1.5.1.2 Groundwater

This section presents information on groundwater licences and allocations in the Cooper subregion (both SA and Queensland). Detailed water accounts are not required, as modelling and a water balance are not being undertaken for the Cooper subregion in this iteration of the Bioregional Assessment Technical Programme.

Data and information required for water accounts for the Cooper subregion are held in the National Groundwater Information System (NGIS) (Bureau of Meteorology, 2015). Information required to develop detailed water accounts includes:

Further information on water accounts for the Cooper subregion is available from the Queensland groundwater database (DNRM, 2015a), the Queensland Water Monitoring Portal (DNRM, 2015b) and SA WaterConnect (Government of South Australia, 2014). More information relating to groundwater management and accounting is available from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), South Australian Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), Natural Resources South Australia Arid Lands, South West Natural Resource Management Limited, or Desert Channels Queensland Incorporated natural resource management (NRM) groups.

1.5.1.2.1 Current water accounts

The Cooper subregion straddles the SA–Queensland border. It falls within the following management areas (Figure 4):

Within the Cooper subregion, there are 3945 bores in the NGIS (Figure 5). Water allocations for these bores are not provided, however they make up a subset of the groundwater volumes allocated from within the groundwater management areas that intersect the Cooper subregion. Bores in the Cooper subregion are used for stock and domestic purposes, irrigation, exploration and industrial purposes (geothermal and petroleum industry, but primarily petroleum industry), and monitoring.

Figure 4 Water resource plan (WRP) and groundwater management areas of the Cooper subregion

Data: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Dataset 3); South Australian Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources (Dataset 5)

Figure 5 Location and identified purpose of bores in the Cooper subregion

Bores in Queensland do not have attributed purposes in the National Groundwater Information System (NGIS) version 1.1. This will be rectified in future versions

Data: Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 1)

South Australia water accounts – Far North Prescribed Wells Area Water Allocation Plan

The water allocation plan for the Far North PWA (SA Arid Lands NRM Board, 2009b) estimated groundwater extraction from the GAB aquifer is about 33.5 ML/day for stock and domestic use and 4 ML/day for town water supply. Of the stock and domestic use, approximately 22.3 ML/day is sourced from the artesian system, and 11.3 ML/day from the non-artesian system. Total groundwater discharge from natural springs has been estimated at 66 ML/day (SA Arid Lands NRM Board, 2009b). This is an estimate due to the inherent difficulties in measuring flows and the low number of spring flow measurements. Petroleum operations have a current allocation volume of 60 ML/day for co-produced water (water that is extracted as a by-product of hydrocarbon extraction processes). Mining operations have a current allocation volume of 44.6 ML/day. In addition to this volume, BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine, which is outside the subregion but within the same SA management region, has been granted a special water licence to extract water from the GAB aquifer (DEWNR, 2013).

Within the Far North PWA, there are 75 licences for groundwater extraction. As of October 2014, these licences have an approved take of 49,780 ML/year, and apply to the entire Far North PWA (South Australian Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources, Dataset 4). These data are not available at the level of the Cooper subregion.

Queensland water accounts

Groundwater entitlements in the Queensland part of the Cooper subregion are outlined in Section 1.1.4.4.1 of companion product 1.1 for the Cooper subregion (Smith et al., 2015) and in Table 3.

Table 3 Queensland water resource plans and groundwater management areas

Data: National Water Commission (2013); Queensland Government (2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2014d)

NA means ‘data not available’

^aThere is a 10,000 ML state reserve shared across all groundwater management areas of the Great Artesian Basin that could be applied for in the Cooper subregion (Queensland Government 2014).

Groundwater allocation information for Queensland (Bureau of Meteorology, Dataset 2) identifies 3785 ML/year nominal entitlement volumes from the Central and Warrego West groundwater management areas (GMAs). This applies to 13 licences. Within these GMAs there are 168 existing licenses attributed to 782 bores. The authorised purpose and number of bores for these licences is shown in Table 4.

Table 4 Summary of authorised purposes for licences in Queensland for the Central and Warrego West groundwater management areas of the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Plan Area

Data: Bureau of Meteorology (Dataset 2)

Data shown does not include licences for take from the Greater West subartesian area.

1.5.1.2.2 Water management

South Australia water management

Groundwater management in the SA part of the Cooper subregion is described in companion product 1.1 for the Cooper subregion (Smith et al., 2015), with more detail in SA Arid Lands NRM Board (2009a). Further information on the Far North PWA and Far North WAP can be obtained from relevant SA organisations (SA Arid Lands NRM Board, 2009a, 2009b; SA Department for Water, 2011; DEWNR, 2012, 2013).

Queensland water management

Water sharing plans in Queensland are known as water resource plans (WRPs). With the exception of the GAB WRP, WRP areas are defined by surface catchment areas. In the GAB WRP, groundwater management units are based on aquifers within the hydrostratigraphic framework. In addition to these water resource plans, regions referred to in Schedule 11 of Queensland’s Water Regulation 2002, are management areas. In the Cooper subregion, this includes the Greater Western subartesian area. In this area, a licence is required for purposes other than stock purposes from aquifers not connected to an artesian aquifer, domestic purposes or prescribed activities, which are listed under Schedule 1 of the regulations. Groundwater management in the Queensland part of the Cooper subregion is summarised in companion product 1.1 for the Cooper subregion (Smith et al., 2015), with more detail provided in relevant legislation and from Queensland Government agencies (DNRM,2013; Queensland Government 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2014d).

1.5.1.2.3 Gaps

Given the limited scope of this product, detailed gap identification has not been undertaken.

Provision of licence information for groundwater within the SA part of the Cooper subregion would improve understanding of licenced groundwater allocation.

For bores in Queensland and SA with licenced allocations, if actual usage data were to be collected, that would provide a more accurate representation of groundwater use within the Cooper subregion. Similarly, for uncontrolled artesian bores, actual flow rates would provide a more accurate assessment.

Identified or approved purpose attribution for bores listed as ‘unknown’ in the NGIS would also assist in any future water accounting exercise for the Cooper subregion.