BUNDABERG FEATURES IN AUSTRALIA-WIDE WATER STUDY

Bundaberg is one of 10 places in Australia taking part in a major CSIRO project looking at the relationship between surface water and groundwater, Water Minister Craig Wallace and Member for Hervey Bay Andrew McNamara said today.

Mr Wallace said the groundbreaking project would measure and record the movement of water between underground aquifers and above ground streams at 19 different monitoring areas along the Elliott River.

Currently the same water can be counted twice – first when it is in a groundwater aquifer and again when it flows to the surface.

This can lead to an over-estimation of water that is available for use.

Mr Wallace will discuss water issues with Wide Bay residents this Sunday and Monday when Premier Anna Bligh, all Queensland Ministers and senior public servants hold a Community Cabinet at Hervey Bay

“The Bligh Government is planning for the future with water by developing a new water accounting method to more accurately record water information,” Mr Wallace said.

“This project will provide a cheap and accurate research tool to ensure that water resources within a catchment are only measured once,” he said.

“The study will benefit the region’s irrigators by providing more secure water access entitlements and better monitoring and accounting of water use,” Mr Wallace said.

Mr McNamara said: “I congratulate the Department of Natural Resources and Water’s (NRW’s) groundwater monitoring team at Bundaberg, who are providing expertise for this important project along with NRW’s groundwater hydrologists from Indooroopilly in Brisbane.

“The new water accounting method also will be available for use all over Australia,” he said.

“Water accounting was a vital step in identifying systems where there is interaction of surface water and groundwater resources.”

The project is a partnership between the Bligh Government, the CSIRO and sciences consulting firm Sinclair Knight Merz.

The project is part of the National Water Initiative, a Commonwealth/State water reform program.

The NRW team has also provided advice about where to locate the three test bores, and provided the equipment to drill the bores.

NRW’s water sampling data will be merged with information from nine other catchments across Australia.

The project will run until 2009.

Media inquiries: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 04071 31654.