New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

WATER SHARING PLAN FOR THE BELLINGER RIVER AREA UNREGULATED AND ALLUVIAL WATER SOURCES 2008 - REG 80

80 Mandatory conditions on water supply works (bore) approvals

Note: In accordance with the Act, actual extraction of groundwater can only be undertaken through an approved water supply work (bore). Standards and conditions relating to the construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of these works are particularly important. If not properly adhered to, the works themselves can be a conduit for contamination of the groundwater source.

(1) All approvals for water supply works (bores), in these water sources shall have mandatory conditions to give effect to the following:

(a) the water supply work (bore) is only to be constructed by a driller licensed under Part 5 of the Water Act 1912 or the Water Management Act 2000 ,

(b) the water supply work (bore) must comply with drilling standards as specified by the Minister,

(c) construction of a water supply work (bore) must prevent contamination between aquifers through proper bore construction,

(d) a water supply work (bore) approval holder must ensure decommissioning procedures comply with applicable standards as specified by the Minister,

(e) a new or replacement water supply work (bore) to access water for basic rights will be required, as a condition of approval, to be constructed to sufficient depth to ensure that access to the resource is not unacceptably impacted by other authorised extractions,

(f) the water supply work (bore) approval holder is, within 2 months of completion, or after the issue of the approval if the water supply work (bore) is existing, to submit to the Department the following:

(i) details of the water supply work (bore) on the prescribed form,

(ii) the location of the authorised water supply works (bore) on the lot and deposited plan, GPS references, and the location of the water supply work (bore) in relation to property boundaries, and

(iii) details of any water analysis and/or pumping tests as required by the Minister,

(g) if during the construction of the water supply work (bore), saline or contaminated water is encountered above the production aquifer, such water is to be sealed off by:

(i) inserting the appropriate length of casing to a depth sufficient to exclude the saline or contaminated water from the work, and

(ii) placing an impermeable seal between the casing and the wall of the bore hole from the bottom of the casing to ground level, as specified by the Minister,

(h) if a water supply work (bore) is abandoned, the water supply work (bore) approval holder is to:

(i) notify the Minister that the work has been abandoned, and

(ii) seal off the aquifer by backfilling the work to ground level after withdrawing the casing (lining), as specified by the Minister,

(i) when directed by the Minister, an extraction measurement device shall be installed and maintained on each water supply work (bore) used for extraction of water under access licence, and shall be of a type and shall be maintained in a manner which is acceptable to the Minister,

(j) a water supply work (bore) must comply with the relevant local impact rules in Division 4 of Part 11 of this Plan,

(k) extraction under an access licence through an approved water supply work (bore) is only authorised with respect to the work nominated by the access licence,

(l) a water supply work (bore) approval holder must supply to the Minister on request, and to the required standards, a report pertaining to the quality of the water obtained from the water supply work (bore),

(m) a water supply work (bore) must be constructed within 3 years of the approval being granted, and

(n) any other conditions required to implement the provisions of this Plan.

(2) All approved water supply works (bores) in these water sources shall have a mandatory condition that only allows the taking of water from these water sources which is the more restrictive of:

(i) the conditions specified on the entitlement issued under the Water Act 1912 that is being replaced by an access licence under the Act taken to be a mandatory condition on the replacement water supply work approval, or

(ii) an extraction limiting condition arising from this Plan.