2.6.2.4.5 Pumping

Most of the registered bores in the Gloucester subregion are in the alluvium, and while the amount of pumping over time is unknown, the licensed extraction volumes are small (Frery et al., 2018, Table 11). The total licensed extraction rate in the Gloucester subregion is currently 1.8 GL/year, assigned to 107 bores in the alluvium and 53 in the surface weathered and fractured rock layer.

There is no pumping specified in the analytic element model or the MODFLOW models that is not related to coal resource development. Pumping rates are not affected by coal resource development and therefore identical between the baseline and coal resource development future. Non-coal related pumping will thus not affect the predicted change in groundwater levels or fluxes.