The moratorium on taking underground water and drilling water bores in the MulgildieBasin and Monto Subartesian Area has been lifted today.

Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace said the moratorium had been put in place while water resource planning activities in the area were being done.

“An extension of the GreatArtesianBasin, the MulgildieBasin had been threatened by the demand for water for mining, urban supplies, and irrigation,” Mr Wallace said.

“The reason the moratorium was put in place, on 31 March 2005, was to maintain the current level of groundwater use and development while management arrangements for the resource were established.”

Mr Wallace said these management arrangements had now been established under the Great Artesian Basin Water Resource Plan and the Mulgildie Basin Subartesian Area. They would provide protection for existing users and groundwater dependent ecosystems in the area, he said.

“The lifting of the moratorium means that landholders are now able to construct water bores into the alluvial groundwater that is not connected to the GreatArtesianBasin in the MulgildieBasin.

“However, under the new arrangements a development permit will now be required for all purposes other than stock and domestic use from alluvial groundwater sources.”

The GAB water resource plan provides a framework for sustainably allocating and managing water in the GreatArtesianBasin. Within the MulgildieBasin, no new water is available for purposes other than stock and domestic use from aquifers connected to sediments of the GreatArtesianBasin. All new stock and domestic water bores or replacement irrigation bores will now require a development permit.

Under the plan, no new water licences from the MulgildieBasin will be released but it does allow for new stock and domestic bores without the need for a licence.

The new management arrangements for the GreatArtesianBasin and overlying alluvial groundwater have been established in close collaboration with the Lower Mulgildie Basin Sustainable Water Users Group (LMBSWUG).

This group of landholders was established early in the process to ensure community involvement in the decisions and outcomes for this area.

“Community involvement in this process has demonstrated how community participation in planning processes is important in achieving an equitable outcome for all resource users and the environment,” Mr Wallace said.

For more information on the end of the moratorium, or water planning in the MulgildieBasin visit the NRW web site at http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/wrp/gab.html

Media inquiries: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 3896 3689 or 0407 131 654.