Queensland Water Commission, Underground Water Impact Report for the Surat Cumulative Management Area, 2012 - Report and Data

Abstract

This dataset and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied.

This dataset provides the data and PDF report supplied as the release of the 2012 Underground water impact report for the Surat cumulative management area. The following extract from the report is the general overview and purpose of the product.

The Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 and Petroleum Act 1923 authorises petroleum tenure holders to undertake activities related to the exploration for, and production of, petroleum and gas. This authorisation also includes the right to take or interfere with groundwater. However, the Water Act 2000 establishes responsibilities for petroleum tenure holders to monitor and manage the impacts caused by the exercise of these groundwater rights, including a responsibility to make good impairment of private bore water supplies. Those provisions exist because water is found in association with petroleum and gas and it is not practicable to manage the water separately.

When water is extracted from a gas well, groundwater levels decline in the area surrounding the well. If there are multiple gas fields adjacent to each other, the impacts of water extraction on groundwater levels may overlap. In these situations, a cumulative approach is required for the assessment and management of groundwater level impacts. In Queensland, where this situation exists, a Cumulative Management Area can be established. Within a Cumulative Management Area the Queensland Water Commission is responsible for assessing impacts and establishing integrated management arrangements in an Underground Water Impact Report.

In the Surat and southern Bowen Basins, expansion of coal seam gas production is proposed, involving multiple developers adjacent to one another. As a consequence, the Surat Cumulative Management Area was established on 18 March 2011. As required, the Queensland Water Commission has prepared this final Underground Water Impact Report for approval to the Chief Executive of the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.

On approval, the report becomes a statutory instrument under the Water Act 2000. Obligations for individual petroleum tenure holders for activities arising from the Underground Water Impact Report will then become legally enforceable. The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will be responsible for ensuring petroleum tenure holders comply with their obligations.

Dataset History

This data and report were released by the Queensland Water Commission in July, 2012. See attached report for more details and methodologies.

Dataset Citation

Queensland Water Commission (2012) Queensland Water Commission, Underground Water Impact Report for the Surat Cumulative Management Area, 2012 - Report and Data. Bioregional Assessment Source Dataset. Viewed 25 October 2017, http://data.bioregionalassessments.gov.au/dataset/f414fefa-084d-4740-98f6-bd7d37c4cb69.