslab.aspx">Royal Holloway University of London</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The equipment used to measure the concentration of methane in the ground-level atmosphere discussed in this article was funded by UNSW internal grants. Bryce Kelly receives funding for groundwater research from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Iverach receives funding for groundwater research from ANSTO, the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, and the Australian Government, Department of Education and Training.</span></em></p>Coal seam gas may not be responsible for a flaming river in Queensland, but it still raises uncomfortable questions.Bryce Kelly, Associate Professor, Connected Waters Initiative, UNSW SydneyCharlotte Iverach, PhD candidate, Connected Waters Initiative, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/538742016-02-29T19:07:12Z2016-02-29T19:07:12ZThe world’s biggest source of freshwater is beneath your feet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112705/original/image-20160224-32745-18sguf9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So much water has gone into groundwater it has slowed rising seas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bore image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might not give it more than a passing thought, but groundwater is a vital freshwater resource. In Australia alone, the <a href="http://www.groundwater.com.au/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTMvMTAvMTgvMDBfMjdfMTZfOTIxX0Vjb25vbWljX1ZhbHVlX29mX0dyb3VuZHdhdGVyX0ZJTkFMLnBkZiJdXQ/Economic%20Value%20of%20Groundwater%20FINAL.pdf">reserves of groundwater help to earn the nation a steady A$34 billion a year</a> from mining, food production and manufacturing. </p>
<p>But it’s also a vulnerable resource. Worldwide, about <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7410/full/nature11295.html">1.7 billion people live in regions where groundwater is under stress</a>, 60% of them in India and China.</p>
<p>US and Canadian researchers recently calculated <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v9/n2/full/ngeo2590.html">the total amount of the world’s groundwater</a> and estimated that it is equivalent to a lake 180 metres deep covering the entire Earth. This makes groundwater the largest active freshwater resource on the planet.</p>
<p>Groundwater is often referred to as a <a href="https://vimeo.com/110370013">hidden resource</a>, as it is not often seen and is hard to visualise. Water is stored between pores in the rock, or in fractures, known as aquifers. The amount of groundwater at a particular place therefore depends on the local geology. Geological history determines the extent to which a rock is porous and fractured, and therefore whether it can store groundwater. </p>
<p>We still know very little about this precious resource, particularly about how it may be affected by increasing pressure and a warming world. But scientists are starting to figure out the answers. </p>
<h2>How do you find out the age of water?</h2>
<p>The same research team that calculated the amount of groundwater also investigated its age. How did they do this?</p>
<p>Humans introduced a convenient time signature on the Earth when we started testing atomic weapons. This leaves a time stamp which can be found in water, rocks and living organisms. </p>
<p>By seeing if radioactivity from atomic bomb testing was present in the groundwater, the researchers could estimate that 6% of this groundwater is younger than 50 years old. </p>
<p>If this water was spread evenly over the continents, then there is just three metres depth of “modern” groundwater spread equally over the continents. </p>
<p>It could be argued that if we use only this “modern” groundwater, then this is sustainable, as we know that it has been replaced (or recharged) by natural processes over the last 50 years. But how quickly groundwater recharges changes over time. </p>
<p>Water has to reach the pores and fractures within rocks, either now or in the past. This means that the amount of rainfall has to be more than the amount of water evaporating from the land surface, and more than the amount of water used by all the vegetation. When this occurs, fresh water can recharge the groundwater from either water “leaking” from the beds of rivers or from rainwater that passes through the soil.</p>
<p>In many parts of the world we know that groundwater recharge varies due to natural climate variability such as <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a008-el-nino-and-australia.shtml">El Nino</a>. Groundwater recharge will also change with <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n4/abs/nclimate1744.html">global warming</a>.</p>
<h2>Recharging water: you can’t just plug it in</h2>
<p>Other <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6274/699">recent research has measured how the amount of water stored on land has changed</a>. The researchers did this by measuring changes in Earth’s gravity field, using <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Grace/#.Vs0w-pN96X1">GRACE satellite data from NASA</a> collected between 2002 and 2014. </p>
<p>The gravity field is affected by the amount of groundwater, as well as water in lakes and rivers, with groundwater being by far the largest of the three. Changes in the amount of this water cause small but measurable changes in the Earth’s gravity field. The data show that water stored on land increased from 2002 to 2014. </p>
<p>The increase in stored water on land is enough to affect global sea levels. So although global sea levels are rising due to global warming, over the last few years a decrease in the rate of sea-level rise is explained by more water being stored on land as groundwater. </p>
<p>Gravity data can show us where groundwater storage has increased over time: for example, due to large flooding events in the upper Missouri in the US, and Zambezi and Niger basins in Africa. The recharge of groundwater by rivers is important and is one of the main ways that fresh groundwater is replenished – the other being direct recharge from rainfall. </p>
