Healthy HeadWaters Coal Seam Gas Water Feasibility Study
The Healthy HeadWaters Coal Seam Gas Water Feasibility Study (PDF, 236K)* is analysing the opportunities for, and the risks and practicability of, using coal seam gas (CSG) water to address water sustainability and adjustment issues in the Queensland section of the Murray–Darling Basin (QMDB). These issues include the need to transition irrigation communities to lower water use and securing the viability of ecological assets.
This three-year study is being funded by $5 million from the Australian Government’s Water for the Future initiative, with support from the Queensland Government as part of the Healthy HeadWaters Program. The study is due for completion in early 2013.
The study is being undertaken as a series of activities. Activities 1 to 7 consist of investigations to fill knowledge gaps relating to the risks of extracting and using CSG water, as well as analyses of likely supply and demand. Activities 8 and 9 will assess specific opportunities for using CSG water in the QMDB, subject to the risks being acceptable and reliable supplies being available.
Further information about each of the activities can be found on the following pages:
- Activity 1 - Chemistry, origins and hydrogeology of CSG water
- Activity 2 - Modelling and forecasting of CSG water production
- Activity 3 - Assessment of the salinity impacts of CSG water on landscapes and surface streams
- Activity 4 - Stream ecosystem health response to CSG water release
- Activity 5 - Vulnerability of aquifers to CSG water extraction
- Activity 6 - Aquifer injection feasibility
- Activity 7 - South West Queensland water demand analysis
- Activity 8 - Proposals for using CSG water in the Central Condamine Alluvium
- Activity 9 - Proposals for CSG water use in the QMBD (Assessing the impact on aquatic ecosystems)
For further information about the Coal Seam Gas Water Feasibility Study, please email csgwaterstudy@dnrm.qld.gov.au.
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Last updated 18 December 2012
