Activity 4 - Stream ecosystem health response to CSG water release
Activity 4 of the Healthy HeadWaters Coal Seam Gas Water Feasibility Study developed a decision support system (DSS) to assist the assessment of proposals to discharge CSG water to streams in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin (QMDB). The DSS features an ecological risk assessment framework tailored to the assessment of CSG water releases. It incorporates newly developed ecosystem response models as well as the results of field and laboratory studies of water quality and flow related risks posed by CSG water to aquatic ecosystems. These outputs provide for better management of the potential hazards and any benefits that CSG water presents to aquatic ecosystems in the Surat and southern Bowen basins.
The outputs of Activity 4 will be built upon by Activity 9, which is developing a framework for assessing cumulative impacts of CSG water releases at multiple locations in catchments of the QMDB.
Final reports
The findings of Activity 4 are presented in the following reports:
- Decision support system (PDF, 4.2M)* (this report brings together the findings of the five reports below)
- Hazard characterisation (PDF, 778K)*
- Direct toxicity assessment (PDF, 868K)*
- Guideline for managing flow regimes (PDF, 1.8M)*
- Salinity guideline (PDF, 846K)*
- Biological monitoring guideline (PDF, 1.6M)*
For further background, see the Activity 4 fact sheet (PDF, 118K)*.
* Requires Adobe Reader
Last updated 28 February 2013
