Submethodologies

Bioregional assessments are underpinned by methodologies that describe the key approaches used to undertake the assessments. The overarching bioregional assessment methodology is supported by submethodologies that provide further technical details to researchers on how to apply the bioregional assessment methodology. This includes advice on undertaking surface water and groundwater modelling, developing a conceptual model of the bioregion or subregion, dealing with uncertainties and identifying hazards.

List of submethodologies

Each submethodology is briefly introduced in Table 1 below. Links to published content are provided in the title column.

Table 1 List of methodologies

Code	Title	Summary of content
Bioregional-assessment-methodology	Methodology for bioregional assessments of the impacts of coal seam gas and coal mining development on water resources	A high-level description of the scientific and intellectual basis for a consistent approach to all bioregional assessments
M02	Compiling water-dependent assets	Describes the approach for determining water-dependent assets in a bioregion or subregion. These assets are then listed in the corresponding water-dependent asset register.
M03	Assigning receptors and impact variables to water-dependent assets	Describes the approach for determining receptors, points in the landscape where water-related impacts on assets are assessed. These receptors are then listed in the receptor register.
M04	Developing a coal resource development pathway	Specifies what information needs to be collected and reported in the coal and coal seam gas resource assessment for each bioregion or subregion. It also describes the process for determining the coal resource development pathway, which is reported in the conceptual modelling product.
M05	Developing the conceptual model of causal pathways	Describes how to develop a conceptual model that links coal resource developments and changes in water in the bioregion. This conceptual model is then reported in the conceptual modelling product.
M06	Surface water modelling	Describes the approach used for surface water modelling, including the model(s) used and underlying assumptions. These surface water models are described in more detail in the corresponding surface water numerical modelling undertaken for each bioregion or subregion.
M07	Groundwater modelling	Describes the approach used for groundwater modelling including the model(s) used and underlying assumptions. It considers surface water – groundwater interactions, as well as how the groundwater modelling is constrained by geology. The groundwater models are described in more detail in the corresponding groundwater numerical modelling undertaken for each bioregion or subregion.
M08	Receptor impact modelling	Describes how to develop receptor impact models that assess potential ecological impacts that might arise at the landscape scale due to hydrological changes caused by coal resource development.
M09	Propagating uncertainty through models	Describes the approaches to determining how sensitive a model is to particular parameters and quantification of uncertainty in the modelled response to coal seam gas and coal mining development.
M10	Impacts and risks	Describes the process to identify and analyse impacts, including how different parts of the assessment logically chain together and how the severity and likelihood of impacts are represented. Results are reported in the impact analysis and risk analysis.
M11	Systematic analysis of water-related hazards associated with coal resource development	Describes the process to identify potential water-related hazards that may occur during various stages of coal seam gas and coal mining development.

Last updated:

8 February 2019