<p>The gravity data also showed where the land water store was decreasing. These corresponded well with regions of groundwater depletion such as <a href="http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/gwinfo/">California</a> and the Middle East. </p>
<p>Most importantly, these data identify where groundwater is being affected by natural climate variability, by human over-use (or over-abstraction) and by changes in groundwater recharge due to global warming.</p>
<h2>Groundwater and climate</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.connectedwaters.unsw.edu.au/">research group</a> at the University of New South Wales has considered what the implications might be for the carbon budget when groundwater is abstracted. In our <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep18487">recent paper</a> in Scientific Reports, we show that the harder you pump groundwater, the more organic carbon is brought to the surface. </p>
<p>Organic matter, which is normally found in films on the surface of rock fractures, is mobilised by pumping groundwater. Pumping groundwater can therefore move organic carbon from an underground store to become a surface carbon source. This could, potentially, be released into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. </p>
<p>We don’t know, but with groundwater over-used in regions affecting approximately 1.7 billion people, we think it’s worth seriously investigating. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=129&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=129&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112239/original/image-20160221-25882-8p5cid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=162&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Groundwater wells at the NCRIS Groundwater Infrastructure site at Wellington, NSW, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andy Baker</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our work is the first of its kind and it has considered only one experimental research site in a fractured rock aquifer. Over the next three years, we will extend this research using a <a href="http://groundwater.anu.edu.au/">series of bore fields</a> funded by the Australian National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (<a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-collaborative-research-infrastructure-strategy-ncris">NCRIS</a>) to better understand the groundwater organic carbon store.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Baker receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>There’s enough water under the ground to form a lake 100m deep over the earth.Andy Baker, Professor, Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre, UNSW, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/351642014-12-09T19:33:23Z2014-12-09T19:33:23ZCoal seam gas is just the latest round in an underground war<p>In a recent article on The Conversation, Queensland coal seam gas (CSG) researchers <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-and-coal-seam-gas-a-case-of-the-tortoise-and-the-hare-35100">argued</a> that the industry is progressing faster than the science, leading to concerns over fugitive emissions and impacts on water. </p>
<p>The Southern Cross University team found unexpectedly high levels of methane in the air near CSG wells. They concluded that we do not yet know enough about the impact of CSG mining. Their findings were attacked by industry interests as well as some politicians. </p>
<p>But the search for CSG is just the latest round in an ongoing contest for the ground beneath our feet. The underground pore space where CSG is found — known to geologists as “sedimentary basins” — is one of our most important resources. </p>
<p>While you may not have given them much thought, these basins underlie half of Australia, provide 90% of our primary energy through fossil fuels, and sustain most of our agriculture and rural populations with water. </p>
<p>Governments around Australia are making decisions about underground resources. Victoria, for example, recently released its <a href="http://www.energyandresources.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/214543/Earth-Resources-Statement.pdf">Earth Resources Statement</a>, calling for extensive reforms to the state’s resources regulation. It remains to be seen how the change in government will affect this. </p>
<p>In New South Wales, the recently established <a href="http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/landholders-and-community/coal-seam-gas/office-of-coal-seam-gas">Office of Coal Seam Gas</a> has been tasked with similar work. </p>
<p>These regulatory decisions will have impacts for generations. And the worrying thing is, we don’t yet know what all those impacts will be. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66687/original/image-20141209-6723-16nf423.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sedimentary basins underlie half of Australia (blue). Important aquifers are shown in green, coal seam gas basins in purple. Dots show coal mines (brown and black), geothermal wells (red) and other mining activities (yellow).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Figure by AProf Tim Rawling, University of Melbourne.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rocky sponges</h2>
<p>Gas and water reside in the sedimentary basins held in the “pore spaces” of rock, like water in a sponge. </p>
<p>Increasingly, sedimentary basins are being explored for new resources and services, such as CSG and shale gas, CO<sub>2</sub> storage and geothermal energy. </p>
<p>For example, the federal industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, <a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/renewable-energy-safe-with-us-macfarlane-20140910-3f7j5.html">has said</a> New South Wales gas supplies must be developed, mainly through extraction of coal-seam gas, or the state will face shortages.</p>
