New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

WATER SHARING PLAN FOR THE NSW GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN GROUNDWATER SOURCES 2008 - REG 49

49 Mandatory conditions on water supply works approvals for a water bore

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

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

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

(c) if during the construction of a 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(s) 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(s) and the wall of the bore hole from ground level to the top of any screens or in the absence of any screen to the bottom of the casing, as specified by the Minister,

(d) an extraction measurement devices shall be installed and maintained on each water supply work 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. For water supply works other than those under an access licence used for the extraction of water, an extraction measurement device, shall be installed and maintained on such works, if and when directed to do so by the Minister and shall be of a type and maintained in a manner which is acceptable to 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 will not be unacceptably impacted by other authorised extractions,

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

(i) details of the work on the prescribed form,

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

(g) 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) ensure that any abandoned work is decommissioned and that the decommissioning procedures comply with any standards specified by the Minister for the purpose,

(h) a water supply work must comply with any relevant local impact rules established by this Plan,

(i) a water supply work 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,

(j) all approved water supply works in these groundwater sources shall have a mandatory condition to give effect to an extraction limiting condition arising from this Plan if that is required to restrict the taking of water from these groundwater sources consistent with such condition,

(k) any other conditions required to implement the provisions of this Plan,

(l) any application to amend the water supply work approval to allow the construction of a water bore to replace the water bore originally constructed in accordance with the approval can only be constructed if the replacement water bore is to be constructed within 20 meters of the existing water bore and it has an internal diameter no greater than 110 percent of the internal diameter of the bore it replaces.

(2) The Minister may under vary this Plan to either amend the mandatory conditions that are to be imposed on water supply works approvals or to require that additional mandatory conditions be imposed.

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.