Commonwealth can play a role in CSG water management

IT was heartening to see last week Federal politicians showing a keen interest in the concerns associated with the rapid expansion of the coal seam gas (CSG) industry, and in particular how it interacts with agriculture and the environment.
Last week, the Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport conducted hearings in Roma, Dalby, and Brisbane, and heard from many farmers and industry groups including QFF and Cotton Australia.
But despite the concern from the senators about CSG and its management, there will be farmers across the Surat Basin who will be asking “what next?” and “what can the Commonwealth do?”
The majority of the legislation and policies that control the CSG industry are State-based and it is clear that both sides of Queensland politics are focused first on the royalties that would come with this expanding industry.
This Senate Committee is also dominated by the Coalition and the Greens, meaning that the political reality of the times we are in means that it is very difficult to see how any of its recommendations would be adopted as government policy.
But nevertheless this process does provide a very important opportunity to increase the high level of political pressure and media attention to this issue. The difficult task is to do so without being caught up in mind-numbing and political point scoring.
QFF has been involved in countless many such inquiries before, but this one would rank among the tensest in terms of passionate testimony from witnesses and strong conviction from Senators.
QFF worked hard at our hearing in Brisbane to keep the senators focused on issues that mattered, and this specifically focused on at least one area where the Commonwealth could play a role.
That pertains to the Water Act (2007) and whether the Australian Government should override the Queensland Government and hold CSG companies to account for the take and use of CSG water. This goes to the heart of two key issues: protecting the underground water resource; and ensuring that ‘waste water’ does not damage farm land and the environment impacts are properly managed.
Further it goes to ensuring that where CSG development will put added pressure on our groundwater resources we must minimise that impact. Water that is extracted with the gas should as a first option be managed in a way that relieves the stress on the aquifers and thereby shoring up the security for other uses who rely on groundwater as well.
We made two recommendations to this effect:
• That the Commonwealth clarify what measures can be taken under the Water Act or other legislation to rectify the potential for CSG operations to adversely affect aquifers; and
• That CSG developments that are likely to impact on the Condamine Alluviums not proceed until agreement is reached with communities on modelling of impacts and plans for mitigation have been conducted to quantify the impact of dewatering the Walloon coal measures on the Condamine Alluviums.
We will wait and see what comes of the Senate Inquiry and what further issued are raised at forthcoming hearings in regional NSW and Canberra, but we see these two recommendations as realistic, achievable, and fair.
We know that we have to find a way to work with the CSG industry. To do this though we need to find a way to have CSG developments work within an agricultural industry, and therefore that means work within and accommodate for a successful farming business.
Therefore, inquiries such as this and a precautionary approach to issues such as water management are critically important if farmers are to have confidence that the gas industry could be sustainable. At the moment they are not convinced.
It is apparent to us that governments have backed themselves into a corner on this issue as development approvals have been granted largely on the feasibility of the resource available and environmental considerations, and there has been no consideration of the impacts that CSG development may have on related industries in the same region that they will be operating., particularly in relation to the cumulative impact of multiple developments.
As the CSG industry has moved into development on lands that are also used for high-value, intensive-farming industries, neither the CSG industry nor the planning system that underpins that industry has recognised that a different approach may be required.
That different approach is required in discussing and negotiating land access, determining associated compensation arrangements and the underlying issues of management of water, particularly ground water.
The end result that we are working on with our members is to find a place where farmers are treated with respect and equity to a point where extraction of gas on a farm is done in such a way that a farmer can view as they would any other commodity that is derived from the natural resources we try to manage sustainably. We are a long way from achieving this vision but for the benefit of us all we must continue to pursue it.