<p>Protesters, concerned about impacts on water resources and agricultural productivity, seek to <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-tactics-see-coal-seam-gas-protests-gain-the-upper-hand-26645">block any such development</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time our dependence on groundwater is increasing. These reserves also support a large fraction of Australia’s endangered riverine and rangeland ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66682/original/image-20141209-6732-1wvudiy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s resource-rich sedimentary basins contain a variety of resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More and better science</h2>
<p>Sedimentary basins are a public good. </p>
<p>The search for new resources like unconventional gas marks a new stage in the contest for the subsurface. The increasingly heated rhetoric about environmental risks associated with coal-seam gas developments and geological CO<sub>2</sub> storage illustrates the need for new approaches to the management of sedimentary basins worldwide.</p>
<p>Australian Chief Scientist Ian Chubb <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/shalegas-recommendationsFINAL.pdf">has responded</a> to a <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF06FINAL/Final%20Report%20Engineering%20Energy%20June%202013.pdf">report on unconventional gas</a> delivered to the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council, saying we need to support research into “the geological and geophysical aspects of prospective sedimentary basins” and “the surface and groundwater dynamics of prospective sedimentary basins”. </p>
<p>In other words, we need to build a better understanding of how Australia’s sedimentary basins work and how new technologies and extractive processes such as CSG may affect precious water resources. And we need to do this now.</p>
<p>This urgent need for a beefed-up science and monitoring capacity should drive a new research agenda, providing trusted, credible information and analysis of sedimentary basins, as well as the opportunities and risks posed by new uses of their resources.</p>
<p>This agenda needs to be shared and supported by industries, governments, communities and the research sector. The <a href="http://www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/node/605">Melbourne Energy Institute</a> is advancing a <a href="http://www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/node/605">Sedimentary Basins Management Initiative</a> to meet this need. </p>
<h2>Building trust</h2>
<p>Communities need access to robust research findings they can trust. Governments need to make evidence-based decisions in a timely manner. Companies require leading-edge data.</p>
<p>Politicians and public servants must work across parties and jurisdictions to enact policy decisions on basins that cross state and territory lines. </p>
<p>We will need geoscience for comprehensive and independent monitoring under (groundwater systems) and above ground (fugitive emissions of methane). This will provide baseline data against which future impacts can be detected and managed, a crucial need highlighted by the Southern Cross University researchers, who note in their paper the need to quantify greenhouse gas emissions “before and after production commences”.</p>
<p>We need the legal and regulatory expertise to develop management regimes that cross different resources and jurisdictions. </p>
<p>We need economic expertise to assess the costs and benefits of multiple uses of the pore space. </p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly we need to apply social sciences to ensure that community aspirations are met and that a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-divestments-to-protests-social-licence-is-the-key-33576">social licence</a>” is fully integrated into basin management decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Bice receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Sandiford receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Howard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a recent article on The Conversation, Queensland coal seam gas (CSG) researchers argued that the industry is progressing faster than the science, leading to concerns over fugitive emissions and impacts…Sara Bice, Research Fellow, Centre for Public Policy, The University of MelbourneMike Sandiford, Professor of Geology and Director of Melbourne Energy Institute, The University of MelbourneWill Howard, Research scientist, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/347522014-11-30T18:50:52Z2014-11-30T18:50:52ZQueensland risks running the well dry by gifting water to coal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65770/original/image-20141128-9776-1xuhrgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C21%2C1264%2C797&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Queensland's cuts to water red tape could leave outback bores high and dry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AThargomindahHydro.jpg">kdliss/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Wednesday, Queensland’s parliament passed <a href="https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/water/catchments-planning/water-reform">water reform legislation</a> that will make it easier to take and use water, particularly for large mining and agriculture projects. </p>
<p>The state government also recently announced it <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2014/11/17/historic-agreements-bring-jobs-to-queensland">will support infrastructure</a> in the Galilee Basin, particularly the development of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/carmichael-mine-is-a-game-changer-for-australian-coal-29839">Carmichael coal mine</a> proposed by Indian coal company Adani. </p>
<p>True to its <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/Id/78984">word</a>, the Newman government is cutting red tape, but it’s questionable whether these water reforms involve the kind of red tape the community can afford to lose. </p>
