Cumulative groundwater impact assessment and management in the Surat Basin: a journey from framework to implementation

Abstract

The coal seam gas (CSG) industry in Queensland has expanded rapidly in the Surat and Bowen basins within this decade. Depressurisation for CSG production has the potential to affect overlying and underlying aquifers. This leads to wide-ranging stakeholder concerns around the groundwater impacts, particularly cumulative effects, because the coal seams are part of the Great Artesian Basin. Relatively early in the development cycle, Queensland set a framework whereby an area of intensive petroleum and gas development is proactively declared to be a cumulative management area. For such areas, the independent Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment (OGIA) undertakes cumulative impact assessment and prepares management arrangements that are reported through the underground water impact report. OGIA’s assessment through its iterative reporting–monitoring–modelling cycle has been providing the basis for managing and monitoring groundwater impacts on the ground and providing clarity in tenure holders’ responsibilities. OGIA has also built extensive knowledge of the groundwater systems and developed innovative modelling techniques over the years that have wider application elsewhere. This paper shares OGIA’s journey in the process.