Mine site water-reporting practices, groundwater take and governance frameworks in the Hunter Valley coalfield, Australia

ABSTRACT

At mine sites in a stressed watershed, groundwater dominated licensed water take, and water-use productivity was dependent on site practices and constraints. Solutions for mining and water in this context include: (1) state-based water governance within a national framework; (2) information tools, including mine site water-reporting frameworks; (3) site water sharing and salt trading; and (4) technologies and leading practices. While water reporting has improved, evaluating the significance of hydrological changes over the long-term remains a challenge, particularly for groundwater and saline discharges to rivers.

KEYWORDS:

• Water accounting
• governance
• mine water use
• groundwater
• salinity
• Australia

Acknowledgements

Professor Andy Baker of the UNSW Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre and Associate Professor David Laurence of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices are acknowledged for inspiring and supporting this research. Cristiane Dias de Novaes is thanked for her assistance in the early stages of this research.

Disclosure statement

The authors state there is no financial interest or benefit they have arising from the direct applications of this research. This independent research did not receive financial support from the mining industry or mining stakeholders.

Additional information

Funding

Cameron Holley acknowledges funding from an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award [grant number DE140101216] that supported his research for this article.