<p>The reforms have been criticised by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for their <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-25/qld-plan-to-let-miners-take-billions-of-litres-of-water/5916740">possible impact on the reef</a>, while the move also brings other problems far closer to the mines and the massive underground aquifer that sits beneath them.</p>
<h2>Water disasters</h2>
<p>Australia is the most arid continent that humans call home. Anglo-European Australians have already presided over an impressive catalogue of water-management disasters, mainly because we never really appreciated just how arid the place is, nor how to live here in a sustainable manner. </p>
<p>The most recent and well-known is the over-allocation of the Murray-Darling Basin, and this was most obvious during the Millenium Drought, when several towns in New South Wales saw their dams <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dam-dries-up-for-first-time-in-25-years/2006/04/21/1145344266879.html">literally run dry</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, water accountancy in the Murray-Darling has tightened considerably: to pump even 0.1 megalitres in New South Wales, irrigators need to give three days’ notice. Pumping without a licence and an allocation? No chance. </p>
<h2>What do Queensland’s changes mean?</h2>
<p>Among other things, the changes will make it easier for users to access Great Artesian Basin water to support development opportunities — a move that seems squarely aimed at encouraging the massive coal developments planned for the Galilee Basin. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65694/original/image-20141127-17453-g07ub5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Much of Australia’s eastern interior is sustained by the massive underground aquifer, the Great Artesian Basin, shown here in blue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Great_Artesian_Basin.png">By Tentowo via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Offering <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2014/11/17/historic-agreements-bring-jobs-to-queensland">financial support to</a> the infrastructure requirements seems similarly motivated: the government wants those big coal mines, and will do whatever it takes to get them.</p>
<p>But there are several potential knock-on effects of giving mining projects easier access to water. First – and this is something coastal people may not immediately realise – communities in western Queensland rely on groundwater, and this is because the surface water in the area – rivers and creeks – is the <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF94161">most variable in the world</a>. </p>
<p>Without groundwater, the towns, properties and communities in the state’s west will run dangerously dry, just as the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1370499.htm">NSW town of Goulburn</a> did in 2005. Without proper management, water resources dwindle, so groundwater in the west has to be managed in a responsible way. </p>
<p>The second problem is that our detailed knowledge of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/water-in-water-out-assessing-the-future-of-the-great-artesian-basin-13104">Great Artesian Basin</a> is poor. This is mostly because it’s a great big aquifer that’s a long way down. </p>
<p>Even those of us who know a bit about the Great Artesian Basin don’t know that much: we honestly don’t know how much water can be extracted in one place without having a negative effect in others. </p>
<p>But under the new legislation, we’re likely to know even less about how much water is removed, from where and by whom. In a worst-case scenario this could mean that the integrity of the Great Artesian Basin is quietly eroded and that we won’t realise it until bores run dry, graziers end up with unsellable properties, and towns empty of people – the very essence of “rural decline”.</p>
<h2>Endangered wildlife</h2>
<p>The third problem is that some of the most endangered and precious ecosystems in Australia’s arid interior are, like the region’s human communities, sustained by the Great Artesian Basin. </p>
<p>In most cases these are shallow springs – watery islands that are inhabited by a unique assemblage of plants and animals. Everything that lives in the springs is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-red-finned-blue-eye-12556">listed as endangered</a> under federal legislation, but extinction risk is likely to go through the roof for these critters if an unknown amount of water is extracted and aquifers are drawn down. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/water/environment/great-artesian-basin-sustainability-initiative">Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative</a> – in which free-flowing bores have been piped and capped – has been one of the big success stories of Australia’s recent environmental policy history. </p>
<p>A lot of water that used to hit the arid ground and evaporate was redirected to troughs and tanks – while the rest stayed underground. Cockies were happy and so were governments. </p>
<p>Everybody realises – especially in Australia’s interior - that water is our most important commodity, and that water management is crucial to the sustainability of communities.</p>
<p>The new legislation seems to disregard these concerns and fails to heed the lessons from the past. Collectively, and more than ever, we must measure twice and cut once when planning and managing our most precious resource: water in an arid environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Kerezsy is an aquatic ecologist who works in the rivers and springs of western Queensland and western New South Wales. </span></em></p>On Wednesday, Queensland’s parliament passed water reform legislation that will make it easier to take and use water, particularly for large mining and agriculture projects. The state government also recently…Adam Kerezsy, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.